10 Common Skincare Mistakes – Which Are You Making in Your Skin Care Routine?
Many of us have a skincare routine made up of tips and products we read about in a beauty magazine, saw on Instagram, or on Pinterest. And those of which you saw results from likely became apart of your skin care routine.
Overtime and often as we age or life gets busy, many of these we stick with out of habit EVEN IF OUR SKINCARE NEEDS HAVE CHANGED.
A big part of skincare is all about repeating steps each morning and night, day in and day out. BUT, what if you are repeating the wrong steps?
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The GOOD and BAD
The world is currently obsessed with skincare, blame it on Instagram stories or the clean beauty movement. No matter, this is both a good and bad thing.
The Good Side
On the good side of things, this is a positive trend as skincare is obviously very important. Our skin is and always has been, the largest organ in our bodies. It’s our job to protect it and care for it.
On the Bad End
The growing popularity of skincare can be negative with the influx of products, treatments, and tips aimed at myths like ageless skin or instant acne removal. Any of these can lead us to make common skincare mistakes without even realizing it.
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I have learned so much about skin care since my early twenties. Many of which lessons I’ve learned are what not to do! As I write this list of common skincare mistakes, you should know that I have once made many of these mistakes myself.
But, since cleaning up my act, my skin has improved by leaps and bounds!
- Oily midday sheen – gone
- Dried out, flaky cheeks – no more
- Constant breakouts in my T-zone – goodbye
- Blackheads on my nose – vanished
Is my skin flawless every day? Of course not, I’m human, I still make skincare mistakes sometimes. Although, most of mine come from trying and testing ingredients for you. However, most of these skincare mistakes are easy to avoid once you become aware of them!
P.S. I didn’t include any of the obvious skincare tips like – always removing your makeup before going to bed, cleaning your mobile phone, or washing your face with warm, not hot water.
While each of those is important, I know you don’t have time to waste and you are tired of reading the same thing over and over again. So let’s get to it!
10 Common Skincare Mistakes and How to Avoid Each
#1 You’ve Got Exfoliation All Wrong
I love a great scrub and exfoliating is an important step in every skin care routine! It helps to shed dead skin cells and pave the way for healthier, new cells. But, no matter if you’re applying a scalp scrub, lip scrub, hand scrub, foot scrub, or body scrub – you have to do it in moderation!
I know, I know, I know with so much to love about scrubs it’s tempting to do them too often. However, exfoliating anything more than two or three times a week is not a good idea. Why? Exfoliating too often can buff away your top layer of healthy skin. (ouch)
#2 Facial Wipes are Your BFF
If you are mainly using facial wipes to clean your face every day, then you are making skincare mistake number two. Facial wipes can do a fair job and they are handy. But, they are not great for our environment since they create more waste. They can be really irritating to your skin depending on the ingredients too. And if this all you are doing for skin than it’s going to show!
Instead, opt for a gentle face wash in the evening like my favorite aloe vera face wash and purifying toner in the morning to cleanse and restore balance to the skin.
#3 You’re Blindly Choosing Products
Honestly, do you think you’ll ever enjoy great skin if you don’t pay attention to the ingredients in your products? OK, that was my mom’s voice talking – but, hey, someone’s got to look out for the health of your skin.
If you’ve been making this common skincare mistake, my best advice is to start with knowing your skin type. Without this vital piece of information, you’ll be unable to choose ingredients and products suited for your skin type. Take our Skin Type Quiz to begin getting to know your skin better now.
Do you have normal, dry, mature, oily, or combination skin? Take our Skin Type Quiz now to discover yours!
#4 You’re Using Too Much Product
Even if you’ve begun to choose products for your skin type – you may be using too much! Just like coffee and wine, too much of a good thing is NOT GOOD. In nearly all cases when it comes to skin care products a pea-size amount is enough to get the job done. Anything more is not only a waste but can give you unwanted results like oily skin from too much moisturizer or itchy, raw skin from too much exfoliating.
#5 You Constantly Skip Sunscreen
I’ll be the first to admit, I have been terrible about this. While I don’t let my daughter even step outside without sunscreen. I rarely apply to myself. Which is terrible because sunscreen should be our first and biggest defense against early aging!
Nowadays, I make it easier on myself and apply sunscreen in the morning during my skincare routine. It’s really just one little step before you put on your makeup that can make all the difference. Rather you opt to DIY your sunscreen or purchase it, make sure it’s safe for our coral reefs like this one.
#6 You are Changing Your Products to Often
I know a lot of women make this skincare mistake. It happens all too easily when someone goes out and purchases a whole new line of skincare products. They’ve likely heard all kinds of good things about it and feel amazing buying them. Then just a few days after swapping out everything their skin looks and feels worse than ever!
The problem is if you change too much at once you’ll never know what is working and what’s not. We talk about why this is not good for your skin in depth in Clean Beauty School.
#7 You NEVER Clean your Makeup Brushes
Makeup brushes hold on to more than blush and powder such as bacteria, oil, and dead skin cells. Keeping brushes clean it a must! This DIY makeup brush cleaner and makeup brush cleaning mat make it super easy to keep things clean.
Clean brushes not only keep you from grinding old makeup residue and gunk into our skin but help you achieve a more flawless makeup application. So, give them a good scrub once a week.
#8 You Only Moisturize at Night
Raise your hand if you are guilty of this common skincare mistake too? I used to have the thought that applying a moisturizer in the morning would make my skin oily and my makeup look bad.
It turns out the opposite is true! Applying a lightweight moisturizer a few minutes before applying makeup can actually make it go on smoother. And incorporating a little moisturizing into your routine can stop your skin from drying out and producing more oil during the day.
Plus, if you pick moisturizer with SPF you’re solving two these common mistakes!
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#9 Your Morning Skin Care Routine is NonExistent
If the first thing you put on your face in the morning is makeup your skin is really missing out!! Your skin deserves more than only taking care of it before bed. While a nightly skin care routine is crucial to removing buildup, excess oil, and the like before you sleep – a morning routine is important too.
If you’ve been making this skincare mistake, start with a quick swipe of hydrating toner in the morning. And if you woke up to puffy eyes give those bags a morning jolt of caffeine with coffee eye cream known to reduce eye puffiness and dark circles.
#10 Wearing Lipstick Frequently Without Exfoliating
Applying lipstick multiple times a day can increase the chance of other problems such as flaky or cracked lips and then essentially highlight it. So give your lips a little love by adding a simple lip scrub to your skin care routine. Lip scrubs shed dead skin cells and help your lipstick stay on longer.
We are all guilty of making skincare mistakes, even when we know better. Life just gets busy and we can forget to clean our makeup brushes. Or we can try to avoid the elephant in the room (that our skincare needs changes as we get older).
Either way, many of these common mishaps can be solved with simple solutions like those above. Pin these skincare tips for later and tag #lifenreflection on Instagram to share your skincare journey.
Useful post about skin care mistakes, It’s best to learn from other’s mistakes than to feel the urge to commit one by oneself & then think of learning. I think we’ve all made some of these mistakes to some degree or another.
I totally agree