While you may strive to take the best possible care of your skin, there are a few everyday skin care mistakes that many do not realize they are making. If you want your skin to really be able to thrive, make sure that you avoid all of these common missteps.
Over-Exfoliation
As satisfying as it may feel to slough off that layer of dead skin cells that sit on the surface of your skin, exfoliating too often will end up causing damage to the top layer of your skin. This is where your skin’s protective barrier lies, whose job it is to protect the skin from the environment, while retaining moisture. By over-exfoliating, you end up buffing this barrier away, leaving your skin more vulnerable to everything from sun damage to environmental toxins. Twice a week is usually the recommended amount to exfoliate, but, if you feel as though you need to exfoliate more often, be sure to build this up slowly, and keep checking whether your skin is able to tolerate it.
Using Dirty Makeup Brushes
You may not think that using an unclean makeup brush would have much of an impact on your skin, but it really does. Not only does makeup end up building up within your makeup brush, but so does dirt and bacteria, meaning that each time you swipe the brush across your skin, you are transferring all of these impurities to your face. To avoid this, be sure to clean your brush collection at least once a week using a dedicated brush cleaner, paying special attention to your foundation brush and makeup sponge.
Applying Products in the Wrong Order
While this may not seem like that big of a deal, the order in which you apply your skin care products actually has a huge influence over how effective those products are. The general rule of thumb is that the thinner and more lightweight the product, the closer it should be to your skin. This means that you should begin with the product that has the thinnest consistency, such as a serum, and follow this up with thicker ones. This will enable each product to be fully absorbed into your skin, but do make sure to leave a couple of minutes in between products, so that the active ingredients in each have time to work before being diluted by the next product.
Forgetting About Sunscreen
By now, the damage that the sun can cause to your skin is well-documented, but many people still step out each day without a drop of sunscreen on their skin. Not only is the sun responsible for up to 90% of facial wrinkles, but it can also damage DNA and lead to skin cancer, which is why a broad spectrum sunscreen is absolutely essential. Do not forget that sunscreen needs to be reapplied throughout the day, so if this is something that you have trouble remembering, try to keep a bottle of sunscreen in different locations, such as your home, office and car.
While some of these missteps may not seem that important, this is exactly what makes them so harmful, as people tend to underestimate them. From using unclean makeup brushes to forgetting about sunscreen, make sure that, for the sake of your skin, you never make these mistakes again.
