16 Skincare Mistakes To Avoid
16 Skincare Mistakes To Avoid
If you said that the skincare world was confusing, it would be a complete understatement, and I get it. There is so much thrown at us all the time, ingredients, products, new brands, but sometimes the most effective way to achieve great skin is to just make sure that you’ve got the basics down pat and that you’re avoiding the classic skincare mistakes.
So.. what are those mistakes?
Face Wipes Remove Makeup
Have you ever tried to remove your makeup with a face wipe, then gone in with a toner and been horrified by the amount of makeup residue left on the cotton pad? Yep, face wipes will not remove your makeup, all they will do is move the makeup around the face and take off the residue that you can physically see. Your face might look clean, but trust me, it’s really not. If you were to then go in with your serums and moisturisers, you’re basically layering product on top of dirty skin, starting the perfect breeding ground for clogged pores, congestion & acne.
Physical Face Scrubs: Proceed With Caution
Exfoliating with a physical face scrub is a pretty old school skincare concept, these days the science proves that using exfoliating acids (e.g fruit enzymes, glycolic, lactic, salicylic acids) will help to exfoliate the skin more efficiently and gently. A lot of physical face scrubs are too harsh and can actually cause micro tears in the skin and cause sensitivity, however there are some that are really gentle and effective. If you want a gritty, physical exfoliator, look for ingredients like rice enzymes in products like the Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant & Tatcha Gentle Foaming Enzyme Powder.
A Moisturiser Will Fix Your Dry Skin
This is such a huge misconception. If you’ve got really dry skin, a moisturiser on its own just isn’t going to cut it because the molecular weight of a moisturiser (thickness) means it cannot penetrate below the epidermis or “top later” of skin. So the top, outer surface is going to feel softer, but it’s not going to solve the deeper dryness/dehydrated skin issue. This is why serums are so important in your routine, because they’re thin enough to absorb deeper and hydrate/treat your skin from below the surface layer. I personally view my moisturiser as a product that locks all of the goodness in, rather than a product thats going to hydrate/transform my skin, leave that to your serums/essences/mists/oils!
You Don’t Need To Wash Your Face In The Mornings
Guys, this one stresses me out. Please wash your face in the morning, even if you’re working from home or doing nothing on the weekend. The product you applied the night before, mixed with sweat (yes you’ll have produced sweat even if you don’t feel sweaty), mixed with dead skin cells which are shedding all the time (exfoliation is king), mixed with any bacteria thats on your pillow, duvet cover, or on your hands, needs to be cleansed away the next morning, especially when you’re going to be applying your morning routine products. Its a bit like a face wipes/makeup thing, you don’t want to be putting products on top of dirty skin.
Washing Your Face Under Hot Shower Water
This is actually something I was guilty of for years, and I always wondered why my skin felt so red and sensitive every time I got out of the shower (and I take a HOT shower). It was because I was cleansing it under the hot water which was stripping away all of the good natural oils that you actually need to keep your skin balanced. Now I keep my face out of the water and cleanse it with lukewarm water after I get out of the shower and now I don’t get that post shower redness/sensitivity!
Not Using SPF
This needs to be talked about more, you’ve got to be wearing an SPF on your face no matter what time of the year it is, but especially during the warmer months. Sun damage is the #1 cause of wrinkles and pigmentation (its not just about getting burnt), and its especially bad here in New Zealand because of the giant hole in our ozone layer. I have gotten in the habit of applying it every single day at the end of my morning routine, because if there’s one tiny thing I can do every day to look 35 when I’m 45, I’m going to do it. You especially need to be wearing an SPF during the day after using an exfoliating acid the night before like retinol or a strong AHA like glycolic acid. There are so many wonderful light weight non white cast face SPF’s on the market these days like the Mecca Cosmetica To Save Face SPF 50, Dermalogica Solar Defence Booster SPF 50, & an old favourite of mine, the La Rosche-Posay Anthelios XL Ultra Light SPF50. Please use it, and thank me in 10 years.
Using Too Many Actives
The skincare world is confusing, and because we’ve all become smarter consumers, brands know that they need to start marketing their products by highlighting specific ‘trending’ ingredients to get our attention. It’s then easy to feel like you need every ingredient in your routine at all times, but its so important to take it easy, especially with more active ingredients. Some of the active ingredients that you really need to think about are ones like Retinol, AHA/BHA’s, Vitamin C and I personally wouldn’t mix the three. If you use a retinol in the evenings, do your vitamin C serum OR AHA/BHA in the morning. If you use AHA/BHA in the evenings, use your vitamin C in the mornings and ideally not together. You CAN use them together, but professionals will suggest only doing one of them in your routine at all times, its really easy to over do it on the actives because you could end up over exfoliating and causing damage in your epidermis/outer skin layer resulting in sensitivity.
