Skincare Tips For 25-Year-Olds: A Dangerous Time For Our Skin

25 is an age when anything goes haywire. Sleepless nights, ciggies, booze, sun and junk food wreak havoc with your skin. To avoid dreaded wrinkles appearing before their time, you need to slow down a bit and follow these golden rules.

1. Crawling in at the crack of dawn, studying late, tossing and turning; some nights are really short. Which is why you wake up looking gaunt with puffy, red eyes, pimples and skin problems. The explanation is simple enough: your skin regenerates at night, particularly between 1 and 4 am. But when you don't get enough shut-eye, your skin gets out of sync and can't fully regenerate. The solution? Aim to get at least 8 hours sleep a night and try to catch up on any sleep you've missed. You can also give your skin a helping hand by moisturising morning and night, giving it a good cleanse (even if it's 4 am) and by going easy on the make-up so that your epidermis gets a breather.

2. Smoking a cigarette is like glugging down a pint of pollution in the space of a few minutes. While exposing your skin to heavy metals, tar, carbon, ammonia, acetone and around 3,500 harmful chemicals. This makes your skin suffocate, look dull, thin, and break easily. It also results in premature ageing of your skin. The solution? Give up the cigs. Pumping your skin with antioxidants such as vitamin C, resveratrol and flavonoids will zap free radicals. You should also give your face a weekly scrub to unclog pores, remove dead skin cells and get back your glow. In other words, oxygenate your skin.

3. A couple of glasses a week won't leave you with red skin later in life, but all the same, alcohol causes the veins on our cheeks, noses and cheeks to dilate. If you have sensitive skin, it'll feel stretched, itchy and hot. Avoid drinking. Without mentioning all the other risks, our skin can't handle excessive amounts of alcohol - binge drinking is a major culprit, no matter how much fun a night out with your mates can be. If you already have red blotches, use skincare products that contain anti-redness active ingredients to repair.

4. We all love lazy days under a hot, summer sun. But UVA rays are our skin's mortal enemy. They cause free radicals that break down collagen and elastin fibres and attack our skin cells. The result: prematurely ageing skin with the appearance of wrinkles and liver spots. And that's not to mention the dreaded rebound effect when our skin breaks out in spots once autumn is at the door. Apply a sunscreen with an SPF of 30 to 50 throughout summer. You can use the L'Oréal Paris UV Perfect Matte & Fresh, which is perfect for Indian summers for all skin types.

5. To keep your skin glowing, apply a scrub once or twice a week. This will boost your complexion and zap any zits without irritating your skin. Final skincare tip: slap on a moisturiser. You can try the new L'Oréal Paris Revitalift Crystal Micro-Essence which is a new skincare formula that moisturizes and hydrates your skin from within. It contains active ingredients like Salicylic Acid, which accelerates skin renewal & mildly exfoliates to refine pores & skin texture. It also penetrates up to 10 layers deep into the skin and reveals your bright, glowing and crystal clear skin.

6. Chips, fizzy drinks, chocolate and ready meals = too much fat, too much sugar and too much salt. High-calorie junk food piles on the pounds and ages skin. Collagen levels are affected when there's too much sugar in the bloodstream, making the dermis rigid and causing lines to appear. Plus your skin will become dull and more opaque. The solution? Eat a healthy diet. Pile your plate with fish, green vegetables and foods bursting with vitamins and omega 3. You could also take a course of dietary supplements to give your body a beneficial boost.

25 is a critical age with a lot of responsibilities on your head. It is also the time when you go through a lot of emotional stress thinking about marriage, career and relationship which directly affects your skin. In such a situation, taking care of the skin through a change in lifestyle and daily skincare regime can do wonders for your overall look.