We all have pet peeves which don’t bother us at all. But some of our daily habits can annoy our skin giving us unpleasant results. Not getting sufficient sleep, always stressed out, living on junk food, smoking, and sleeping with make-up get thumbs down. These either lead to loss of skin firmness or wrinkles or dark circles. The list doesn’t end here.

Quick Weight Loss
We can’t stand it when things move at a glacial pace. ‘I want this to be done before my coffee gets cold’, isn’t that a common line at your work place? Similarly, when you work out you want to see the result fast so some women start exerting themselves at gyms to burn calories quickly. “Crash dieting, starving to lose weight, and over-exercising have undesirable results. You end up losing weight in the short term, but the side-effects are not worth it. Besides, I am huge proponent of balance – good food habits, regular exercise – in a balanced fashion,” says Yasmin Karachiwala, celebrity fitness expert. According to her, women should do a combination of cardiovascular and strength training exercises on a regular basis. “Cardiovascular exercises can range from walking, jogging, cycling, elliptical, swimming, etc. Strength exercises can include squats, lunges, push-ups, back rows, shoulder press, triceps dips, biceps curls, planks, crunches, chest presses, etc,” adds Karachiwala.

Hot Bath
It’s summer season so bathing in hot water for long duration is out. Even if winter is only for few months, enjoying hot showers can take away moisture from your skin forever! Loss of moisture obviously leads to dry and flaky skin. Dryness pulls wrinkles towards it like a magnet. When the temperature dives down you can’t take a splash in cold water. Go for lukewarm water. Well, some women might reduce from bathing twice to once a day due to dip in temperature but they continue to wash their face frequently. That should also be limited to twice a day. One in the morning and the other before going to bed, after all you don’t want to sleep with germs on your body! After cleansing,moisturize your skin with heavy textured lotion. It should be applied all over the body and not just face and hands.

Rubbing Eyes
You can barely open your eyes but you have to be awake. What do you do? Rub your eyes! Apparently, it is not the best thing for your peepers and appearance. Getting panda eyes can never be good. “One of the causes of dark circles is rubbing eyes. Usually they are not aware of it. One of my patients had this habit. After doing all the screening and even following medical protocol, the patient was not showing desired improvement and she said she never rubbed her eyes. I made her daughter watch her for a while and she pointed out the habit,” says Dr. Ashwini Padmawar, Dermatologist. So if you want your eye creams and treatments to work, give up this habit.