Skin. What a love-hate relationship we human beings have with our skin. We love it when it’s smooth and youthful; we loathe it when it’s dry and looking aged. The older we get, the more our skin becomes something we must take care of. I wanted to expose you to three simple habits we can learn to keep our skin feeling good and healthy.

1. Exfoliating

To avoid the build-up of cells, which can cause acne, blocked pores, and dullness, we must exfoliate. The skin regenerates, turning over a new epidermis every 28-30 days. This keeps the body looking new, well… as new as it can for our given ages. We can keep our cells on their “toes” by gently exfoliating on a daily basis. You can purchase any mild exfoliant, chemical or physical, at any drugstore or grocery store. But, if you have five minutes to spare at home, there are a few easy options to make either one. Make sure to moisturize with your favorite lotion or crème everywhere you’ve exfoliated. If your skin is naturally quite oily, try spraying it with mineral water.

For chemicals, think acids – orange, lemon, tomato. All fruits, yes even tomato, whose juice, when rubbed on the skin, does the job of eating away at the superficial skin cells nicely, and gently! Just squeeze some juice of one of these babies onto your hands and apply to your face, neck and chest, even your whole body if you have enough juice, the fruit enzymes do the job. One layer or swipe of the hands will do the trick, no need to douse yourself. Only use one at a time, mixing fruit acids could result in a rash.

For physical, a natural bristle body brush, or homemade sugar or salt scrub is a fantastic way to do this. Whichever you use, make sure to apply long strokes toward your heart, from the feet up. If you do your face, be extra gentle with that skin. Combine a cup of sugar or salt with olive, grape seed, avocado or coconut oil. Add in some honey until the consistency is to your liking. Then scrub and rinse.

2. Loving

This one is even simpler. The majority of our bodies are made up of H2O, that’s water for anyone wondering. In short, water responds to energy, negative or positive. So, saying some nice things to yourself on a daily basis might be the best habit you can get into. If you feel silly, do it in the shower. Connect with your skin. Gently tap your skin with your fingertips, everywhere while you’re telling it how much you love it, out loud. Even cooing like you would to a baby or a puppy does wonders. Your skin will listen and in a short time, with this habit in play, people will start telling you how good you look. Guaranteed. The glow of love is a real thing. It’s physics.

3. Nourishing

Your skin loves water, so drink clean water every day. Water is the ultimate skin nourishment. It moisturizes you from the inside out. Teas, made from the bag, not the bottle, are in fact even more hydrating than water alone. Again, it’s physics. The polyphenols in tea attach to the water molecules and when you ingest it, the polyphenols deposit in the cell vacuole, energizing it to do its job, and the H2O flushes through your cells and system. Pretty cool habit to get into. And as a tea drinker, you could even dare to call yourself fancy.

Take my tips in with stride and you’ll be able to see a noticeable difference in your skin within a couple of weeks.