7 Skin Cleansing Mistakes You Need To Avoid!
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Cleansing the skin on your face and other parts of the body is more important than many of us know. We've all been told the standard routine for skincare on your face; cleanse, tone, moisturize…but so many of us are using short cuts that aren’t doing our skin any favors.
Cleaning and cleansing the dirt, grit, and grime from our pores isn't as simple as washing our faces with water and adding a bit of soap. It is a process that involves different products with different purposes to help your skin stay clean, healthy and free from infection or break out.
According to a recent study nearly half of Americans wash their face wrong – or not at all! With 44% of Americans admitting that they will wash their face with hand soap – not realizing the damaging consequences of putting harsh chemicals on their skin. Instead of removing the dirt and oil from their pores and skin, they are actually leaving themselves vulnerable to infection and skin conditions caused by an allergic reaction or irritation.
Take a look at some of the mistakes that many of us have made when it comes to our skincare routines…
1. Face Wipes
Although grabbing a few face wipes and rubbing them over your face may feel like the easiest and quickest option, they are not good for your skin – cleansing or health (and they are even worse for the environment!). Of course, you can see that they remove your make-up and some of the dirt your pores have collected over the day, but they are not cleaning your face in the way that you need.
Most facial wipes are packed with chemicals which have been added to help remove and dissolve makeup from your skin and pores, but they’re also aggravating sensitive layers of skin. Along with causing irritation and damaging the epidermis layer of skin, the vigorous scrubbing to remove the last clump of mascara off our lashes is doing the sensitive, vulnerable skin around your eye no good. Your eyes are one of the first places to show signs of aging, so when you pull the fine skin around trying to remove the mascara with a face wipe, you’re damaging the delicate skin and causing premature aging!
2. A Splash Of Water
Filling the bathroom sink with soapy water and splashing it over your face a couple of times is not cleansing your face. Many Americans believe that having a quick wash with water will do - but it doesn’t. Throughout the day, we apply lots of lotions and potions to the epidermis layer of skin; from sunscreens and make-up to serums and hydrators, which can all build up over time and clog the tiny pores in your skin. And to add to this, polluted air, carrying lots of dirt and free radicals will cling to your face, causing more problems than a breakout!
Washing your face with water at night will not clean all these from your face – it won’t even scratch the surface. If you don’t wear makeup, there will still be thick layers of grit and grime building up on the surface of your skin. Instead of splashing your face with some warm, soapy water, invest in a cleanser that will flight these pollutants and free your skin from the dirt. And, to be extra thorough, once you have washed the cleanser off, apply a second layer and do the process again; the extra layering of the second cleanse will work deep into the pores, removing more dirt and pollutants.
3. Facial Scrubs
Scrubs…the way they make your skin feel can become addictive. Soft, supple and smooth – sounds perfect - but the scrub isn’t doing your skin health any good. Using a face scrub once a week is fine, but overusing them will only damage the epidermis layer of skin. Over-applying scrubs and exfoliators will cause you to remove the natural oils in your skin and leave you vulnerable to a reaction.
Using a gentle exfoliator or a high quality face mask is more beneficial to your skin's health. Applying products that will support the balance of oil in your skin is imperative, whilst removing the unwanted dirt.
4. Hard Cleanser
It is very easy to make the mistake of going too hard on your skin, and the best way to avoid it is by knowing your skin type; oily, dry or a little of both. Once you know this, you can anchor your routine based on this and proved your skin with the support it needs – avoiding products that will only exacerbate the problem areas.
When it comes to cleansing, a hardcore, harsh cleanser is not the answer for someone will oily skin. The grains from the scrub may make you think that they will attack the oil and remove it from your skin – but in fact, it will do the opposite. When the skin undergoes hard cleansing or stripping, the natural reaction is the create and produce more oil. For someone with oily skin, this is not the desired effect and you will only end up with more oil being produced from your skin.
5. Changing Water Temperature
This myth needs to be forgotten! Many of us have been taught that if we wash our face with hot water, it will open our pores – making it easier to cleanse our skin. Then, simply close the pores with cold water and your skin should be clean and clear. This is not true. Unfortunately, when you switch from hot to cold water, it will put your skin into shock, which can cause aggravation and breakouts.
When water that is too hot is applied to your skin, it can strip away the natural oils that help keep your skin supple and youthful. The correct temperature of the water? Lukewarm. If you try to keep the water at a happy medium, your skin will keep in a neutral state.
6. Absorbent Creamy Cleansers
Cleansers are great for your skin when it comes to your daily skincare routine, but sometimes the wrong cleanser could be having an adverse effect. A creamy cleanser feels amazing, right? It's soothing, and can help make dry skin feel incredible, leaving it on to soak into your pores to give your skin a deep condition – but is it doing you any good?
Well, first things first, you should not have a cleanser that is sinking into your skin. As soon as your cleanser is seeping into your pores, it is not as effective. Instead of focusing on the surface area, the creamy cleanser will get lost in your pores, only to sit and collect as more dirt and thick grime – the last thing you want when you’re trying to clear and clean your skin.
7. Ignoring The Chemicals
It can be very easy to grab the first bottle on the shelf at the drug store that says the keywords we are looking for; make-up remover, cleanser, clears clogged pores – but if you’re not looking at the ingredients and the chemicals used, you don’t know what you’re putting onto your vulnerable skin. Missing this important information could lead to your applying cream onto your skin that you may be allergic to – leaving you with more issues than a clogged pore!
A lot of cleansers you buy from the drug store contain sodium lauryl sulfate, added as a foaming agent but it is an extremely harsh aggressor to the epidermis if used every day.
Final Thoughts
Once you have nailed down the correct skincare routine and products, your skin will look and feel better than ever. Our skin is undergoing a constant battle; from free radicals to ineffective facial creams and scrubs, so you need to make sure that you are looking after your skin and cleaning it in the correct way. Unfortunately, there are many products in the drug store that will not benefit your skin, so you must read the labels and take some time to learn what works best for your skin type.
Sources
https://nypost.com/2019/07/29/most-people-are-washing-their-face-incorrectly-or-not-at-all/
