9 Mistakes You Can Easily Avoid In Your Skincare Routine!

Taking care of your skin is not an easy job. One needs to understand their skin type thoroughly to understand what their skin is telling them. Once you have known what your skin needs, you need to understand the basics of skincare products to pick the best for your skin. This means, nourishing your skin is no less than a test! And not everyone can ace an exam so hard. Mistakes are bound to happen.

However, most of the time, we make mistakes that could be easily avoided with a little vigilance and prudence. This time, we have thought of putting forward the most common errors that people frequently make in their skincare routine and explain why we need to avoid these. Keep reading to know how we can refrain from making such mistakes.  

1. Too Lazy to Remove Makeup Before Bed 

We know nothing can be better than an inviting bed after a day of hard work. But your skin would not agree! Leaving makeup on before retiring to bed will clog your pores and not allow your skin to breathe and take on the course of its natural reparative process. Blackheads, breakouts, and blemishes are consequences.  

As Dr. Chiu, a renowned dermatologist, says,

the oil, makeup debris, dead skin cells all get accumulated up against the pillow when you sleep, preventing the skin cells from regeneration, thus the natural turnover of the epidermal layer is diminished. Also, regularly changing the pillow cover and sheets to prevent matting up of the surface.

Also, thoroughly rinsing your face with water is of no use. The makeup debris gets stuck in the pores and obstructs sebum drainage. A proper cleaning solution or micellar water is the best choice for makeup removal at the end of the day. It will not only cleanse out the makeup thoroughly but also help in nourishing the skin and restoring the proper pH level.  

2. Over-exfoliating the Skin 

Exfoliation helps our skin regenerate faster and helps reveal younger, radiant, and healthier skin underneath the layer of dead and dried up epidermal layer. But people often tend to over-exfoliate the skin in the hope of more benefits. We have to remember, too much goddess can often turn deleterious. Over-exfoliation of the skin will slough off the skin's protective barrier hampering its integrity and welcoming microbial infestations.

People often get confused between chemical peels and physical scrubbers. According to skin experts, physical scrubbers often include harsh ingredients like walnut shells that can cause micro-abrasion of the skin. Overdoing exfoliation with physical scrubbers will injure the epidermal layer and weaken the skin’s natural defense barrier. Physical barriers will also roughen the skin texture, whereas chemical exfoliators will give you smooth skin.

Chemical peels also have been popular in recent days because of their multiple benefits. Replacing rough brushes and physical scrubs with a light-action chemical peel/ facial acid is a much better option for your skin. It will help your skin get rid of the excess oil, accumulated dirt, and dead cell debris and help in fading away blemishes and hyperpigmentation spots. But don’t think using both chemical and physical exfoliators will be good for your skin.  

3. Not Listening To Your Skin 

Often we get lured into buying multiple skincare products just because the advertisements by the company seem tempting. But we forget that the product or ingredient might not be suitable for our skin. We need to know what our skin type is and what woes it is facing and then choose a product.

Skin experts have broadly classified the skin types into oily, dry, normal, and combination skin types. Each of these types needs something different. Skin experts suggest doing a little research about the ingredients in the products you want to buy and correlate them with your skin’s needs. If they match, and you really need the product, you are good to go.  

4. Using Powder to Mattify the Skin 

No one likes an oily face, and to resolve this, people often take to loose powders or compact. Though powders can give you a matte look momentarily, the effect does not last for long. Also, they get accumulated in the open pores and clog them, obstructing the sebum drainage. This, in turn, can aggravate the skin to break out, develop acne and get inflamed.

Instead of using powders, facial wipes can be a better option for your skin. They can wipe off the excess oil on your skin without completely drying the skin and also prevent the risk of congested pores. Some facial wipes are also infused with essential nutrients that can restore the optimum pH balance of the skin.  

5. Avoiding Moisturizer to Get A Matte Look 

It is a myth that people with oily skin do not need to moisturize their skin. This is untrue. Whatever your skin type is, dry or oily, everyone needs a proper moisturization of their skin. It not only keeps your skin cells healthy and guards the skin’s protective layer but also reduces signs of aging. It fades away fine lines and wrinkles and also makes skin look brighter and vibrant.

However, you need to take care of what product you choose to prevent triggering breakouts. Humectants are moisturizers that help in drawing in moisture from the environment and hydrate the skin cells. Whereas emollients help in trapping the already existing moisture in the skin cells. Another kind of moisturizer is the occlusives that cast a physical film over the skin and prevents the inner moisture from escaping from the skin cells. According to skin experts, a combination of both humectants and emollients works the best. 

6. Constantly Skipping Sunscreen  

Skipping sunscreen will expose the skin to harmful UV rays that induce free radicals in the skin cells. This, in turn, can cause sunspots, sunburns, tanning, premature aging, and even increase the risk of skin cancer. Thus, it is important to layer the skin with a good quality broad-spectrum sunscreen with SPF at least above 30.

People often think that sunscreen is only for sunny days, which is not true. The sun's UV rays that cause damage to the skin are present 365 days, even when it is cloudy or rainy outside. Also, staying in does not mean the UV rays cannot reach you. You need to protect your skin ten too. With depleting ozone layers that fail to contain the UV rays, sunscreen has become an indispensable part of every skincare regime.  

7. Jumbling Skincare Products

People concerned with their skin tend to apply multiple skincare products as a remedy to various skin conditions. But there is a proper way of layering ingredients that we are often not aware of. Jumbling up products will render them ineffective, and you will enjoy no benefits at all.

If you are using multiple active ingredients, apply the one with the lightest consistency first to get absorbed in the skin faster and then gradually layer it with products of greater viscosity. This will ensure all the products reach the deepest possible skin cells.

For your daytime routine, first, cleanse your face with a mild cleanse, apply a toner, and begin with your active ingredients. Apply a moisturizer then and complete with your preferred sunscreen. For night-time care, start with the same procedure and end with your preferred night cream. 

8. Reusing Soiled Makeup Brushes  

Cleaning things can be a tiresome job. So we often keep reusing our dirty makeup brushes without cleaning them. But these soiled makeup brushes can harbor dangerous bacteria, fungi, and other microbes, which, when used, can cause skin infection.

Clean brushes will not only prevent you from rubbing old makeup residue along with the gunk of accumulated sebum, dead cell debris, and microbes but also let you have flawless makeup as the bristles will be fresh and light. Thus, give them a good “dressing down” once a week to keep your makeup brushes healthy and hygienic.  

9. AM vs. PM: Neglecting A Half Day of Skincare 

We often do not find enough time to tend to our skin with a busy life to lead. You might prefer the daytime or nighttime to take care of your skin. But we need to know that our skin needs both times of tending. Both the AM and PM regimes are important for your skin. While you go out for work in the morning, you need to arm your skin to endure the assault throughout the day. During the night, you need to prepare your skin for its reparative process.

Never forget to include sunscreen in your AM regime and proper night cream in your PM regime. Moisturizer is important at both times as your skin needs to stay well hydrated all the time to maintain its integrity and strengthen its defense barriers.   

That’s all, folks!

These are the few most common mistakes that people tend to make. These can be harmful to our skin and bar us from enjoying the benefits of certain skincare products. But a little extra time and a bit of vigilance can help you avoid these errors and let your skin radiate health and beauty all year long.