Hey—your epidermis is showing—all 20 square feet of it. And keeping it in showroom shape is no easy task. You could be battling breakouts, sun damage, dryness, irritation, unwanted hair, or all of the above. The good news: You’ll grow nearly 1,000 new layers of skin throughout your lifetime, so you’ve got plenty of chances to make sure it’s smooth and glowing. To help, we sifted through the latest research and talked to lots of dermatology experts to come up with the 15 best tips. Follow them, and your skin will look so great you’ll want to walk around naked (but don’t, unless you’re wearing sunscreen of course).
1. Suck it up
If your skin can’t hold on to the products you put on it, you’re just wasting money. “Lock in the benefits of a product’s active ingredients by following up with a moisturizer,” says Ranella Hirsch, M.D., president of the American Society of Cosmetic Dermatology and Aesthetic Surgery. Look for a lotion containing hyaluronic acid or glycerin; they keep skin supple.
2. Vote red
A recent British study found that subjects who ate five tablespoons of tomato paste every day suffered milder sun burns than those who didn’t. Re searchers think lycopene, a powerful natural antioxidant found in tomatoes, provides the sun-shielding bene fi ts. (Tip: Cook your tomatoes—your body will absorb the nutrients more easily.) It’s no excuse to drop the SPF, but at least you have a good reason to go to your favorite Italian joint.
3. Take a chill pill
Stress can mess with your complexion. Researchers at England’s University of Manchester proved it using what many of us find the most brutal stress test: public speaking. They took pre- and post-presentation snips of skin from the butt cheeks of participants and then compared the cellular activity. The tense skin showed a 16.4 percent decrease in immune-system-regulating cells. Another study reported that stress caused acne to worsen. True, you can’t protect your skin from every PowerPoint panic. But if you’re under a lot of pressure, baby your skin.
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