Drying Out Oily Skin
Thinking that you need to use drying products to fix oily skin is such a classic skincare myth. The best way to treat oily skin is to actually use a face oil! If you think about it, oily skin is just dehydrated skin that is working hard to over produce oil (sebum), because it thinks it doesn’t have enough. If you use a face oil in your routine, its going to trick your skin into thinking it’s got enough, and will start to chill out and produce less oil. All you need to do is use two tiny drops of oil, rub it between your hands and press it onto the skin, you can do this in replacement of a moisturiser OR below/on top of a moisturiser depending on your personal preference. If you’re using a fancy shmancy moisturiser, apply the face oil on top of it.
Retinol Under 25
Now this one isn’t so black and white, because retinol was originally formulated as an ingredient to help acne before it was discovered as the wondrous anti-aging ingredient that it is and because of its acne fixing wizardry, a lot of dermatologists will prescribe younger people with vitamin A or “retinol” creams. I’m more so aiming this toward those of you in your early twenties who are pretty happy with their skin, retinol basically gives your collagen production a big kick up the bum, and in your early twenties you’ve got plenty of collagen to go around. If you’re younger and you want something thats going to give you that soft, even, glowing skin, look no further than AHA/BHA’s. I personally am going to steer clear from the retinol until at least my late twenties (I’m 24).
Research Before You Purchase
The amount of times I get questions from people asking if X product is better than X product, when these products they’re trying to compare are completely different, with completely different ingredients and have completely different purposes. Please do your research before you purchase a product! Online retail brands like Mecca & Sephora always have a good description of the active ingredients and what the product aims to do, so if you’re trying to compare two products and you’re unsure of which one is ‘better’, see what the active ingredients are on the page of the product you’re interested in, what they do and which ones are more suited to your skin type. If you’re unsure on what an ingredient does, search it up on the Paula’s Choice Ingredient Dictionary and you will get a clear description! You can also just type the ingredient name into google followed by ‘Paula’s choice’ and the definition will come up.
Application Mistakes
This is another one that I’ve been guilty of for years, but once I realised I was doing it I noticed how many other people do this too. Unless its a face oil, don’t apply a product onto your hand and rub it between your hands for 2 seconds+ like so many people naturally tend to do, you want your face to absorb all of the goodness in your products, not your hands! Swipe the product between both hands once and apply it directly onto your face, you don’t need to aggressively rub it together before applying.
Products Won’t Fix Internal Problems
The age old battle between good products and a bad diet. They say you are what you eat, and going by personal experience I think this is true, to a degree. In moderation, things like dairy don’t break me out, fast food doesn’t break me out, even a bit of chocolate won’t break me out, but my god you guys should see what happens when I overload on the sugar. Think lollies and things like home baking.. my cheeks go red from the inflammation and I break out with these tiny little whiteheads between my eyebrows and on my forehead. Sometimes its worth eating an entire banana cake covered in chocolate icing, sometimes its just really not. You’ve got to experiment (process of elimination) with the types of foods that your skin doesn’t like, and your skin is your largest organ, so of course its going to be fussy. My skin mantra is diet first (lots of water), skincare second, makeup third.
Luxury Is Better
Don’t get me wrong, I’m predominantly a luxury skincare girl. I LOVE it, but I’m well aware that sometimes the price point is higher purely to align with the ‘luxury branding’ marketing ideology, because the packaging is a bit fancy or because the brand became a brand because someone wanted to make a crap tonne of $$$, rather than for the pure love of skincare alone. Again, sometimes the price point is higher because the ingredients are organic and ethically/sustainably/ sourced (which is expensive), because its fair trade, because years and years of research has been done to come up with complex, high tech formulas that have actually never been seen before, the reasons can go on and on. I personally think that its up to us as consumers to figure out what brands price their products with integrity, and who prices them because they know theres a demographic of people who will pay for luxury without a question asked. Remember the skincare world is full of business people, but its also filled with smart people who spend a lot on research and resources to create wonderful products where both can end up with luxury price points. We need to try and learn the difference!
The other point I want to make is that there are also affordable options that are fantastic and will do the job. They may not have such high tech, fancy formulas, but there is absolutely no reason why you can’t have great skin and a great routine while you’re still on a budget. You may not get the luxury experience, but the products will work, a perfect example is The Ordinary. Some other more affordable and mid priced brands that I love are Me Today (NZ), Eau Thermale Avene, Pixi & Go-To Skincare.
Results Require Patience & Consistency
Finally, I just really want to reiterate the fact that our skin has a 28 day cycle, so sometimes it’s going to take a little while to see results. Using products with ingredients like retinol & vitamin C especially need more patience, and you really need to be diligent with your skincare over a good couple of weeks before you see results, especially for things like acne, scarring, fine lines and pigmentation.
I am in no way, shape or form a professional skincare expert or dermatologist, all of my skincare knowledge is gained from 5 years of working with beauty brands, speaking with aestheticians, facialists and industry brand owners and professionals. I am purely sharing what I have learnt from personal experience and from industry professionals over the years. If you are concerned about your skin or the products you are using, please see a skincare professional or speak to your doctor.