Unless you’re an annoyingly smooth-faced person anomaly who has been eternally blessed with flawless skin, chances are you’ve suffered from the odd pimple at best; inflammation and/or manic breakouts at the worst.

Here are some common things you might be doing that unwittingly aggravate your skin condition.

You need to stop doing these. Now.

**HERE’S AN IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER, THOUGH: Every person’s skin is different, we should clarify first, and so these things we list here may not necessarily have caused the problems you might be having. We would first recommend seeing a certified dermatologist (one that has an actual clinic, please, or one certified by the Ministry of Health, to be safe) in order to best understand the nature of your skin and what exactly is causing the problems you might be having.

1) Popping your pimples

Unless you have a masters in “pimpleology” (a skill that is vastly different from pimpology by the way), it’s highly unlikely you will do this right.

And when you don’t do this right, you inadvertently push the infection causing the zit deeper into your skin, permanently enlarging your pores and causing dreadful acne scars — pretty much the worst thing you’d want to happen to your skin.

Popping pimples — addictive, but dangerous. Much like gambling but there’s no Andy’s Dad to save you from nightmares.

2) Not sleeping enough

According to this survey, Singaporeans work the longest hours in the world and have poor work life balance, so this not exactly a surprise.

But for the sake of your skin, find a way to make sure you get enough sleep (eight hours is best, but we suppose seven should suffice too).

When you don’t sleep enough, your skin doesn’t have enough time to rest (indeed, it needs time to replenish and rehydrate, so there is some truth to the term “beauty sleep”). A lack of sleep results in clogged pores, which in turn lead to breakouts.

Now doesn’t this eventuality fill you with thrill? Be disciplined about it. Hit the sack by midnight or earlier if you have to wake up before 8am for work. Don’t stay up watching Korean dramas, scrolling through Facebook or Instagram; you can catch up on all those things in the morning if you need to.

3) Going to sleep with your makeup on

Tempted to just go lie down on the bed after a hard night of partying? Don’t.

Makeup, especially thick makeup (which we most certainly don’t recommend in the least), clogs your pores, which as we mentioned will still be merrily producing oil overnight, and cause breakouts and/or inflammation.

To make things worse, clogged pores become enlarged, and they aren’t gonna shrink back to their usual size. Then you’ll need to use more makeup to cover those up, and if you go to sleep with makeup, the cycle will repeat itself until your face looks like this:

Uh huh.

4) Not drinking enough water

To be fair, there is no scientifically-proven relationship between drinking extra water and having better skin. You just need to make sure you’re drinking enough of it.

However, dermatologists say that dehydrated skin gets duller, with wrinkles and pores becoming more prominent, possibly because water plumps the skin up. Additionally, various structures inside your skin that support collagen require water to function well, and because water makes one’s skin hydrated, plump and elastic, it is less likely to become cracked and  allow in external particles that cause irritation, infections and blemishes.

There’s probably a thing or two we could learn from our male counterparts who do water parades during their NS years.  

5) Wearing dirty glasses

People to whom this applies, remember to clean your spectacles. If you don’t, the dirt and bacteria that stays on your skin will inevitably lead to acne and pimples. Give it a go, every day or every other day at the very least — your nose bridge will thank you.

6) Not changing your sheets often enough

Imagine, you’re putting your face on your pillow every night for six to eight hours at a stretch. If it had bacteria, dirt, accumulated excess oil from your face from the previous night, it’ll go back onto your face, clog and infect your pores. Fun times ahead.

The best way to avoid it is to change your sheets, simple. Once a fortnight, at least, if not once a week.

Think about it: would you use the same towel to wipe your perspiration for more than a day without washing it? We didn’t think so.

7) Stress

Stress triggers the production of cortisol, a hormone that in turn instructs the sebaceous glands beneath your skin to produce more oil, and increasing the chance of acne. Add that to the formation of stress lines on your face and you’ve got one of the chief causes of your skin woes.

Admittedly, since we spend so much time working, it’s tough for us to find any to relax or de-stress. But try; it may help ease off on your skin.

8) Too much air conditioning

No way. How can something be so good be so harmful to your skin, you ask?

As it turns out, air conditioners are pretty much among the top moisture removers of our time, as well as your quickest route to dry skin.

Here’s what you can do, since we know you can’t sacrifice this in the current unbearable heat (and haze): Turn the temperature up one or two degrees (25 degrees Celsius is best), and don’t forget to slap on your moisturiser. If you can’t control the temperature of the air-con in your workplace, step outside for awhile (but always remember your sunscreen!).

Which brings us to our next point:

9) Not wearing sunscreen

Singapore may be sunny all year round, but that does not in any way mean you’ll get used to the sun’s powerful UV rays.

Sunscreen is one of the most important things you should incorporate into your skin care regime. Before going out every day, slap it on — the sun’s UV rays do great damage to your skin. UV photons generate harmful free radicals and cause premature aging, and in the most severe (not as rare as you might assume) cases, skin cancer.

Be sure to get sunscreen with high SPF (sun protection factor) — a minimum of SPF 50 is recommended, in general.

And while you add sunscreen to your suite of other skin care products, here’s our 10th item on the crime list:

10) Misusing skin care products

We mean a few things by saying this:

- Washing with cleansers that are too harsh: these strip your skin of both its good and bad oils, as well as its natural protective barriers. When this happens, your skin will think it is lacking and will produce even more oil, giving you more breakouts and other pimple problems.

- Applying products in the wrong order: Always go from thin to thick to ensure each product is able to do what it’s intended to for your skin. Toner, serum, cream.

- Using too many products: Depending on what you use, ingredients in different products can “fight” each other, negating their powers or causing skin irritation when combined. Stick to cleanser, toner, moisturiser/sunscreen, perhaps with a spot treatment if required.

Well, if you’ve read all this and are like, “Been there, done that!”, but still face problems with your skin, you could experience two sessions of the Indiba AgeReversa System at Bella’s Skin Care to help reverse any damage done to your skin.

Thanks to us, you’ll get to try these at just $280, as compared to the usual $760, for a limited time only. We’ve got a handy form for you to fill up below with your info (kept strictly confidential and handled directly by Bella’s Skin Care), or click here for more details on the treatment!

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