Top skincare mistakes you never knew you were making

May 19, 2015

Every woman knows about the need to cleanse, moisturise and tone but did you know that you could be causing damage to your skin by the way you sleep at night?

Soft delicate skin around the face can be very easily damaged and even though you might think you are doing everything possible to protect yourself, you could be inadvertently undoing all that good with just a few bad habits.

Here are some of the top skincare mistakes that can wreak havoc on the skin but many women never know they are making. Beautiful skin doesn’t just happen it needs to be worked at.

Sweet dreams

Getting a good night’s sleep is vital for plump, soft skin cells helping the body to repair and regenerate. But if you are sleeping on the wrong kind of pillow case you could be slowly crushing the delicate skin on your face and gradually causing wrinkles.

That crisp cotton pillow case that feels so good is not a friend to your skin. Cotton can cause friction on the skin as you sleep at night, which over time can cause collagen to break down in the cells. This can lead to premature ageing or wrinkling on the surface. To avoid this, switch your pillows to either silk or satin and your skin will thank you for it in the long run.

Are you too clean?

Cleansing is certainly an important step in your skincare routine but if you are cleansing twice a day you could be harming your skin instead of helping it. Cleansing your skin before you go to bed is important to get rid of make-up and any pollutants that could cause damage as you sleep, but in the morning it’s not necessary to cleanse your skin again.

In fact, if you do cleanse your skin in the morning you will be stripping it of the essential oils which are produced as you sleep. There’s no need to use a cleanser in the morning; beauticians recommend simply buffing the skin using a wet washcloth or similar, rather than using any products.

Delicate eyes

The skin around the eyes is one of the most delicate areas of the face and one of the first places to show signs of ageing. As a result, eye cream is one of the first products women start to use in a bid to prevent wrinkles form appearing.

A thick and creamy product may seem to be the best solution, drenching the area and helping to plump it up but you could actually be doing the skin harm. Make eye cream a part of your beauty regime.

Because the skin around the eyes is so fragile, it can’t cope with heavy creams and the weight of a thick product could drag it down and cause wrinkles. Although it may seem counterproductive, a lightweight, thin eye cream will actually produce far better results.

Get in order

You may have a scrupulous regime of cleansing with a series of products you apply to your skin, but unless you are applying them in the right order you may as well not be bothering.

Heavyweight lotions and creams will block the actions of anything which is applied afterwards, rendering them useless. You therefore need to ensure you are using your skincare products starting with the lightest and ending up with the heaviest if you want to make sure they are actually having the intended effect.

Another note on the same subject, don’t be tempted to overdo matters either. Two anti-ageing creams are not necessarily better than one and in fact, can react with one another increasing possible side effects and damaging the skin rather than protecting it.

Conclusion

Every woman knows the perils of falling into bed without removing her makeup, and why water and a good night’s sleep can help the skin. But the above cardinal sins can make a huge difference to the appearance of the skin and are far less well known.

So next time someone compliments you on your youthful skin, you can let them in on the secret of sleeping on a silk pillowcase and just why less is sometimes more.