It’s taken me quite some time to weed out all the bad skin care habits and mistakes I was making on a daily basis, but the journey was totally worth it.
I used to suffer from chronic redness, flakiness, large pores and excess oil. I was over-exfoliating, under moisturizing and pretty much ignoring what my skin was trying to tell me – that the skin care products I was using and how I used them were all wrong for me.
But I finally realized what my skin really needed to stay healthy and was able to make a few simple tweaks to my skin care routine with amazing results. So what did I learn about skin in the last 20 years? Keep reading to find out all the skin care mistakes and bad habits to avoid!
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1. Not Double Cleansing To Remove Makeup + SPF
This is a skin care mistake I made for a loooooong time – like 15 years too long. I actually didn’t start double cleansing until a few years ago…don’t hate me skin, OK? What is double cleansing? Well, if you wear makeup and/or sunscreen, you need to double cleanse your face afterwards to ensure that you get all of it off.
Sunscreens and makeup really sink into the skin and most of the time, a single cleanse won’t remove everything.
Not properly removing makeup and SPF can lead to clogged pores, blackheads and blemishes and will also block your essences, serums, treatments or moisturizers from absorbing properly. So how do you double cleanse? It’s simple!
First step: wash your face using an oil-based cleanser, balm or micellar water, which will properly break down the SPF or makeup (the Purito Oil Cleanser or pure coconut oil are my go-to cleansers at the moment!). Second step: follow up with an oil-free cleanser to remove any residue or leftover bits you may have missed in the first cleanse (I love using the Cosrx Low pH Good Morning cleanser or the Belif Aqua Bomb Jelly Cleanser for this step.)
Double cleansing is simple and can make a huge difference to your complexion! Adding a proper double-cleanse into my skin care routine instantly changed the texture and feel of my skin. Some of my fave makeup/SPF removers are The Body Shop’s Camomile Cleansing Butter and the Garnier Micellar Water.
RELATED READING: British Rose Petal-Soft Gel Toner & Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter From The Body Shop
2. Not Wearing Sunscreen Daily
This skin care mistake to avoid is EPIC! So many people dish out tons of money on anti-aging skin care products and treatments but fail to apply sunscreen every day – which makes zero sense to me. The sun is your skin’s biggest enemy; it speeds up the aging process (referred to as “photo-aging”) by contributing to fine lines and wrinkles, loss of elasticity, dark spots and even skin cancer.
That’s why applying sunscreen is an essential step in your skin care routine – regardless of your age – to prevent sun damage and keep your skin healthy and radiant for as long as possible. Always apply a broad-spectrum sunscreen of at least SPF50 as the last step in your skin care routine and be sure to re-apply after 2 hours. Sunscreen is essential ALL YEAR ROUND! You heard me! Even in winter and on cloudy days.
As a rule, if you can see outside without a flashlight, skin-damaging UV rays are out.
Staying indoors? Hate to break it to you, but if you work next to a window where the sun is coming in and reaching your skin, you’ll need to break out the SPF too.
One of my favourite broad-spectrum sunscreens is La Roche Posay Anthelios Ultra-Light Sunscreen.
3. Pimple Popping
Yes, I know how much fun popping a huge zit can be – I’m not immune to this guilty pleasure myself – but squeezing pimples and blackheads can allow dirt and bacteria to get into the skin and make matters even worse. If you suffer from blemishes, first try to reduce the blemish with acne fighting ingredients, like salicylic acid, azelaic acid, niacinamide or bakuchiol.
Lightly exfoliate the blemish, either using a gentle scrub or an acid-based toner. The gentle exfoliation can help reduce the spot. If you really need to squeeze that zit:
-Be sure to properly wash your hands and face first
-Gently squeeze the pimple using the pads of your fingers – NOT your nails – to avoid tearing the skin
-Push downwards and inwards gently; if you need to use a lot of pressure/squeezing, the pimple isn’t ready to be popped! Leave it alone.
4. Washing With Very Hot or Cold Water
While taking a super-scalding shower in the winter might feel great, hot water can strip the skin of its natural moisturizing oils and dry it out. This is also true of excessively cold water, too. Always wash your skin using lukewarm water to avoid dryness and moisturize your skin afterwards to replenish hydration.
