5 Ways Your Skincare Routine Could Be Giving You Bad Skin

Ever wondered why your skin isn’t flawless when you spend tonnes of time and money buying and applying skincare products? Well, as it turns out your daily skin routine could actually be wreaking havoc with your skin.

Here are a few culprits that could be giving you bad skin and breakouts.

1. Exfoliating too much

We’ve all been there; you look like an oompa loompa after a wild weekend and you try to ready yourself for work on Monday by repeatedly exfoliating. Stop.Right.Now.

If you’re exfoliating too much your skin could lose its vitality and make it more susceptible to damage from UV light. Some tell-tale signs that you’re over doing it, according to Dermalogica include noticeable dehydration, skin tautness, redness and itchiness, increased sensitivity and acne.

2. Using anti-aging products too soon

Those wrinkles on your forehead that you think everybody’s looking at? It’s all in your head. Anti-aging products are only necessary when you’re actually visibly ageing. They’re of no use to you if you’re not in need of them, they’ll just be adding excess moisture to your skin, not to mention the hefty price tag that goes along with them.

3. Cleansing in the morning

Huh? Yeah, we were surprised with this one too! As it turns out you only really need to cleanse in the evening, to remove make-up, dirt and excess oils. “During sleep, the oils that your skin produces are hydrating and balancing, so they shouldn’t be washed away in the morning,” aesthetician Andrea DeSimone tells Bustle.com.

4. Using make-up wipes

Yup, this one we deffo knew, we just chose to ignore it. Most make-up wipes are saturated with chemicals for ease of removal, but residue of these chemicals can be left on your skin if used incorrectly. If the make-up wipes contain alcohol they can dry out and irritate your skin as well, so if you insist on using them, make sure to use a gentle cleanser afterwards to ensure those nasty chemicals don’t remain on your skin.

5. Not applying products in the correct order

You’ve invested in the products, so you might as well get as much bang for your buck as possible. Applying products in the right order is more important than you might think. Obviously, you use your cleanser first so you have a clean palette to work with. Then, it’s important to go from the lightest to the heaviest products. For example, you should use your toner before something heavy like a moisturiser. This is to allow the lighter products to sink into your skin without any richer creams getting in the way. Simple.

• Beauty
• skincare