Saving Face: Seven Bad Beauty Habits to Break

Not only does always having a clean brush help to distribute product more evenly and ensure a more flawless finish, it also helps to keep skin healthy and free of bacteria. If you start to notice that you’re breaking out (especially in the cheek area), it may be time to clean your brushes.

Makeup brushes should be washed thoroughly from time to time with mild soap and water, but in between shampoos, you can use a brush cleaner. This easy-to-use spray will not only clean brush hairs but will also condition them and help extend the life of the brush.
($13, VonMaur.com)

Sometimes it can be tempting to hit the hay before removing the day’s makeup, but this is one beauty mistake you should never fall victim to. When you sleep with makeup on, it rubs onto your pillow and the pillow presses it deeper into your skin, which can cause a breakout.

These wipes come pre-saturated with a gentle, nonirritating, makeup-removing solution that removes everything and leaves the skin soft and smooth. It also contains cornflower extract to aid in decongesting the skin.
($11, Dermstore.com)

So what if there are remnants of kohl around your lids, at least most of your makeup has been removed, right? Wrong. Eye makeup can be one of the main culprits of styes, which can take months to get rid of.

For a quick fix to this makeup no-no, look no further than the baby-care aisle. Ophthalmologists have long recommended this baby wash to gently remove eye makeup; it’s inexpensive and ultra mild on the eyes.
($5.77, Meijer.com)

There’s no question that using exfoliants, such as scrubs that contain sugar or ground nut shells to slough off dead surface layers, can indeed reveal softer, healthier-looking skin. But too much scrubbing can leave your face red and even create little whiteheads deep under the skin that won’t go away.

This light, silky moisturizer delivers a world of difference overnight; after just one use, skin feels softer and looks clearer. Using ingredients like glycolic acid, zinc, and vitamin E, the solution hydrates skin while breaking down the dead surface skin cells to reveal fresh, live cells, improving the look and feel of skin after just one use. The website promises that it will “increase hydration, minimize fine lines, and smooth texture.”
($50, DDF.com)

Make no mistake: there’s no other beauty habit quite as essential to good health than the wearing of sunscreen. Without application of a sunscreen with a good SPF, skin may be vulnerable to sunspots, wrinkles, and even more serious, skin cancer.

This dermatologist pick is formulated with a special Cell-Ox Shield technology, which the website describes as “a synergistic combination of patented high efficacy sun filters and powerful anti-oxidants to further protect your skin, even at the cellular level.”
($29.50, LaRoche-Posay.com)

The pages of fashion magazines are filled with models rocking this beauty trend, but if you’re thinking of trying it, you should be sure to keep the tip of the pencil rounded, soft, and very clean. Having a tip that’s sharp or full of pencil fragments can tear the delicate rim of the eyes or expose you to harmful bacteria, causing a potential eye infection.

To avoid the danger of this trend, opt for a black shadow and a flat eyeliner brush. Pressing the color near the rim of the eye produces a similar effect without putting you at risk for infection.
($25, Nordstrom.com)

This often-overlooked thin and delicate region is prone to the same signs of aging as the face. And if this area is left untreated, age spots and crepey skin will rear their ugly heads.

This rich cream promises to firm the skin and reduce discoloration and age spots while smoothing away roughness. And while Estée Lauder doesn’t disclose what it lists as the “rarest ingredients” in the product, customers swear it lives up to its name.
($100, EsteeLauder.com)