You’ve seen the error of your ways when it comes to sleeping in makeup. You’ve quit smoking, you’ve stopped tanning, you drink plenty of water, and you even make homemade avocado masks. You cleanse, tone, and exfoliate every day—but not too much, and only with the right products.
We do everything we can to keep the skin on our faces and bodies looking soft, supple, and young, but even if you think you’re doing everything right, there are some common habits that undermine even the most valiant skincare efforts. Before you spend more money on fancy facials, and before you rush out and buy another expensive eye cream or anti-aging potion, check to make sure you’re not committing one of these six skincare sins.
Taking Hot Showers
Pleasurable though they may be, long and steamy showers are terrible for your skin. The hot water washes away skin’s protective oils, leaving it dry, tight, and itchy. Using a harsh, soap-based cleanser in a hot shower is double trouble: the two conspire to liquefy and wash away the stratum corneum, the outermost layer of skin cells and sebum. To take it easier on your body’s largest organ, switch to a lukewarm shower. The lower temperature helps keep the stratum corneum from rinsing away, as well as ensuring that you won’t linger in the shower long enough to do any other damage.
Skimping on Sunscreen
The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) has been chiding us for years to wear a 30 SPF sunscreen every single day. Of course, we all know to wear it on our faces, and definitely on our bodies while at the beach (right?), but sunscreen should really be worn everywhere, every day. That means you can’t skip it on cloudy days or overlook places like the tops of the ears, the scalp, the hands, the neck and chest, the lips, and the tops of the feet. According to the AAD, most melanomas and malignant skin lesions develop on areas of the body that are more exposed to the sun, including the head and neck, so don’t forget to cover every single inch. Also, if you’re using only a couple of squirts of sunscreen to cover your whole body, you’re not using nearly enough.
