You may be extra vigilant with your daily SPF and would never dream of going to bed without taking off your makeup. However, no matter how strict you think you are with your skincare, we bet there’s at least one small bad habit you’re guilty of.
And the thing is, these little things often have the most disastrous effects when it comes to the health of your skin. Sure, forgetting to apply your antioxidant serum just once won’t upset your skin’s mojo in the long-term.
And it’s perfectly acceptable to treat yourself to a long soak in a hot bath every now and again – even though hot water can dehydrate your skin. But when certain practices become frequent habits your skin will punish you in a number of ways. Think redness, breakouts, dryness, premature wrinkles, irritation, the works.
Now, correct us if we’re wrong, but you don’t want one seemingly small bad habit to ruin your entire skincare routine, do you? Thought not. So, here are five of the most common skincare faux pas you need to seriously stop doing – right away!
1. Hot Sends Your Skin To Pot
Hot water may sound like the best way to cut through oil and give your skin a good, thorough cleanse, but it’s actually one of the worst practices for your skin.
The Truth: Hot water strips your skin’s barrier protection of essential lipids. Bad, bad news. Why? Because your skin’s barrier is like a brick wall that works hard to safe-guard your skin to help keep it hydrated, nourished, moisturised and protected from outside aggressors like chemicals, pollution and toxins.
Without important oils, your barrier function starts to fail miserably, making it more susceptible to dryness, dehydration, irritation and ageing. And the more you strip these oils away, the worse your skin could get.
What to do? Turn the temperature down a little so the water is lukewarm rather than steaming hot. Granted, this is easier when you’re cleansing your face only, but if you can bear a lukewarm shower, your skin will definitely thank you for it.
2. Scrub, Scrub, Scrub
Exfoliating too vigorously is one of the most common and worst bad habits out there. Sure, it feels great to give your skin an intense scrub. But as good as it feels, it’s seriously bad news for your skin.
The Truth: Like cleansing with hot water, over-exfoliation compromises your skin’s barrier function, resulting in redness, irritation and faster ageing. You shouldn’t skip this step altogether; it's one of these best ways for taking your skin to next level radiance.
What to do? Avoid abrasive scrubs and cleansing cloths entirely. You shouldn't need to apply pressure with a gentle exfoliant like Natural Luminosity Scrub, which is designed for daily use. If you're more sensitive, shift to a couple of times a week.
Plus try our Pre-Eminent Beauty Serum which contains fruit acids to naturally exfoliate your skin without the need for any manual scrubbing (ie: effort!). You’re welcome!
3. Skin Overload!
Skincare shouldn't to be complicated but product overload has become a real thing in recent years with highly complex regimes and concoctions. And for the majority of people, your skin will set you back if you overload it with tons of active ingredients 24/7.
The Truth: Active ingredients like retinol, glycolic acid and vitamin C are very effective at boosting radiance and reducing the signs of skin ageing. But only in small doses. A great routine is about finding targeted products that deliver great results without overstressing your skin.
What to do? Never to combine too many ‘treatment’ products (eg: serums) at the same time. And that's why our Collections are carefully designed to avoid exactly that.
A simple, daily routine of Crystal Cleanser, Diamond Toner, Pre-Eminent Beauty Serum, Imperial Eye Gel, Imperial Moisturiser (or Night Elixir before bed), and our facial oil for an added boost is perfect. All the goodness with a lot less overload!
4. Décolletage? Never Heard Of It...
Guilty of treating your face like royalty, yet stopping your skincare routine somewhere around your jawline? You'd better read on...
The Truth: Your neck and chest skin (aka your décolletage) is one of the first areas to show the signs of premature ageing. It contains less subsurface fat, making it thinner and more fragile than the skin on your face. It also contains fewer hair follicles, sweat glands and sebaceous glands which means it’s even more prone to dryness and dehydration.
Thankfully, the solution is simple!
What to do? Treat this area exactly the same as your face. Cleanse, tone, treat, protect and moisturise it twice daily and gently exfoliate regularly promote healthy cellular turnover, reduce fine lines and help fade dark spots. For the sake of an extra two minutes to your daily routine it's 100 percent worth it.
5. When Did You Last Clean These?
Dirty make-up brushes literally breed bacteria. And do you really want to be spreading bad bacteria all over your freshly cleansed skin every morning?
The Truth: Bacteria not only has the potential to clog your pores (hello breakouts!), but may also upset your skin’s microbiome, causing a weakness in your skin’s barrier function and exacerbating dryness and irritation, and so on...
What to do? Cleanse your brushes every week with Natural Impact Shampoo which is gentle but effective at removing impurities. After lathering your brushes for a good minute, rinse them thoroughly, then set them aside on a clean towel and leave to dry overnight. No big deal, but an important trick that could really help the health of your skin.
These five faux pas may seem little in the grand scheme of things but they can have disastrous effects on your skin and will damage your results. Stop as many as you can today and enjoy your best skin in no time!