Katy's top five tips for: Amazing, clear skin.

You may have noticed that I have really nice skin. It's one of the things that I like the most about my appearance. Here are my top five for getting (and keeping) it that way.

Tip #1: Have really great genes.
I'm really, really sorry about this one to all of you who don't have such great skin naturally, but the number one reason that I have such lovely skin is because my mum and my nan do. To look at my nan now, at 70 years of age, you would swear she's much younger. My mum often gets the "but you don't look old enough to have children in their 30's!" too. This is another reason for my distinct lack of wrinkles, but that's a post for another time.

However, if you're not quite so genetically blessed, you can definitely do tips 2 through 5 and really get that skin glowing and looking clearer and smoother.

Tip #2: WATER!
Drink it, bathe in it. Do both of those things very regularly and you have a recipe for clear skin. Drinking water helps to keep toxins from building up in our system and ejecting themselves through our pores, causing breakouts. You should be aiming for 2 litres of water per day at a minimum. Other drinks don't count as "water" consumption, because they generally contain things like chemicals and sugar which cause more breakouts. If you don't like tap water, try bottled instead.

Tip #3: Know your breakouts.
If you break out massively all over your chin every month around the same time, it might be time to get those hormones in check. Breakouts on the lower half of the face are generally caused by hormonal changes and imbalances. Likewise, if you're breaking out all over your forehead, you need to watch your intake of sugary, fatty, oily foods which build up the toxins in your system and cause breakouts that way. The more you know about the cause of your breakouts, the more effective you can be at treating the cause, not just the symptoms.

Tip #4: Let it breathe!
Your skin needs to "breathe" in order for it to stay breakout-free and silky smooth. When I say "breathe", I mean that you really need to spend a day or two at least, per week, without makeup caking in your pores and preventing them from excreting sebum and releasing the naturally occurring dead skin cells and biological waste that is important to keep skin functioning correctly. On those days, you should apply your usual skin care products, as well as UV protection to protect your skin from outside pollution.

Tip #5: Great skin care products.
This isn't a post to spruik any particular skin care product. All I'm going to tell you about skin care products is that once you find a line that really works for you, and your skin is looking and feeling great, stick with it. You need, at the very least, a good cleanser and moisturiser. Toner is also a good thing to have, and additionally you may choose to use eye creams and night time moisturisers. Invest the time and effort into your skin while you're young, and the rewards will be amazing as you age, trust me. You should be using quality (but not necessarily expensive) products from puberty, and incorporating anti-ageing products into your routine as you hit your mid to late twenties. In your mid thirties, you can begin to really combat those age signs with targeted anti-wrinkle, vitamin A and collagen treatments and products.