1. Skipping the gym

Regular exercise boots skin circulation, detoxifies your skin and encourages your body to produce endorphins, which keeps you (visibly) happy.

ACTION IT: Exercise at least every couple of days – even if it’s a brisk walk.

2. Burning the candle

Insufficient sleep causes your body to release cortisol, increasing dryness and inflammation, accelerating skin ageing, resulting in fine lines, uneven skin colour and slackening of skin.

ACTION IT: Set a bedtime that allows a good eight hours before you need to get up and do a sleep hygiene audit, clearing sleep enemies like laptops and other electronic devices from the bedroom.

3. Bypassing sunscreen

Both UVA and UVB promote premature skin aging (photo-aging), although UVA is the one that penetrates skin causing oxidative stress and damage of DNA, collagen and elastin, resulting in skin damage and ageing.

... Read more »

When it comes to healthy hair, it’s not just what you put on your tresses that counts -- it’s what you put in your body, too.

By Elizabeth B. Krieger

Reviewed by Victoria Barbosa, MD

WebMD Feature

Better-looking hair can start at your next meal.

"Just like every other part of your body, the cells and processes that support strong, vibrant hair depend on a balanced diet," says New York nutritionist Lisa Drayer, MA, RD, author of The Beauty Diet.

It can take longer to notice changes (both good or bad!) in your hair than in your skin. For example, "just one week with a poor diet can yield acne flare-ups or dry, sallow skin within days," says New York City dermatologist Cybele Fishman, MD, "but with hair, it can take a few months for a nutritional deficiency or the effects of a crash diet to show up."

The nutrients you eat today help fortify the hair follicle -- from which each strand is born -- and ... Read more »