As you grow older, your skin will age more rapidly if you don't take care of it properly. Your skin's renewal process declines, and the oil that protects and lubricates your skin decreases resulting in drier, more sensitive skin. In order to maintain a youthful appearance, you need to start taking care of your skin at a young age. However, caring for your skin does not necessary mean that you have to buy expensive skin products. There are a few simple tips to keep your skin healthy and youthful-looking.

Water

Drink lots of Water! We need water because about 75% of our muscle, 92% of blood, and 90% of brain is comprised of water. It's no surprising that one of the key aids to healthy skin is also water for not only does water nourish our skin, it also lubricates our joints, carries our nutrient to our cells (including oxygen), and flushes out the toxic wastes in our body. Doctors and dermatologists recommend that we drink eight to ten glasses of water per day to stay healthy and to keep your skin hydrated.

To aid your body and your skin's cleansing process, it is recommended that we keep a water- rich diet by eating high water-content foods such as fruits, vegetable, sprouted grains etc, and consume less concentrated foods which are foods that are devoid of water due to processing and cooking.

Drinking water, and eating high water-content foods also relieve thirst, and it keeps us from getting sun burnt and sun stroked on hot days. Have you ever noticed that when you are dying of thirst, gulping down a can of pop would actually made you thirstier, whereas drinking a glass of water or eating a watermelon would relieve your thirst? That's because soft drinks do not have a high water-content. So next time you are dying of thirst be smart, and drink lots of water or eat a fruit!

Tip to weight watchers: Drinking water also helps to reduce weight, since water prevents toxic wastes in the body from building up.

Sleep

Sleep is another key to healthy skin for while you are sleeping (during the hrs of 10pm to 2 pm), the cells in your body are repairing and replenishing themselves. Therefore, it is recommended that people go to bed early (or before 10 pm) in order to get at least eight hours of sleep each night. It is during this time when your skin has a chance to repair the wear and tear that it builds up every day.

Exercising can improve the quality of your skin namely the skin's elasticity, strength, and firmness. It also improves your skin tone by stimulating your blood circulation, which results in a healthy glow. Have you ever notice that middle-aged athletes have better skin than couch potatoes? If you have, that is because their skin is denser, stronger, and more elastic due to exercise.

There are basically three reasons for this. First of all, exercise floods the skin with blood providing the nutrients and oxygen needed for the skin cells to grow and replace themselves. Secondly, exercising stimulates your body's cells to create more elasticity protein, which is then added to the skin's inner layer. And lastly, the heat produced by exercise stimulates the body production of collagen, which aids in the process of healthy skin.

Tips: Frequent weight gains/ losses can also affect the skin's elasticity. When you gain weight, your skin stretches to accommodate the excess weight. However, when you lose a lot of weight quickly, your skin does not have time to accommodate for the changes, and sagging and premature wrinkling can result. In this case, regular exercise can help reduce sagging and wrinkling by firming up the skin.

Daily cleansing

Aside from drinking water, sleep and exercise, daily cleansing is also a necessary routine that keeps your skin in good condition especially during your teen years. On the surface of your skin there are little hair follicles, and at the root of these follicles there are organic material called, "sebum". Bacteria love to eat sebum for after its consumption, the bacteria will release a material that will clog your pores. It will also create irrated reactions as the white blood cells gorges the area with blood in defense against the bacteria. This is a natural response that will result in what we called a zit or a pimple. Washing your face helps to washes away dirt and excess oil thus preventing the bacteria from attacking. Things to watch out for: Do not use soap to wash your face, it is too harsh and drying. Instead try using a cleanser that does not contain soap or alcohol (i.e. a glycerin based one), and followed up with a non - alcoholic toner, which aids in removing dirt and excessive cleanser. Keep in mind that too much washing can also dry out the skin by stripping all the protective oils.

Aside from washing your face, you can also do a bit of exfoliating two to three times a week. Exfolicating helps to rub off the dead skin cell from the surface and increase skin's blood circulation. For starters, you can try to use a buffing sponge, granular cleaners (containing fine grains) to massage the skin. Remember to rub gently to avoid scratching or damaging your skin. Peel or rinse masks is another way to exfoliate the skin.

After you have wash your face, your skin may feel slightly dry and tight, but don't worry it's normal. However, you may want to use a moisturizer to seal in the moisture and ease the dryness.

Tip: Do not put too much moisturizer on your face, because the oil from the cream/lotion can clog your pores, stop your skin from breathing, and trap dirt. A good moisturizer I recommend is one that contains "aloe vera" for it can repair skin damages and help renew your skin.

The Sun

Although the Sun is a great source of Vitamin D, overexposure to the sun can cause prematurely aged skin, wrinkles, age -spotting, and skin cancer. Although the melanin (the pigment that gives us a tan) in our skin can help to protect us to some degree from the Sun's UV and infrared rays ( ie. Darker,oily skin are less prone to wrinkling and cancer while fair skin people have no melainin and thereby have less protection), it cannot protect us from aging caused by the sun and skin cancer. Overexpose to the sun can also weaken the collagen in the skin resulting in thinner, less flexible, less stretchy, more wrinkled, and sagging skin. That's why it is very important to apply your sunscreen before going outdoors. Our usual sunscreen can block out most of the UVB rays (normally associated with skin cancer), however it is not very effective towards UVA rays that travels deeper into the skin. Advice to readers: Use a sunscreen that is at least SPF 15 or up, or use a higher one if you are going outdoors for a long time. Apply your sunscreen early at least 15 minutes before you head outdoors. Also remember to reapply your sunscreen often because sweat and water removes much of the sunscreen protection. A waterproof sunscreen should last around 80 mins, and a water resistant sunscreen should last about 40 minutes. Reapply your sunscreen every 20 minutes or so. Lastly remember to put some on your neck, hands, and even unexposed areas because sometimes the sun incidental rays can also cause aging and minor damages to those areas too.