3 Skin Care Habits To Stop Doing Right Now + A Supplement To Help

Good habits beget good habits. If you're the type of person who regularly moves their body and tries to eat to fulfill their body's needs, I'm going to wager you also do your best to care for your skin. No, this doesn't necessarily mean you have a skin care arsenal with loads of pricey products, but I bet you at least tend to your complexion with consistent care—and steer clear of the "bad" moves we know to be damaging. (You know, the standard no-no list: excessive and unprotected sun exposure, smoking, not washing your makeup off nightly.) 

We know that unprotected and prolonged sun exposure does a number on your skin: It quickens signs of aging, contributes to several skin diseases, can cause sunspots, and so much more. To prevent this, we turn to sunscreen (ideally physical sunscreen, like zinc oxide or titanium dioxide). When used and formulated correctly, SPF does a great job keeping us safe. 

A weakened skin barrier shows itself in several ways: discoloration, rashes, dryness, sensitivity, ashiness, and so on. You may think these are simple annoyances—perhaps to be expected if you have naturally dry or sensitive skin—but they are red flags that your skin barrier needs additional care. And this is critical because your skin barrier does quite a bit for your overall health.

"It protects us from mechanical injury, low humidity, cold, heat, sun, wind, chemical exposure, bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other pathogens," explains board-certified dermatologist Hadley King, M.D., stating that, "a healthy barrier is critical to normal skin function."

A new-ish word to hit the skin care scene, inflammaging refers to premature aging that comes from the result of low-level, constant inflammation in the skin. And while you may not realize it's happening (it's low level and therefore doesn't really cause immediate and noticeable changes in the skin), it can do major damage later. Unfortunately, the inflammation can come from many causes: stress, lack of sleep, diet, and too-aggressive skin care habits. 

First up, there's astaxanthin, a wonder antioxidant for dealing with photodamage. Research has confirmed astaxanthin's outstanding ability to help skin manage photodamage2, as one scholarly review of the antioxidant explained that numerous comparative studies of astaxanthin and other antioxidants showed was the superior antioxidant in promoting dermal fibroblasts (or, what helps make skin cells, elastin, and collagen).* To give you an idea of just how powerful, the free-radical-fighting effect of astaxanthin is up to 1,000 times higher3 than that of many of its fellow antioxidants.

There's also phytoceramides, which help bolster the skin barrier. This is where phytoceramides come in. Phytoceramides are ceramides derived from plants4. They have a similar lipid structure to the ceramides found in our skin and may help replenish ceramide stores.* While you can use ceramides topically, most of the science5 points to snagging your phytoceramides from supplements for optimal benefits. This way, you can provide a more continuous stream of ceramides, naturally supporting stores from the inside out.