While you're religiously avoiding cigarettes to save your skin, you're probably unknowingly committing at least four daily habits that dermatologists say are silently carving years into your face even faster.
Add VegOut to your Google News feed. 
Look, I get it.
We all know smoking ages your face - the wrinkles, the dull skin, the whole deal.
But here's what shocked me when I dove into the research: some of our daily habits are doing just as much damage, sometimes even more.
And the kicker? Most of us are guilty of at least half of these without even realizing it.
I started paying attention to these things about five years ago when a photographer friend pointed out how different my skin looked in photos from just two years apart.
That sent me down a rabbit hole of research that honestly changed how I approach my daily routine.
Let me walk you through what I discovered.
1) Sleeping on your stomach or side
Ever wake up with those deep lines on your face from your pillow? Those aren't just temporary marks.
When you press your face against a pillow for 6-8 hours every night, you're creating mechanical stress on your skin.
Over time, this breaks down collagen and creates permanent sleep wrinkles.
Dermatologists call them compression wrinkles, and unlike expression lines, they don't follow your natural facial movements.
I was a die-hard side sleeper until I learned this.
The transition to back sleeping took about three weeks of awkward nights, but the difference in my morning face convinced me it was worth it.
If you absolutely can't sleep on your back, at least invest in a silk pillowcase - the reduced friction helps minimize the damage.
2) Forgetting your neck and hands when applying sunscreen
We're pretty good about slathering SPF on our faces these days.
But what about your neck? Your hands? Your ears?
These areas get just as much sun exposure as your face, sometimes more.
Yet research shows that 80% of people skip these spots entirely.
The result? Your face might look great, but your neck gives away your age every single time.
I've mentioned this before, but sun damage accounts for up to 80% of visible facial aging signs.
And here's the thing - it's cumulative.
Every single day without protection adds up, even on cloudy days when UV rays still penetrate through.
3) Sipping through straws constantly
Remember when everyone was carrying around those massive Stanley cups with straws? Well, there's a downside to that trend.
The repetitive pursing motion you make when using a straw creates fine lines around your mouth - the same ones smokers get, ironically enough.
Do it thousands of times (which you will if you're a daily straw user), and those lines become permanent.
Does this mean you should never use a straw? Not necessarily.
But maybe save them for special occasions rather than your daily iced coffee routine.
4) Squinting at screens without proper lighting
How many hours do you spend staring at screens each day?
Now ask yourself: how often are you squinting during those hours?
Poor lighting forces your facial muscles to work overtime, creating crow's feet and forehead lines way earlier than they'd naturally appear.
A study from the Vision Council found that the average American spends over 7 hours looking at screens daily, and most of us are doing it wrong.
The fix is simple but requires consistency.
Adjust your screen brightness to match your surroundings, position monitors at arm's length, and follow the 20-20-20 rule: every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds.
5) Over-exfoliating your skin
The skincare industry has convinced us that more is better.
Scrub away those dead cells!
Get that baby-smooth skin!
But aggressive or too-frequent exfoliation strips away your skin's protective barrier, leading to inflammation, broken capillaries, and accelerated aging.
Your skin needs some of those natural oils to maintain elasticity and protect against environmental damage.
How much is too much?
If you're exfoliating more than twice a week or if your skin feels tight and sensitive after, you're overdoing it.
I learned this the hard way after going through a phase where I was basically sandpapering my face daily.
Not my brightest moment.
6) Rubbing your eyes
Whether it's from allergies, tiredness, or just habit, eye rubbing is incredibly common.
But the skin around your eyes is the thinnest on your face - about 0.5mm compared to 2mm elsewhere.
Every time you rub, you're breaking down elastin and collagen in that delicate area.
Plus, the pulling and tugging creates premature wrinkles and can even cause blood vessels to break, leading to dark circles.
Next time you feel the urge, try using a cold compress instead.
Your future self will thank you.
7) Dehydration from too much caffeine
I love my morning coffee as much as anyone.
Living in California, coffee culture is basically a religion.
But here's what that third cup is really doing to your face.
Caffeine is a diuretic, meaning it makes you lose water.
When you're dehydrated, your skin loses elasticity and fine lines become more pronounced.
Chronic dehydration actually shrinks your skin cells, making wrinkles deeper and more visible.
The solution isn't giving up coffee entirely (let's be realistic).
Just match each cup with a glass of water.
Simple, but most of us forget to do it.
8) Extreme dieting and weight fluctuations
Yo-yo dieting doesn't just mess with your metabolism - it's brutal on your face.
When you lose weight rapidly, your facial fat pads shrink, causing skin to sag.
Gain it back, and the skin stretches.
Do this repeatedly, and you're fast-tracking the loss of skin elasticity that naturally happens with age.
Plus, extreme diets often cut out essential fatty acids and nutrients your skin needs to repair and regenerate.
I've seen friends age five years in six months trying to drop weight for summer.
It's not worth it.
9) Ignoring your sleep position wrinkles
Beyond just sleeping on your stomach, there's another issue: using too many pillows or positioning your head at weird angles.
When your neck is bent at an unnatural angle for hours, it creates deep horizontal lines across your neck - what people call "tech neck" but in your sleep.
These lines can become permanent surprisingly quickly, especially after age 35 when collagen production naturally slows down.
The ideal position? One pillow that keeps your spine aligned.
Your head shouldn't tilt up or down significantly.
Wrapping up
Here's what struck me most when researching all this: none of these habits seem like a big deal on their own.
But stack them up, do them daily for years, and suddenly you're looking at serious cumulative damage.
The good news? Unlike smoking, most of these are relatively easy to change once you're aware of them.
You don't need expensive treatments or complete lifestyle overhauls.
Just small, conscious adjustments to habits you probably didn't even know were problems.
I'm not saying you need to become obsessive about every little thing you do.
But maybe pick the three or four from this list that you're most guilty of and start there.
Your face in ten years will be grateful you paid attention now.
After all, aging is inevitable, but looking like you've aged faster than you should? That's entirely optional.
