13 Skin Care Mistakes You Are Probably Making

Women in particular are being constantly bombarded about the aesthetic benefits of beautiful, healthy looking skin. There are an astonishingly number of beauty treatments available, with many being touted as having the ability to smooth away wrinkles, turn back the clock, and improve blemishes and marks on the face. Some of these products can be hugely expensive, and the results will vary from person to person, so it can become a large investment. But, what most women are completely forgetting about are the age-old methods of cleaning your skin and taking care of it.

And is any of it really necessary? In many cases, they are not necessary at all. Some may suggest you use a facial scrub every day, whilst others will say use it once a month. It can become very confusing, and what a lot of women end up doing is plastering their skin with all sorts of concoctions. Let’s have a look at the common mistakes most of us are guilty of when it comes to skin care.

Cleansing Your Skin

1. For those with acne, it is important NOT to scrub your face with products that are harsh, or use equipment such as a loofah. By scrubbing an acne-prone face with abrasive tools you end up irritating the skin and can actually cause the acne to worsen.

2. After you have washed your face, make sure you rinse your skin well. Rinsing removes the soap or cleansing product away as well as removes the oil and the dirt, which prevents possible irritation.

3. You should never wash your face with bar soap! It doesn’t matter whether it is a cheap soap or a very expensive one, they will both have the same negative effects on your skin. Using soap removes the water content of your skin, allowing for dryness and dead skin cells to collect.

Acne

4. If you need to use acne medication, there is no point in just applying it to the pimples. There will be other pimples ready to burst forth underneath other areas of your facial skin, so to prevent this from happening, you should apply the acne medication to all of your skin.

READ Natural and Home Remedies for Acne (Pimples)

5. We are probably all guilty of doing this, but you should never, ever, squeeze your pimples. Even if they are taunting you, or you have a special date planned. Attacking the pimple only results in spreading the infection further, creating new pimples, and picking at them can also cause scarring.

Moisturizing and Other Skin Care No-No’s

Moisturizer and Toners

6. Even if your skin is looking and feeling oily, you should still be using moisturizer. Oil is not the same as moisture! After you have washed your face, the moisture is stripped from your skin, so it is important to moisturize to protect your skin and keep it healthy.

7. For those who suffer from terribly dry skin, this next common mistake will be astonishing. Some people think that they need to dry out their skin to remove excess oil and help control their acne. This is a huge no-no! Allowing your skin to dry removes important nutrients, and can even strip the skin of the necessary sebum. Without sebum the skin can crack, as it loses flexibility. These cracks are not only painful, but they open the door and personally invite in infection.

8. Toners should be used on your skin as they provide moisture and help to remove the chlorine and various minerals that are found in tap water. By keeping the skin damp through toning, it allows the skin to absorb moisturizer more efficiently. 

9. The mistake many people make is using toners that contain alcohol. Instead, look for one that is alcohol-free.

Other Common Skin Care Mistakes

10. The most important component of protecting your skin is the application of sunscreen. And this doesn’t mean you just need to put it on when going out into the sun. No…you must wear it every single day regardless of the weather, as harmful UV rays can still burn your skin through clouds and rain. This is not only essential for having nice looking skin, it can even save your life! Put it on!

11. Of course we have to mention smoking. Yes, not only is it bad for your organs inside your body, it is also harmful for the biggest organ you have that is outside your body – your skin. One of the reasons it is bad for skin is because it shrinks the small blood vessels, and these vessels are what feed the skin.

12. With so many products on offer, it is really easy to get all the wrong ones. When purchasing products, make sure they are the right ones for your individual skin type. Do stay away from those that say "suitable for all skin types" because this is pretty much impossible to achieve in one product.

13. Finally, one of the mistakes a lot of women make, is not taking care of their make-up tools, especially sponges and brushes. There is no point in cleaning your skin if you are then going to play with it with a dirty brush! Foundation remnants on your brush or sponge are likely to contain bacteria, as they have been out in the open or flopping around in a make-up drawer. Dust, dirt and bacteria…that’s what you are putting on your face. You can invest in brush cleaners, but really the easier option is to wash them or in the case of sponges, replace them.

READ Dangers of Aluminum Chloride: Are Anti-Perspirants and Other Beauty Products Really So Toxic?

So there you have it. The 13 skin care mistakes you are probably making. Before you start purchasing a product for this and a product for that, think about your grandmother’s skin. They didn’t have all these cosmetics and beauty routines back in their day. A lot of the older generation of women has beautiful skin, and this is because they kept it simple. All you need to do is wash, moisturize and tone, and let nature take care of the rest. And put your sunscreen on!