Skin care is everything nowadays. In the past, makeup looks were generally simple and skin care was not thought of as a must-have in your daily beauty routine. But during the late 2000's till present day, this has drastically changed. We as a society have intensive beauty routines from start to finish and a step you must never forget is skin care. We may be able to make our complexion look better with makeup but what about your skin itself? Here are five foolproof ways to maintain a healthy glow and keep those nasty breakouts to a minimum:

1. Eat well and stay hydrated.

Drinking an adequate amount of water every day and eating properly can drastically affect the health of your skin. Water keeps your skin hydrated and helps fight the production of wrinkles. Some argue that moisturizing your face can have the same effects but I believe both are equally important. Your diet can radically affect the condition of your skin as well. Eating foods high in sugar or processed oils will cause breakouts and severe acne for many people. Food with high volumes of processed ingredients can also cause the premature aging of skin.

2. Do not go to bed with makeup on.

I know ladies, we have all been in that situation where we are too tired to bother with washing our faces. So you knock out on your bed and wake up the next day singing Beyonce's "I Woke up Like This." But sleeping in your makeup will destroy your skin. Not only does it cause premature aging, but throughout the day your skin accumulates bacteria and not washing your makeup off, is choosing to leave a layer of dirty, bacteria ridden gunk on your skin all night long. That is just gross.

3. Wash your face every day and night.

There are very few people who are an exception to this rule. Some men don't need to wash their face every day because they aren't wearing makeup that dries out their skin, but for the majority of you beautiful people need to WASH YOUR FACE. Your face produces oils and catches bacteria throughout the day that needs to be washed off. Most breakouts can be traced back to an improper skin regimine.But please figure out your skin type and plan accordingly. Your face is a unique part of you and your skin care routine should accommodate that. Don't use anything with silicic acid or anything else trying to strip the skin. You will damage your skin, dry it out and cause more breakouts by taking the natural oils completely off of your face. Do yourself a favor by finding yourself a natural face wash and using it day and night. It will make a world of a difference.

4. Wear toner and moisturizer.

Moisturizing your skin will help keep the moisture you need on your face there and will also help regulate oil production. Many people have oily or dry skin due to improper moisturization Moisturizing will also help prevent premature aging and wrinkle production. Toner helps maintain a natural balance and can be homemade from essential oils and water. My two favorite combinations are rose-water and lavender or tea tree oil. Toners are also an amazing substitute to blotting pads. Blotting pads push the oils and dirt you are trying to get off of your skin back into your pores and creating more breakouts and oil production. Toners brighten the skin, hydrate and remove excess oil during the day without the negative side effects of blotting.

5. Exfoliate.

Last but certainly not least, exfoliate. Exfoliating helps take dead skin and debris from your face before it clogs your pores. Exfoliating is extremely important and there are many ways to do it. First of all, you need to get to know your skin. I have combination skin leaning more on the dry side and I can only exfoliate 3-4 times a week unless it is a light exfoliant like ground almonds. Sugar and salt are a rougher exfoliant but work great for certain skin types such as normal to oily complexions. Second of all, stay away from exfoliants such as St. Ives and anything containing microbeads. Microbeads are extremely bad for the environment and when consumed by fish they toxify the fish. This toxicity continues to multiply through the food chain until we consume it.

Keep your skin happy and healthy, beautiful people! Skin-care is a must-have!