Are You Committing These 7 Skin Care Sins?
Who doesn’t want youthful, radiant, and healthy looking skin? Taking care of your skin means something different to each of us. Some of us keep a 10-step beauty routine while others are all about the simpler life—a good face wash, an effective moisturizer and a non-toxic sunscreen. No matter how complex your beauty regimen is or isn’t—if you want beautiful glowing skin you should avoid these seven skin care sins.
Picking At Pimples
One of the biggest skin care sins, never pick at your pimples. How many times have you picked at a pimple and then regretted it? Picking at your skin can cause the inflammation to get worse, resulting in a larger, more noticeable blemish. You’re also opening yourself up to the possibility of a worse infection—literally. When you pop a pimple, you create an open tear in the skin, making it susceptible to newer bacteria and possibly delaying the healing process. You also increase your chances of scarring. Another common issue that arises from pimple popping is that it leads to more pimples! Releasing the bacteria-filled oil gives it the ability to spread and infect other areas of the skin. As satisfying as it may feel to burst a blemish, leave it alone and let it do its thing. It’s just not worth it!
Not Protecting Your Skin With Sunscreen
We could go on and on, but the truth is there isn’t any way around this. While Vitamin D is crucial for a variety of reasons (and there are healthy ways to get sun exposure) protecting your face with sunscreen all year round is a MUST. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun is the number one cause of premature aging. When you commit to wearing sunscreen every day, you drastically reduce your chances of fine lines, wrinkles, uneven skin tone, hyperpigmentation, and brown spots. If you’re not concerned with premature aging skin more power to you but skipping out on sunscreen could also lead to skin cancer. Think it can’t happen to you? Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States, with more than 3 million cases diagnosed each year.
Going To Bed With Your Makeup On
Hello, large clogged pores and oil glands! Sleeping with your makeup on is one of the biggest no-nos if you want beautiful, healthy skin. When you go to bed with makeup on you’re not allowing your skin to breathe. Makeup becomes trapped in your pores and leads to bacterial growth which in turn leads to acne breakouts. And that’s not all. Build-up from makeup can stretch your pores out making them appear larger, your skin duller and ultimately make you look older. Cleanse your face immediately when you get home, this way, there’s no opportunity for you to be too tired (or lazy) to do it when it’s time for bed. Another trick is to leave makeup removing face wipes (like these) bedside. If you accidentally get into bed with your makeup on, you can at least use a wipe to quickly get most of it off before you fall asleep.
Using Expired Makeup
We’ve warned you before! Expired makeup doesn’t work as well, but even worse it can cause redness, bumps or a rash to develop. Some of the more severe side effects include blisters to the face and swelling of the skin. Expired makeup will get your skin into some serious trouble. If you missed our previous article on tossing out old makeup take the time to read it here.
Not Cleaning Your Brushes and Sponges
If you’re not cleaning your makeup brushes regularly, then your beauty routine is missing a vital step. Dirty makeup brushes and sponges are breeding grounds for bacteria. The most obvious effect uncleaned tools have on your skin are breakouts, but even worse things can happen. Harmful bacteria left behind can cause skin problems like rosacea, atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, pink eye, and even staph infections. Sponges and brushes accumulate dead skin cells, dirt, oil, and bacteria. Each time you use a dirt brush or sponge you’re not only spreading all of the above mentioned all over your face but you’re also creating an unhealthy cycle. From your brush, into your makeup, onto your face, back into your makeup. Think it can’t get any grosser than that? Watch this!
Never Disinfecting Your Cellphone
Talk about a petri dish! Your smart device is hoarding all types of germs, dirt, and grease. In 2017, Time Magazine reported that cell phones carry ten times more bacteria than a toilet seat. If you want to get rid of all the gross bacteria accumulating on your phone, then you’ll need to sanitize your phone regularly. Wiping it down with a t-shirt won’t cut it, and standard cleaning products will erode the oil-resistant coating your cell phone comes with (that coating is there to keep fingerprints and smudges off the screen). A powerful, non-toxic screen cleaner spray like this one leaves your screen surface 99.99% clean of dust, dirt, oil, and gunk.
Neglecting A Change In Your Skin
Do not hesitate to see a dermatologist if you see a significant change in your skin.
See Your Doctor If:
- Your skin suddenly hurts
- A rash is rapidly spreading
- A skin change is accompanied by a fever (temperature of 100 F or higher)
- Skin is itching non-stop, burns or stings
- You have signs of infection, like swelling, oozing pus, or blisters
- A new mole appears
- An old mole changes color, becomes uneven, smaller or larger
*Bonus Skin Care Tip
Be sure you’re drinking at least eight glasses of water a day. Water is not only a major factor when it comes to skin hydration, but water also flushes out toxins from the body.
