Looking healthy isn’t just about eating the correct nutrients and drinking two litres of water every day. Everybody experiences days they feel bad about their appearance from time to time, including feeling and looking healthy. There are steps you can take to make you look and feel nourished.
Here, leading health and beauty expert Melanie Snape takes a look at how you can maintain a healthy appearance.
Practice good hygiene
Taking good care of your teeth can make a big difference to your healthy appearance. When you brush your teeth twice a day, you avoid developing a build-up of plaque, gum disease, bad breath and tooth decay.
Having white teeth can make your look healthier – and younger! It is said that getting your teeth whitened can make you look up to five years younger and increases your employment potential by 10%. Yes – having a bright white smile could land you a new job! But getting your teeth whitened comes at an expense. This luxurious treatment can cost as much as £500 from a top North London dentist to get rid of unattractive staining but the price will vary between dentists and location.
If you want to get your teeth whitened, make sure the procedure is carried out by a professional dentist experienced in teeth whitening. Avoid opting for cheaper procedures or using home remedies as these can cause more harm than good to your oral health.
Protect your skin
Protecting and caring for your skin is the ultimate way to maintain your healthy looks.
Keeping your skin moisturized is vital to keep a healthy appearance. Although moisturizing your skin won’t prevent wrinkles for years to come it will help prolong elasticity and reduce fine lines caused by dry skin cells.
There are a number of anti-wrinkle creams available on the market to help improve your skin. Despite not being able to instantly repair damaged skin, anti-wrinkle creams prevent further damage. The most popular include those from brands such as Elizabeth Arden, Kiehl’s and L’Occitane.
Just like moisturizing your skin, you should do your utmost to protect it from the sun. Whilst you’re exposed to the sun, your body is exposed to harmful UV rays that increase the risk of developing cancer. If you can’t cover up your skin, use sun cream to protect you from the radiation and avoid being in direct sunlight at times when it is hottest.
Stop smoking!
Did you know? Smoking is one of the biggest problems of premature aging of the skin. Cigarette smoke constricts the blood vessels in your outer layer of skin which reduces the blood and oxygen flow to your skin. It also affects your skins elasticity by decreasing the collagen and elastin found in your body. Over time, the continuous action of squinting your eyes and creating a pout-like facial expression will cause premature wrinkles.
Smoking doesn’t just affect your face, it affects your lungs. Smoking can cause life-threatening diseases including cancer and pneumonia as well as coughs, colds and asthma. It also deprives your body of nutrients such as vitamin C which is vital to protect and restore damaged skin.
Sleep more
Sleeping makes you feel better and play a vital role in your physical and mental health. As you sleep, your heart and blood vessels are repaired and heals from the previous day. A deficiency in sleep has been linked to heart and kidney disease as well as increase high blood pressure. Your body requires between 7 and 9 hours sleep every night to function properly.
Image at the top of the article used under license from Freestock.com
