5 Things You Need To Stop Doing To Your Skin
By Orla, April 8, 2016
Sometimes the most damaging mistakes you can make with your skin are the most simple mistakes, the ones you wouldn’t think are that bad. Sorry to burst your bubble but they are that bad and you should really try to avoid doing them.
These are five of the most common mistakes people make with their skin care.
1. “Cleansing” using Face Wipes
Face wipes are so, so bad for your skin. You might think you are doing a great job at looking after your skin because you always take your makeup off with your trusty face wipes? Wrong!
Face wipes are full of alcohol which dries out the skin and they are way too harsh for the sensitive skin around your eyes (even if they are for sensitive skin or claim to remove eye makeup). Do you ever notice a burning sensation when you use them?
Face wipes can sit on a shop shelf for 18 months before they’re even bought, so think about how many chemicals and preservatives they have to be soaked in to keep the moist cloths free from bacteria.
2. Not Taking Your Makeup Off Before Bed
There are a number of reasons why this is awful for your skin. The most obvious reason being that the makeup will seep deep into your pores as your skin attempts to regenerate itself overnight, causing you to have breakouts and blackheads.
Another problem this causes is that the makeup rubs off into your pillowcase which is a breeding ground for bacteria. You are basically feeding the bacteria that you plan to plant your face in as you sleep. Again, leading to increased breakouts and bad skin.
3. Squeezing Spots
It’s been said before but we’ll say it again. Don’t squeeze your spots however tempting it may be. What actually happens is you squeeze out the bit of puss you can see towards the surface of the skin, but you squeeze the remainder of the spot that you can’t see even deeper into the layers of your skin.
This then causes the spot to get bigger and pushes the contents into other pores which creates more spots nearby to the original spot. Instead, treat it with a cream to dry it out and kill the bacteria.
4. Using Dirty Makeup Brushes & Sponges
Your makeup brushes and sponges eat your makeup as you apply it, which then becomes compact and bacteria starts to feast. You then rub that bacteria all over your face the next time you apply your makeup. You can see the pattern – eventually dirty makeup applicators will lead to breakouts.
If that hasn’t scared you enough, we’ll just leave this video here (warning, it’s slightly disturbing):
5. Over-Exfoliating
If you exfoliate your skin too much, you could end up with one of two problems:
- Dry, broken skin – you’ve stripped the skin of it’s natural barrier and nutrients and your skin doesn’t have time to repair and protect itself before you’re doing it all over again
- Oily skin – your skin produces extra sebum to compensate for the lack of natural oil and skin that you have removed. This will lead to breakouts and clogged pores – the very thing you wanted rid of in the first place.
