Many things that cause thin, wrinkled, or otherwise imperfect skin can be prevented with just a few changes to your health and lifestyle routine. The simple skin-care habits below will help protect your skin and keep it healthy, glowing, and beautiful.

Protect Your Skin From the Sun

Over the course of your lifetime, sun damage will be the main culprit in aging your skin. Ultraviolet rays from the sun cause wrinkles, spots, and rough, leathery skin. Even more disturbing, prolonged exposure to the sun drastically increases your risk of skin cancer.

The good news is that you can minimize the harmful effects of the sun by taking the following actions:

Get Your Beauty Sleep

You’ve probably heard the cute little saying “getting your beauty sleep” before, but there’s actually a great deal of truth behind it.

Deep sleep gives your body a chance to go into repair mode and regenerate skin cells, leaving them fresh and glowing. Studies have shown that sleep deprived people have lower levels of the growth hormone that repairs environmental damage and produces new skin cells. You’ve probably seen first hand that lack of sleep will leave someone with gray saggy skin and dark circles under the eyes.

The lesson here is be sure to get plenty of sleep and take advantage of your body’s ability to repair itself. For best results, try to sleep on your back in order to avoid smashing your face into the bed or pillow. This can create wrinkles and skin creases that can become permanent if repeated every night. Sleeping on your back also helps to counter the effects of gravity that accumulate during the day. In a recent study of 38 women and men, Japanese researchers found that there was greater wrinkling in the afternoon than in the morning. The researchers concluded that the face literally falls with gravity as the day progresses. At night, you get a chance to reverse that.

Don’t Smoke!

Research has shown that exposure to cigarette smoke significantly increases skin wrinkles and dryness. Smoking decreases blood flow and depletes the skin of oxygen and important nutrients such as Vitamin C and Vitamin A.

Also, the facial movements required for smoking (such as pursing your lips and squinting your eyes) may contribute to wrinkles. In addition, the prolonged exposure to the heat from burning cigarettes may damage your face over time.

Exercise Regularly

Frequent exercise helps tone your muscles, tighten skin, improve circulation, deliver valuable nutrients to skin cells, and remove damaging toxins. It also helps your skin make collagen, the support fibers that help keep wrinkles and lines at bay.

Use a Moisturizer

Dry skin is more prone to forming wrinkles than any other skin type. Many factors contribute to dry skin from cold temperatures and winds to heated rooms. Moisturizers fight dry skin and help maintain your skin’s natural moisture levels.

Chose a moisturizer that’s free of heavy dyes, perfumes or other additives. If your skin is very dry, you may want to use an oil, such as baby oil or organic olive oil instead. Oil has more staying power than moisturizers do and prevents the evaporation of water from the surface of your skin.