Total Guide to Beauty: 5 Tips for Healthy Skin

A good skincare regime and protection from the sun can help you maintain healthy, glowing skin. We spoke to beauty expert Claire Dore for a few tips...

1. Protect yourself from the sun
The sun is the number 1 cause of ageing and so it is vital to protect your skin against strong rays. Use sunscreen of at least factor 20; reapply through the day especially if swimming.

If in areas of extreme heat, avoiding the sun at peak times, 11am-3pm is best.

On the plus side though the sun is extremely important to us as a provider of vitamin D, so enjoy the sun in winter and spring as we really need it for our bodies but over-exposure leads to sun damage which is bad for our skin, so be sensible.

2. Look after your skin
It is important to cleanse, tone and moisturise but do this gently, don't over scrub it, we need to take good care of it. It is a good idea to exfoliate but this does not need to be done excessively, once a week is fine, but make sure you use a gentle scrub with natural grains to scrub he skin.

Always pat dry you skin, don't rub it!

Toning is important to help pH balance your skin and a good toner is a good source of vitamins and antioxidants.

Moisturise with a light lotion in the day (with sun protection) suitable to your skin type and if you have dry skin then use a rich night cream to heal and hydrate the skin while you sleep.

3. Be careful what you eat
It's true you are what you eat! Drink plenty of water and a healthy diet is key to looking and feeling good and your skin shows everything.

4. Reduce your stress
Stress plays a big part in the flare up of skin problems or acne. Manage your stress and make sure you have a good work / life balance to ensure a good complexion.

5. No smoking
Smoking is a key factor to ageing skin and wrinkles, as well being bad for your health. Smoking damages the collagen and elastin in your skin, which are what promotes healthy and younger looking skin. It also removes oxygen and nutrients from the skin... so all in all really bad... give it up!