Nowadays, you can’t scroll through Tik Tok without seeing influencers peddling the latest beauty/skincare products.
With the rise of social media, more and more people always want to look their best, contributing to the rising popularity of skincare today.
Yet, despite more people becoming increasingly aware of the importance of looking after your skin and developing routines to help them achieve this, there is a good chance that some seemingly harmless habits are sabotaging the results of your skincare routine.
From washing your face too much and failing to wear sun cream daily to smoking cigarettes and sleeping in a full face of makeup, tons of seemingly innocent habits can undo your skincare routine’s efforts.
But how do you avoid these not-so-obvious habits? To help you stop sabotaging your skin, we’ve created this article outlining several bad habits to watch out for so that you can find the source of your skin concerns like breakouts. Keep reading to find out more below:
Washing Your Skin Too Much
Washing your face is an essential step in your skincare routine, so it might baffle you that this list’s first bad habit is cleaning it too much. Unbeknownst to many, washing your face too much can be just as problematic as not cleaning it enough because it can do more harm than good despite being an action full of positive intent.
While cleansing your face in the morning helps eliminate any lingering bacteria, makeup, irritants, and clogged pores that your hands may have transferred onto it, you don’t want to strip it of all the natural oils that it produces.
Stripping it from its healthy oils can lead to breakouts and make it more susceptible to pollutants and aggressors, leading to redness, inflammation, and irritation – something not advertised in skincare commercials! Ultimately, your end goal is to have radiant-looking skin, and if it means skipping a face wash now and again to achieve it, so be it!
Smoking Cigarettes
Perhaps one of the not-so-obvious habits on our list is participating in harmful social activities like smoking, which can sabotage skincare. Although it is more commonly known that UV rays are one of the leading causes of skin damage, cigarette smoke is another to avoid if you want the best results possible from your skincare routine.
Smoke can affect your skin in various ways, from reducing its water content, restricting blood flow, affecting the production of collagen/elastin, and much more which can result in dry, dull, pale, or blotchy-looking skin. Fortunately, many of these issues can be reversed by cutting out tobacco completely or reducing consumption using alternatives like elf bars and vape pens.
Although it is better to ditch the habit entirely if you’re a smoker passionate about skincare, consider reducing your tobacco consumption by switching to e-cigarettes. One of the best ways to do so is by purchasing disposable vape pens like Elf Bars or Geek Bars, available through independent vape shops or online, as they are easier to use than refillable vape pens.
Varying on flavour, puff capacity, and strength, Grey Haze have a selection of disposable and traditional vape pens and various smoking accessories. Consider visiting their website to browse their entire vaping catalogue, read how-to guides, and learn more about the activity. Or contact a team member directly for specific inquiries today.
Not Applying SPF Daily
Often considered a step to only include in your skincare routine during the summer months, another bad habit that sabotages your skincare routine is failing to apply SPF daily. Sadly, sun damage doesn’t have its favourites; you can get it all year round, even if the weather doesn’t look particularly threatening!
Although, you’re more likely to catch the eye of the sun if you’re regularly exposed to it without adequate protection since your skin will be more susceptible to symptoms of ageing like sagging, wrinkles and fine lines, and even life-threatening illnesses like cancer. After all, it is better to be safe than sorry, so ensure you lather every exposed bit of skin with an SPF of thirty or more.
Sleeping In A Full Face Of Makeup
There’s nothing better than crawling into bed after a night out with friends, so much so that prioritising sleep over removing our makeup can be easy. Despite giving ourselves a nasty shock upon walking into the bathroom the next day, sleeping with your makeup on can do much more damage than destroying your pillowcases.
Wearing makeup creates a barrier between your skin and the cosmetics, meaning that all the dirt, pollution, and oil that has built up on the surface of your skin can become trapped between the barriers. It is important to wipe all of this off at the end of the day to avoid clogged pores, breakouts, and dull-looking skin, which is not worth the hassle if you ask us!
Generally, a three-step cleansing routine comprising an oil-based makeup remover, cleanser, and a gentle exfoliant is best to remove every bit of your makeup at night. But don’t worry; if you have a lazy approach to makeup removal, some facial wipes or micellar water will do the trick too. So long as you wash your face correctly the following day!
Not Wiping Your Phone Screen
In today’s century, everyone walks around with their phone in hand. But your hand isn’t the only place it might wind up; from putting it face-down on the table while eating, storing it in your purse when not in use, and dropping it on the floor – your phone ends up in some rather unsanitary places during day-to-day use.
But it gets worse. We don’t consider all the scenarios our phone has been in when it starts ringing, or a notification sounds, meaning our hands and fingers could also carry around the grime, dirt, and pollutants from these areas. And what do our hands and fingers do throughout the day? Touch our faces, so we’ll give you one guess where this dirt, grime, and pollutants wind up.
Like our hands, our phones are breeding grounds for bacteria, grime, and dirt, leaving our faces and jawlines vulnerable to clogged pores, breakouts, and many more unsightly skin issues. Therefore, ensure that you routinely wipe down your phone’s screen to ensure that it doesn’t sabotage your skincare routine.
