Everything in life is a learning curve and as we acquire more information, we change our habits, thoughts and actions. The same applies to skincare and boy have I been through a huge learning curve with regards to my skin. I struggled with my skin for the longest time and there are practices that I did then which I wouldn’t dream of doing now. However, I’m not beating myself up about it because I had less information at that time, and as Aus’ Maya Angelou said: when you know bettter, you do better.
Here are some of the practices that I have since stopped doing to my skin
Steaming my skin to “open up the pores” Yep, I was those people who poured boiling water into a bucket, put my face over the steam and a towel over my head. The heat from the steam couldn’t have been good to my skin and the water probably left my face super dry. Steam is not all bad on the face, but I’d suggest leaving it to a professional to do it.
Seeking that dry/tight feeling after washing and toning my face I somehow though that this meant that my skin is clean and that I’ve done the best thing for my oily and acne prone skin.
Picking at my breakouts This was my favourite pasttime! It’s so bad for the skin if you don’t do it right, just don’t do it.
Not hydrating my skin I only learnt about skin requiring hydration as a separate step 2-3 years ago, before then I was a cleanse, tone and moisturise type of girl.
Not using sunscreen Similar to hydration, I only started using sunscreen daily about 4 years ago. If I had started sooner I could’ve saved myself so muct time trying to fade dark spots.
Using harsh physical exfoliating products You know those cleansers of masks with pieces of walnut shells or some sort of beady substances, those used to be my jam! I really felt that they were deep cleaning my skin, meanwhile they were just making things worse! I currently use mostly hydrating masks and I use the Dermalogica Microfoliant which has some physical exfoliation propoerties but is super gentle.
Let me know which skincare practices you have since stopped doing
