Do you think you wash your face correctly? Do you just use any face cleanser? Do you go to bed without removing your makeup? In this guide I’ll show you the most common cleansing mistakes so that you don’t commit them anymore and improve your skincare routines. I’m sure you’ve committed more than one!
Hello! A few weeks ago I showed you the 10 most common mistakes in your skincare routine, and seeing that it was well received I have decided to continue in that line, helping you with this new post to wash your face better, taking care of your skin barrier and using products that are respectful with it.
Specifically, in this article I am going to talk about these errors, which are the most common ones I’ve noticed:
- Not washing your face.
- Not rinsing micellar water.
- Using makeup wipes.
- Not double cleansing.
- Using too aggressive cleaners.
- Exfoliating too often or too little.
- Washing your face with excessively hot or cold water.
- Not cleaning your phone or brushes or changing your pillowcase frequently.
1. NOT WASHING YOUR FACE.
It has happened to all of us once: you get home late at night and when you look in the mirror you realize that you have to wash your face, but it is the last thing you want to do at that time.
I understand that sometimes it can feel exhausting to wash our faces, but in those moments we must try to focus on what is important: in doing so we are taking care of our skin and keeping it healthy. Often, when we start to wander around and consider not washing our faces, we spend more time wondering whether to do it than it would actually take to wash our faces.
When you do it later, you realize that washing your face does not take more than a few minutes and, in addition to the positive result of leaving your skin clean, you will avoid the remorse for not having done it (despite knowing how important it is).
You already know that cleansing is the first phase of all your beauty routines (including your basic routine), so do your skin a favor and don’t put aside.
2. NOT RINSING MICELLAR WATER.
Micellar water is a makeup remover product that has gained a lot of popularity in recent years. This combination of water and surfactants looks, at first glance, as a very comfortable solution, but you have to know what exactly it is to use it correctly.
Micellar water is nothing more than a combination of water and surfactants (water and soap, to briefly explain it), so it can be practical for those cases in which you do not have time to do your double cleansing (about which you can read a little more below) or if you don’t have your products handy. However, the cleansing it performs is not as respectful with our skin barrier as the one provided by the double cleansing, so it is not the ideal option for all your cleanings.
In addition, since micellar water is normally applied with a cotton pad, by dragging this, it is easy to end up irritating our skin.
Finally, it should be borne in mind that, too often, we tend to think that micellar water simply has to be applied to the face and it will magically be already clean. However, precisely because of the presence of surfactants (which may be present to a greater or lesser extent) that I mentioned, we must rinse it with plenty of lukewarm water to ensure that we remove all the dirt from the skin’s surface and thus ensure that the rest of our routine is truly effective.
3. USING MAKEUP WIPES.
As with micellar water, I understand that makeup remover wipes are an option that can be practical when you cannot use your products or if you are not at home to do your double cleaning, but they should not be your usual way of washing your face.
Makeup remover wipes have several associated problems that make me completely dislike them:
First of all, they usually incorporate a lot of alcohol and perfumes among their ingredients (in this other post I already told you why I don’t like perfumes in cosmetics) . These ingredients are potentially irritating, weakening our skin barrier and, in the long term, accelerating skin aging.
In addition, as with micellar water, dragging these wipes over our skin it is very easy to unnecessarily irritate it.
On the other hand, makeup remover wipes are capable of disintegrating makeup, but they do not absorb or remove it, so there is always a layer of dirt on the surface of the skin. This implies that, unless you wash your face after using them (you and I know you don’t), your skin is not going to be truly clean and, therefore, the rest of your routine is not going to be as effective as after a proper cleanse.
Finally, makeup remover wipes are not only negative for your skin, but are also terrible for the environment. Do yourself and nature a favor and try to avoid them as much as possible.
4. NOT DOUBLE CLEANSING.
I have already told you about double cleansing on more than one occasion. This form of facial cleansing is gaining more and more popularity and followers, since it is effective and very respectful with the skin barrier. To sum it up, it consists of dividing the cleansing of our night routine into two phases, first using an oil-based cleanser to remove makeup, sunscreen and other oil-soluble particles, and then using a water-based cleanser to remove all other particles from the surface of the skin.
Although it may seem like an extra effort to wash your face twice, the reality is that it will not take you more than an additional minute or two, but your skin will be truly thankful for the result.
Since I started double cleansing I have noticed that my skin is way healthier. In addition, by using more skin-friendly products, I have managed to further improve my main concerns, since having the skin barrier protected my skin is able to repair itself better, and that double cleansing also helps us achieve a better result with the rest of our beauty routine.
