Stop Making These Common Skincare Mistakes

Even if you have a skincare routine locked down, if you’re making a few common mistakes then you can be doing a lot more harm than good. Avoid these bad practices and your skin will sincerely thank you.

Exfoliating Too Much or Not Enough

There are great natural oils in your skin that are there to help your skin defend against the world. Exfoliating too much removes this barrier, opening up your skin to become inflamed or dry out. Also, when you strip your skin of its natural oils, your body will actually create even more – leading to skin problems like acne.

It’s recommended that you only exfoliate 2 times per week. Any more can be harmful.

On the other end, if you don’t exfoliate enough then your skin’s pores can become clogged from dead skin cells and dirt. This leads to things like more acne, skin rashes, patchy skin, and more noticeable wrinkles.

We said it once, but we’ll say it again. Exfoliate 2 times per week, and you’ll have cleaner and healthier (but not irritated) skin.

Picking the Wrong Products for Your Skin

Everyone’s skin is different. You need to listen to yours. Simply going with the cheapest product or the brand your friends use is an easy pathway to mistreat your skin. Pay attention to what your skin is doing and pay attention to which ingredients are in your skincare products.

There are some common chemicals most people recommend avoiding. Those are:

-Parabens

-Phthalates

-BHT

-Lead

-Formaldehyde

-Phthalates

A lot of people assume that natural skincare products are the ultimate solution for avoiding skincare harm. While natural products can be great, and a lot have added benefits such as being more environmentally friendly and cruelty-free, not everyone’s skin is going to agree with natural products.

Again, listen to your skin, do your research, and pick products that don’t hurt your skin.

Using Normal Soap on Your Face

Stop it. Normal hand or bar soap is not good for your face. Normal soap is wonderful at removing dirt and grime – but also at removing your skins natural barriers against irritants. At the same time it also drastically dehydrates your skin as well.

The reason that you can use soap on other parts of your body but not your face is because your skin on your face is much more sensitive than your other skin.

There are a few reasons for this. Your face skin is thinner than other skin, it’s more likely to be exposed to sunlight and damaging UV rays, and the face is where your skin produces more sebum (a natural oil your body produces).

Avoid doing your face harm by keeping your soap away.

Not Being Patient or Consistent

Chill. Everything takes time, including for you to see actual results from a change in your skincare routine. Most people agree that it takes about a month to notice the effort you’ve been putting in. Some remedies for things like acne can take several weeks.

Which brings us to the second point – you need to stay consistent with your treatment and routine. Because it can take so long to see results, it can be tempting to call it quits early. Don’t do that. Keep on the ball. If you’re not consistent with your skincare routine, you might never see the desired results.

In the end, giving up or not staying diligent is just a waste of money and time – especially since some skincare products are rather expensive. If you’re patient and you keep to a good schedule, you’re far more likely to see amazing results.

Not Wearing Sunscreen

How often should you apply sunscreen? Every day. Yes really. No matter what complexion you have, sunscreen will protect you every time you go outside. Just because you’re not getting a sunburn doesn’t mean that your skin isn’t getting damaged by UV rays.

Most people are aware that UV rays can cause skin cancer, but UV rays can also cause unnecessary aging of your skin. Avoid the sun, avoid aging.

Thankfully applying sunscreen is easy. A lot of moisturizers have SPF protection built in, meaning if you find the right product, you don’t have to add a step to your skincare routine.

As for SPF, 30 is recommended. A higher SPF technically does help block a bit more sun…but the difference is really negligible. 30 SPF blocks 97% of UV rays, while 50 SPF blocks 99%. As long as you have 30, you’re doing great.

Not Drinking Enough Water

Water is so important for the health of your skin. Your skin is an organ, and it does need water to do its job. However, don’t think that just drinking water is going to automatically fix skin problems – it won’t.

Water helps transport nutrients to where they need to go. So if you supplement a good diet with water, you’re ensuring your skin will get everything it needs.

If you aren’t drinking water, or your diet is poor, your skin will most likely suffer because of it. When you’re trying to take care of your skin, you want to be positioned for success. While drinking a lot of water will probably not show you a visible difference, it will position your skin in a place to succeed with an effective skincare routine.

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