You would be surprised at some of the things people do to their skin, and we have seen it all. Here's a few of the more common habits that are not doing your skin any favours. Stop these and you're on the right track to aging well and keeping skin healthy and happy!
1. Pick at blemishes
Simply put, popping pimples damages the skin. Squeezing a blemish, especially one that is under the skin and has not formed a white head, can lead to increased inflammation and scaring. Scaring may be either pitted or a red pigmented spot. Preventing the blemish in the first place is preferred, so be sure to keep skin clean and exfoliated and use products like our Pigment Correcting Booster to keep things nice and clear.
2. Wash with bar soap
There are exceptions to everything, but generally bar soap is formulated for the body and has a higher PH, may be scented/perfumed or contain dyes and other compounds that are not friendly to facial skin. In most cases it's simply going to dry your skin out and exacerbate any inflammation. Try a gentle sulphate free option like our Gentle Purifying Jelly cleanser.
3. Sleep with make up on
If you're inclined to call it a day and settle in without removing your makeup and the accumulated daily "grime" you're inviting increased wrinkling, dryness, clogged pores / hair follicles and chapped lips. Always remove your makeup to reduce the possibility of blemishes and skin texture irregularities. Now that most of us are wearing masks, it's more important than ever to remove makeup and cleanse properly to prevent breakouts and skin congestion.
4. Use poor quality skin care
It has nothing to do with the cost, and everything to do with what's actually in the product. Many pricey brands are light on the active ingredients, and many inexpensive brands are little more than fillers and preservatives. Get to know your active ingredients and take a look at the label before purchasing. Generally the higher on the list the more of an ingredient is present. Keep in mind, potent ingredients like peptides can be further down the list to be beneficial. A great example of a potent peptide based "home treatment" serum that contains optimum levels of all the good stuff? Explore Vitae Super Serum. As a rule of thumb, we also avoid products that contain perfumes or fragrance which are generally just bad for your skin and may cause irritation and inflammation.
5. Tanning beds / tanning
When you expose skin to UV, it panics and begins producing melanin in an attempt to prevent damage. It doesn't produce a tan for the sake of beauty, but to protect skin from further damage to DNA which can set you up for lesions and melanomas. If you're a tanner, your future holds wrinkles, age spots, damaged collagen production and an older looking complexion compared to your non-tanning counterparts. If you must have colour, try one of the many great sunless tanning products currently available. It's so important to always wear sunblock. we prefer a zinc / titanium dioxide based product such as Solar Defence 30 tinted.
Want to find out more? We offer free consultations, call 250.590.5459