If you want to start double cleaning and don’t know what products to start with, I’d recommend, as first cleansers the Klairs Gentle Black Deep Cleansing Oil, available on Wishtrend and on Yesstyle, and The Ordinary Squalane Cleanser, which you can find on DECIEM (recommended) and on SkinStore. As second cleansers, I’d recommend this ByWishtrend Acid-Duo 2% Mild Gel Cleanser, available on Wishtrend and on Yesstyle, which is perfect if you have oily or combination skin, or this other one from Cerave, which you can find on Lookfantastic and that works great on dry and normal skin.
5. USING TOO AGGRESSIVE CLEANERS.
As I show in the graph below, to choose the right cleanser for our skin you have to understand its pH. Our skin has a slightly acidic pH, so we should look for cleansers whose pH is similar to carry out an effective but respectful cleaning with the skin barrier.
It is common that when we start taking care of our skin, we think that cleansers are better the more aggressive they are. Especially during adolescence we tend to abuse physical exfoliants and other aggressive cleansers that can only help us unbalance our skin and weaken it even more.
Choosing the right cleansers is key to healthy skin. Cleansing is the first phase of our skincare routine, so if we start off well, the rest of the routine will be much more effective.
6. EXFOLIATING TOO OFTEN OR TOO LITTLE.
Exfoliation is a very effective tool, but it must be used correctly. By exfoliating the skin, we remove the superficial layer of dead cells, thus improving the process of cell renewal.
You already know that exfoliants can be physical or chemical, as I explained in this other article. I prefer using chemical exfoliants against physical ones, since they are generally more respectful with our skin, although you have to know how to use them. If you want to start incorporating exfoliating acids into your routines, in this post I explain how to do it and mention some of my favorite products.
If we abuse these exfoliants what we achieve is to damage our skin barrier, since we do not allow it to recover and maintain its balance. However, if we never exfoliate, it is easy for us to have dull skin and with an irregular texture.
As with everything else in skincare, the key to exfoliating is consistency and patience. We should always seek our own balance, but an exfoliation two or three times a week is essential to improve the tone and texture of the skin and to help it stay healthy.
7. WASHING YOUR FACE WITH EXCESSIVELY HOT OR COLD WATER.
You may not have noticed, but in my reviews I always emphasize that we should wash our faces and remove the products with lukewarm water. Neither very hot nor very cold, warm.
If you use very hot water to wash your face, your skin can become irritated and drier. This is not only detrimental to your skin barrier, but can aggravate certain conditions such as acne or rosacea. Also, as I mentioned before, long-term irritation can promote skin aging, so if you like to use very hot water to wash your face, try to reduce the temperature a little, your skin will thank you.
For its part, the main drawback of washing your face with cold water is that it does not remove the particles on your skin as effectively, so there may be residues despite having done an effective cleansing. I understand that cold water can help you activate in the morning, but try raising the temperature a little and using warm water.
8. NOT CLEANING YOUR PHONE OR BRUSHES OR CHANGING YOUR PILLOWCASE FREQUENTLY.
We are not aware of the number of objects that come into contact with our face on a daily basis. All these objects accumulate particles and microorganisms over time, and when they touch our skin, a part of them passes to the surface of our skin.
One of the objects that accumulates the most microorganisms is our phone. We spend many hours a day touching it, and we don’t realize that before we may have been touching any other surface that wasn’t exactly clean. The solution is twofold: on the one hand, we must wash our hands frequently, but it is also important to clean our entire phone with hydroalcoholic solution in order to avoid that all the particles that I was talking about before end up all over our faces.
Something similar happens with makeup brushes, we do not remember to clean them until it is too late. By cleaning them with just soap and water, you not only prevent microorganisms from proliferating, but you also extend the life of the brushes and you will put on makeup better.
Also, remember to change your sheets and pillowcases often. Usually, since at night we spend many hours in contact with them and it is advisable to keep them clean to avoid that our face is impregnated with all the particles that accumulate on them.
I hope that with this article you have learned how to take better care of your skin and avoid making these mistakes. How many of them did you commit? Is there any other that I have not included and that you think should appear in the post? Tell me in the comments!
If you liked this article and want to continue learning to take better care of your skin, you will surely be interested in reading these others:
Do you want to learn to take better care of your skin? You can see an index of all my informative posts here.
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I’m Nacho and I’m passionate about skincare. I really enjoy learning and sharing my knowledge about skincare and I read scientific papers so you don’t have to. I want to break stereotypes because I believe skincare has no gender: skin is skin.