5. Over-Exfoliating
Anyone else besides me guilty of using the original St. Ives Apricot face scrub daily? While exfoliation is a great way to remove the build-up of dead skin cells for smoother, brighter skin, over-exfoliation can be super damaging to the skin’s natural moisture barrier.
Tip: Signs of over-exfoliation from scrubs and acid exfoliants include dry/tight skin, redness, flakiness, sensitivity and bumpy skin texture.
Avoid exfoliating scrubs with harsh particles like nut shells that can tear and damage the skin; instead, opt for exfoliating beads if you insist on using a scrub. Always listen to your skin and adjust how often you exfoliate based on how your skin looks and feels.
If you see any signs of over-exfoliation, reduce how often you exfoliate or consider adjusting your exfoliation products to more gentle options.
6. Not Changing Your Towels/Washcloths
Towels and washcloths get dirty through frequent use and can harbour bacteria, which can then transfer to your skin and cause blemishes and pimples. Be sure to change your towels weekly to avoid bacteria build up and ensure they are hung at the end of each use to properly dry out after each use.
If you use a washcloth to clean your face, you should change your washcloth after each use.
7. Using Too Much Product Or Not Enough
It’s important to understand how much of each skin care product you should use to get the most benefit without wasting it or irritating your skin unnecessarily. For example, potent products like retinol are to be used in small amounts to reduce the risk of irritation. A pea-sized amount of retinol is strong enough to treat your entire face and ensure you don’t waste it.
Other products need to be applied to skin more liberally to be effective, like moisturizers and sunscreens. If you don’t apply enough sunscreen to your face (about a teaspoon or so), you will not be getting the full SPF strength of the product, which can lead to unnecessary sun damage.
Below you can find a graphic that provides some guidance on how much of each skin care product you need for your face.
Keep in mind that different products may require more or less than what is shown below.
8. DIY Skin Care
Now, to be clear, not all DIY skin care is bad for your skin. But there are a lot of DIY masks and treatments that can do more harm than good, so don’t trust everything you see in the DIY skin care section of Pinterest!
Some natural ingredients, such as lemon juice or baking soda, can interfere with your skin’s natural pH levels, leading to dryness and irritation.
Other DIY skin care hacks to avoid use products like toothpaste to reduce pimples or glue to remove blackheads – WTF? Remember, all products and their ingredients are formulated and tested for specific uses; products like glue or toothpaste were not intended to be applied to skin as a treatment and were not tested for this purpose, so be wary of crazy “skin care hacks” that promise you perfect skin with products not intended for use on the skin.
If you don’t want to take the chance – or simply don’t have the time for DIY skincare – you can get an at home cosmetic treatment that is administered by professionals. They can help rejuvenate your skin in the comfort of your home while you can rest assured that your treatment has been performed correctly.
9. Layering Your Skin Care Incorrectly
It’s okay to tinker with the order of your skin care products, to a point. But to ensure that the products you are using are working for your skin as intended and being absorbed properly, applying your skin care in the correct order – or something close to it – can maximize your results and keep skin healthy.
Imagine if you applied your facial oil before your retinol – how well would your retinol be able to absorb if your facial oil is blocking it? In general, skin care products are normally applied from thinner products to thicker – think lighter, water-based ingredients first and more emollient or oil-based products later.
While some skin care steps can be re-arranged, sunscreen is ALWAYS applied last in your skin care routine.
A general skin care routine that you can follow to apply your skin care products is:
- Face wash
- Exfoliating toner/peel (optional step)
- Hydrating toner (optional step)
- Hydrating essence (optional step)
- Treatment/serums (optional step)
- Eye cream (optional step)
- Moisturizer
- Facial Oil (optional Step)
- Sunscreen (always last!)
An Easy 5 Step Skin Care Routine For Beginners
Not sure how to get your skin care routine started? I share my 5 step skin care routine and the products I use for each step
10. Touching Your Face Too Much
Most people touch their face countless times per day; it’s a natural habit and also a common skin care mistake to avoid. But our hands carry tons of bacteria and other impurities that accumulate from touching all kinds of different surfaces during the day; this dirt and bacteria can then be transferred to our face and cause blemishes or irritation.
If you can, try to limit how much you touch your face during the day and wash your hands periodically to remove dirt and bacteria if you are a chronic face-toucher. Also remember to disinfect your cell phone regularly, as your fingers are constantly touching the phone screen, which you then rest against your face when you talk on it.
