Going Back to the Basics: Common Mistakes and Your Local Store
Wanting to take better care of your skin is the first step to finding your perfect routine. Although, you can’t just rush to your local store and just buy anything and everything. Everyone has a skin type, and buying products that aren’t for your skin can do more harm than good. We’ve put together a list of common mistakes made when taking care of your skin.
Not Washing your Face Before Bed
It may not seem like anything but this is an essential step to any skin routine, especially if you’re wearing makeup. The skin repairs itself at night, but if you leave your skin unwashed you leave all the bacteria from the day on it. This can be from touching your face, sweat, touching your phone, etc. Washing your face before bed makes sure that all bacteria is off. This reduces breakouts and clogged pores.
Even Worse, Leaving Your Makeup on
Leaving your makeup on overnight is even worse. This definitely clogs your pores and doesn’t allow your skin to heal. In addition, leaving your makeup on for long periods of time can lead to irritation and breakouts.
Washing Your Face with a Washcloth
I’m sure some of you have heard that washing your face with a washcloth can cause wrinkles. Wrinkles are caused by low levels of collagen. That’s actually a myth. However, if you wash your face too aggressively can lead to rashes and irritation. You should also make sure to pat your face when you dry it, not rub it. If you rub it this can damage your skin and cause wrinkles.
Washing your Face with Bar Soap
Your face has different skin from the rest of your body, especially around your eyes. Because of that you shouldn’t wash your face with a bar of soap. A bar of soap, no matter how expensive or nice, strips your skin of water. This can create dead cell buildup. Which can make your skin clogged or feel dry. This can lead you to trying to put on moisturizer after you just cleaned your skin. It also reverses the effect exfoliants have since you get more dead skin buildup.
Over Washing Your Face
This is a common mistake usually seen in oily and acne skin types. While this makes sense to try and remove bacteria and excess oil, this does more harm than good. The oil your skin makes is also a layer of protection. Over washing can strip your skin of its natural and protective oils. This impairs your skin, which can lead to irritation and inflammation. In the long term this can also train your body to produce more oil. For acne, dried out skin can actually cause MORE acne.
Over Exfoliating with Harsh Scrubs
Just like above if you exfoliate too often you end up hurting your skin! Sometimes we think if we dry flakes we need to exfoliate. But you should make sure that you’re getting dry flakes because of dead cell buildup, not because of dry skin. How do you tell the difference? If you moisturize and still see flakes, then you should exfoliate. If you skin is dull, this could also be due to dry skin buildup. using an exfoliater can help remove that layer. Just make sure you don’t overdo it. This can lead to tears in the skin that causes wrinkles. At max your face should be twice a week.
Leaving Your Skin Bare after Washing it
You don’t have to be the flash after washing your face and skin. But it is important to try and get the first product like a toner onto your skin within 60 seconds. This is because your skin starts to dry out and suck in air. Which can lead to that dry and tight feeling. It also builds up dead skin like mentioned above. The sooner you get those products on the sooner your skin is protected.
Using Essential Oils on Your Face
This is something that has recently blown up, and they’re not all bad. However, they are not meant for your face. These oils are extremely concentrated. This can cause various skin irritations and reactions. Especially since some of these have added fragrances. Rashes are uncomfortable!
Skipping Toners
This is an important one. Toners not only even skin tone, they are a great aide after washing your face. Like we talked about above, this should be applied within 60 seconds to avoid drying out your skin. Toners help lock in that hydration. Not only that, they remove any excess dirt and oil your face wash didn’t get. Toners are also great at removing any chlorine and minerals found in tap water. Making your after care able to travel deep into your skin.
Using Alcohol Based Toners
Okay so we understand that toners are important. But what about alcohol based toners? These should be avoided. These can actually dehydrate the skin and lead to dull cell buildup.
Using Products that are NOT for Your Skin Type
This is important in more than one way. If you have sensitive skin you should make sure you’re using products aimed for that. Not using products for sensitive skin can lead to damage and unwanted reactions. This is also important for all skin types. If you use something that isn’t for your type you will not see improvement. You also want to make sure you are looking for products targeted to what you want to help. For example, if you’re trying to help your acne look for products that reduce acne.
