Here’s Everything You Need to Know About the Signs, Causes, and Solutions of Dull Skin
We all want our skin to look healthy, but we might not be doing everything we can to actually make our skin healthier. The wrong skincare products, too much sun exposure, and unhealthy lifestyle choices can leave us with complexions that look dull and impossible to improve.
Dull skin is a result of several factors working against your naturally radiant complexion over time. But before we get into how to bring the glow back, let’s first understand why it fades in the first place.
Our skin has many important functions that work together to keep us looking young and fresh.
How Does the Skin Work?
Radiant skin requires work both from the inside and out. Merely using topical solutions will not suffice if you want long-term results.
Sebum
If you’re a teenager with oily skin, you might think of it as your sworn enemy. However, the truth is that oily skin usually ages better than dry skin.
Sebum, which is your skin’s natural oil, consists of protective and hydrating essential fatty acids, squalene, wax esters, and other compounds. In order for your skin to stay healthy and radiant, it depends on these ingredients.
Skin Cell
Your skin is always regenerating, with old cells dying and making way for new ones. Usually, this process happens quickly and efficiently. However, sometimes dead skin cells can accumulate on the surface of your skin, resulting in a dull complexion.
Not only that, but if dead skin cells mix with dirt, it can clog your pores and make your skin look irritated.
Elastin and Collagen
Collagen and elastin are two very important proteins found throughout your body, but especially in your skin. They support the structure of your skin and help to keep it looking young.
Collagen is a protein found in the skin, cartilage, and other tissues throughout the body. Collagen helps to keep our skin looking plump and youthful by decreasing the appearance of wrinkles.
Elastin is a protein found in the connective tissue of our skin. It allows our skin to bounce back into place and keep its shape. When we lose elastin, wrinkles form more easily.
When we are young, our skin contains a high concentration of both proteins. However, less is produced as we age.
Diet
A good diet is the key to maintaining healthy skin. If your diet lacks essential nutrients, your skin will be the first place you’ll see it. Your skin needs vitamins C, E, K, and D to stay healthy.
- Vitamin D is crucial for cellular turnover, which slows down as we age. We can get vitamin D from spending time in the sun or from eating fortified foods.
- With regular use, vitamin C can help brighten your skin tone. This nutrient also acts as an antioxidant, which means it helps protect your skin against damage from harmful molecules called free radicals.
- By scavenging harmful agents in the skin, vitamin E can help to lessen the appearance of blemishes such as scars or age spots.
- Vitamin K is critical for those who have sensitive skin that often becomes irritated or breaks out in acne. This vitamin helps with wound healing, making it an important part of your skincare routine.
Eating a variety of fruits and vegetables, and drinking plenty of water are essential for healthy skin. Over time, not following this dietary advice can lead to major skin problems.
Dull Skin Symptoms
Skin that suddenly appears lackluster can be frustrating to deal with. Dull skin typically loses its glow, evenness, and healthy color. The opposite of dull skin is usually vibrant and has a noticeable radiance.
The following are characteristics of dull skin:
- You may experience small patches of itching or irritation.
- Uneven skin tone
- A yellow or ashy skin tone
- Small areas of dark skin patches or sun damage
- Expression lines and wrinkles
If you’re concerned about your skin’s overall appearance, here are a few potential symptoms to help identify the problem. And don’t worry—the solution is simpler than it seems.
The Most Frequent Reasons for Dull Skin
Though it may not seem like it, dull skin is almost never the result of a one-time thing. Instead, it’s usually caused by multiple skincare faux pas or neglect over an extended period of time. The most common culprits? Age, sun exposure, an improper diet, and using incompatible or low-quality skincare products.
Aging
Older skin needs a different skincare routine than younger skin for several reasons. Your collagen and elastin production reduces as you age, while sebum production slows. In addition, your skin thins over time, which alters its undertone and how it looks in general.
Bad Diet
If you want glowing skin, paying attention to what you eat is non-negotiable. A top-notch skincare routine can only do so much if your diet isn’t up to par. In addition to impacting your skin, an improper diet wreaks havoc on gut health—and the two are interconnected.
The gut-skin axis refers to the relationship between the healthy bacteria in your gut and their communication with the ecosystems of microorganisms that live on your skin. When there’s an imbalance in gut flora, it manifests as problems with skin health.
Improper Skin Care
Although it may not seem like a big deal, failing to take off your makeup before bed or forgetting to moisturize can have harmful consequences for your skin if done regularly. Similarly, using skincare products that aren’t good for you will also lead to unhealthy and dull skin.
Traditional skincare products often focus on masking issues on the surface of your skin instead of addressing the root problem. Furthermore, these toxic products usually contain ingredients that are bad not only for your skin but also for your overall health.
Sun Exposure
The sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays can damage our skin and strip it of its youthful glow. Not only is too much sun exposure damaging to your skin, it accelerates the aging process.
Although sun exposure is important for helping our bodies create vitamin D, it’s crucial to wear sunscreen when we’re in the sun if we want to maintain a healthy appearance.
How to Reverse Dull Skin
If you’re unhappy with your lackluster skin, here are four tips to help get your glow back.
1. Change Your Diet
Eating an occasional donut isn’t the end of the world, but if you want to improve your gut health, it’s a good idea to add more fruits and vegetables to your diet. A supplement is a great way to get started.
- This supplement is a powerful combination of ingredients that helps support both gut health and skin health.
- This supplement is great for reducing the impacts of aging, either on its own or in combination with our probiotic.
Supplements can enhance your diet and make your skin look healthier.
2. Focus on Your Skin Care
It’s time to ditch traditional skin care products in favor of cleaner, greener ones. Natural, plant-based ingredients work with your skin instead of against it , and will improve your complexion over time. For example, jojoba oil is similar in composition to sebum, which is your skin’s natural oil. Jojoba oil can be found here and in other more affordable drugstore brands.
Buriti oil is packed with antioxidants that work tirelessly to protect parched skin. In products like this, Buriti oil works in harmony with cold-pressed tamanu oil—another botanical antioxidant powerhouse—as well as our proprietary adaptogenic herbal blend, which calms and softens the skin.
3. Use the Right Makeup Colors
You may be inclined to use a substantial amount of colored cosmetics on your skin when it looks dull in order to make it appear healthier and more radiant. However, too much makeup can have the opposite effect you intend. To even out your skin tone, foundation is ideal, and using this luminizer will give you a gorgeous complexion while adding an element of ethereality.
Avoid These Practices
If you want to know how to deal with dull skin, there are a few recipes you can follow. Likewise, if you want to avoid dull skin, here are a few things you should not do.
Avoid Foundation
Rather than trying to cover up your unhealthy skin with foundation, focus on fixing the issue by keeping your skin hydrated and using concealer only where necessary.
Avoid Harsh Products
Cleansers with harsh chemicals and exfoliants that contain large granules can actually damage your skin, leaving it worse off than when you started. Choose natural, plant-based products for a gentle and effective approach to your skincare routine.
Avoid Hot Water
Steer clear of scalding water when cleansing your skin—lukewarm is much gentler and won’t dehydrate or irritate it. In fact, hot water can even cause oilier skin types to produce more grease!
Don’t forget
Usually, dull skin is a direct result of bad skin care and an unhealthy diet. To get rid of your dull skin, you should improve your diet and use cleaner, more natural products.