11. Not Using Products Targeted For Your Skin Type Or Skin Needs
Do you still use acne products on your face, even though you no longer suffer from acne? Then you fall into this skin care mistake category. Using the wrong skin care products for your skin type can lead to irritation, clogged pores, blemishes, redness, excess oiliness or dryness and other unnecessary skin issues that could be avoided just by using more compatible products.
Understand what your skin type is and make sure you are using products that work with your skin type, not against it.
Dry skin – skin is predominantly dry, flaky and tight; doesn’t absorb skin care products well.
Oily skin – skin is predominantly oily with enlarged pores.
Combination skin – mixture of both dry and oily skin conditions. Target the most predominant skin issue first.
It’s also important to treat the skin you have now, not the skin you had last month or last year or ten years ago. Skin care needs constantly change over time due to hormonal changes and the effects of just plain getting older (BOO!).
Weather conditions also impact what our skin, which is why you should re-assess your skin concerns each season. Always listen to your skin and adjust your skin care products in response.
9 Essentials For Your Winter Skin Care Routine
Get your skin ready for winter with my 9 winter skin care essentials.
12. Using Over-Drying Products
Oily skin types are usually the guiltiest of this skin care sin. I know this, because my skin used to be super oily and I would do anything possible to get rid of that damn shine! But stripping the skin of too much moisture can damage the skin’s moisture barrier and lead to dryness and irritation. Excess dryness can also cause your skin to pump out more oil in response – not good.
To avoid stripping the skin of its essential oils, avoid cleansers that leave your skin feeling tight and dry after you use them.
This “tight” feeling is your skin’s way of saying “I don’t like this” and is often the feeling associated with cleansers that are high in sulfates or oil absorbing ingredients like charcoal. Another ingredient that can damage the skin’s natural moisture barrier? Alcohol.
Alcohol is often used in high amounts in products targeted to oily skin, because it helps to mattify skin. Always check the ingredients label and consider avoiding products that have alcohol listed within the first 5 ingredients in the list if you are sensitive to alcohol or find it overly drying.
13. Using Too Many Products At Once
Getting a little too carried with that 10-step Korean skin care routine? *raises hand*
Creating a skin care routine with everything you need in it for a healthy complexion is quite the achievement, but sometimes us skin care lovers can get a little too carried away and put way too many products on hoping for better, faster results. While this may not necessarily be a negative for your skin, it could be a big negative for your wallet!
Consider what each product is doing for you and whether it really needs to be in your rotation.
You don’t need three serums and two moisturizers to get healthy skin and your routine doesn’t need to have 10 steps in it if you can get great skin with only 4 steps. Don’t get caught up in the trends, just do what’s right for you!
14. Not Being Consistent In Your Skin Care
Have you ever started a new diet, only to give up on it after a few days? Your skin care routine is similar to a healthy diet, because both need to be followed consistently for them to work! If you have a skin care goal in mind and have created a solid skin care routine, consistency is the key to results.
Some products – like retinol and other treatments – can take months before you see maximum results, so it’s important to stick to your skin care routine before you decide whether something is really working for you or not.
Having a hard time sticking to a cumbersome skin care routine? Just stick to the basics every day – cleanse, moisturize, sunscreen. Your skin will thank you!
15. Not Changing Your Pillowcase
Our pillows absorb tons of stuff while we sleep – oil, sweat, drool, skin care – so it’s important to regularly change your pillowcase. Just like hands and towels, your pillowcase collects dirt and bacteria while you sleep and then transfers it back to your face during your next slumber.
Change your pillowcase once a week (or once every two weeks if you remember to flip your pillow over) to keep your skin clean and clear.
You can also try a silk pillowcase while you sleep; they are supposed to reduce fine lines and chafing and absorb less of your skin care products too.
16. Over-Cleansing
A common skin care mistake among oily and acneic skin types is over-cleansing. Washing your face more than twice a day (once in the morning and once at night) can remove much needed oils from your skin and cause it to become more oily and/or irritated.
Following a solid skin care routine with products targeted to oily or blemished skin is much more effective than over-cleansing, trust me! You’re speaking to the converted…
And those are my top 16 skin care mistakes to avoid for a healthy complexion! Which ones are you guilty of?