Treating Blemishes Wrong
Everyone breaks out. You don’t have to be in your teens to have it happen. So how do you treat blemishes wrong? Well for one, don’t pick at it! Applying spot treatments at the wrong phase may also not help. This may actually make it last longer or even leave a scar. So what about the phase? Well, if you have a cystic blemish you should actually do nothing. That’s right. Cystic blemishes never rise to the surface of the skin. If it is a pustular, then you can gently squeeze, not force the white head out. But this is when they are completely visible.
Using Only Spot Treatments for Acne
This goes with the above. You can’t just treat a whole area with spot treatments. If your face is getting acne in one area or spot, it will more than likely get in a close area. We need to treat even what we cannot see to prevent breakouts.
Picking at Your Skin
Pimple popping can be addicting, but it does more harm than good. So stop touching your face! Not only does it give you that red and inflamed skin, it can spread bacteria. This can lead to more acne. This is also what causes acne scars.
Using Products that Strip the Skin's Barrier
Striping your skin of it’s barrier does a lot of harm. Not only does it damage your skin, it will cause inflammation and irritation. Leading to more time your skin has to take to repair itself. But if you have sensitive skin this is especially important. Stripping your skin of its barrier can actually make your skin even more sensitive. You should look for products that leave you hydrated, not squeaky clean. If it’s squeaky clean, you’ve stripped your protective layer.
Being too Aggressive with Sensitive Skin
So you can be more sensitive if you strip your skin. But what if you’re too aggressive overall? This can make inflammation worse. This is especially true in people with rosacea. While a gentle wash may not feel as sturdy as when you exfoliate, it does its job to protect and heal your skin.
Using a lot of Anti-Aging Products
Using a million products doesn’t mean you’ll see results faster. Skin care is a commitment, not a race. Using too many products leads to irritation. Also, remember that your skin has a limit to much it can absorb. If you put too much it can also clog your pores. Once you find something you like stick to it.
Using too much Moisturizer of You're Oily or have Acne
Moisturizer is bad? Oh no! It really does help, but if you’re using too much this can lead to clogged pores. Your skin can only absorb so much. If you’re oily or have acne prone skin make sure it is in moderation to prevent more oil or acne.
Skipping Daily Sunscreen
This is probably one of the most important steps in a skin care routine! You really need this everyday. It doesn’t matter if it’s cloudy outside! Over sun exposure can lead to skin cancer, but even short spurts it can hurt. Not only does it cause sunburn, it can cause sunspots.
Relaying Only on Makeup SPF
Okay, so you use sunscreen…in your makeup. That is not enough! You should at least use 30 SPF broad spectrum sunscreen. Sunscreen protects you from everything mentioned above, but also helps you from aging too soon. Always wear sunscreen under any makeup!
Using Pore Clogging Makeup
You can wear makeup, just make sure you don’t over wear it by sleeping in it, or for too many hours. You should also look to see if your makeup is mineral oil and glycerin based. This isn’t any good and will definitely cause clogged pores.
Using a Tanning Bed
So we talked about sunscreen and how important it is. This means tanning beds are a no go. This actually increases your melanoma risk. It also causes premature aging of the skin, and can make it look leathery. Yikes!
Poor Diet
I’m sure some of you have heard that chocolate or something of the sort will cause breakouts. That is only somewhat true. You can still eat what you enjoy, just in moderation. Consuming an excessive amount of dairy and sugar can lead to more oil production. Which can cause acne. However, having a poor diet overall means your body isn’t getting everything it needs. This can cause premature aging for your skin.
Not Drinking Enough Water
Water is important for so many reasons even in health! Hydration is key to anti aging and your skin perks up when you have it! If you have oily skin and are dehydrated your body will actually make more oil to try and hydrate itself.
Shopping at Your Local Store
So now that you know some common mistakes you’re ready to shop! You don’t need to break the bank right away, especially if you’re still finding what you like. I would suggest taking your time to read the products and just purchasing travel items or the smaller product sizes to try out. Here’s a quick breakdown of the items you need:
- Face Wash
- Exfoliater
- Toner (and cotton balls to use it)
- Small soft towel
- Moisturizer
- Sunscreen
- Acne treatments (not just spot ones)
- Makeup remover
Remember to look for products that or your skin type and areas that you want to improve. For example, if you want brighter skin look for products that aide that. Be wary of products that say for all skin types. Usually if you have sensitive skin this can cause more harm than good. But this also indicates there really isn’t anything to target so you may not see improvement. Once you find something you like stick to it. Using too many and switching too often won’t help your skin. Here’s to happy self care days!
