Skin Donts...

Hello Beauties, 

We are supposed to love our skin as much as we love our body (I know sometimes, it's easier said than done).  Skin is one of the most important features on the the body, it is the show all of health, beauty, purity and mood.  Knowing that skin is such an important factor, we should do more, and less at the same time to take care of it. We are committing sins to our skin each and everyday.  Here are some that you might want to consider stopping before it is too late:

1. Using too many products on the face: If you have normal skin, the only things that you should be using are a good facial wash, an occasional exfoliator, a moisturizer and a sunscreen. There is no need to used products on your face that you do not need. If you have no issues with acne, there is not need to pile your face full of acne medication. If you have no signs of aging, put those products up. The best preventative measures you can take are keeping your face clean and moist.

2. Tanning: You spend lots of money every year trying the achieve a glow that only the sun can give you. While tanning beds may seen affordable now, the cost to reverse the damage in the future is going to be more. Any changes to skin pigmentation via UVA or UVB light cook the skin cells, which will cause premature aging, wrinkles, and possibly cancer.  The best way to achieve that sun-kissed glow is to invest in a self tanner, or use a bronzer

3. Couch Potato: Sitting on that couch watching television and eating bon-bons is doing nothing for your skin but making it sallow and pale. Get up and get active! Exercising, even just a few minutes a day, increases circulation to your skin giving it a healthy rosy glow. Rosy skin for free? Get that jump-rope!

4. Popping pimples: I know it is hard to contain yourself when you see a pimple. It’s there, you’re there, and someone has to go. Do not pop it! Not only does popping a pimple cause scaring (those ugly black spots on the skin), they also push bacteria back into the skin, causing infection.  Now that little pimple you started off with has turned into a huge cyst! The best solution is to wash the face with a wash that contains acne medication to reduce the pimple.

5. Put the junk food down: All that salt and sugar and grease is coming right out in your face! Especially sugar. Consuming too much sugar cause the pancreas to overwork, which causes and overproduction of oil by the hormones, which causes severe cystic acne. Trade that candy bar for an apple!

6. Wash your face before bedtime: You get up in the morning and wash your face, moisturize, prime your face for foundation, put on your makeup and you are ready to go! You are a lioness in this jungle of the world, sweating, touching dirty things with your hands and touching your face, you come home, you are so tired. You go to sleep. Stop doing that. Your body temperature increases when you are sleep, thus causing all that dirt and nastiness to absorb into your skin, causing acne.

7. Lack of sleep: Sleep is more important than you know for perfect skin. A lack of it makes a bad skin situation worse, especially for people that suffer from severe acne, eczema, dermatitis, and psoriasis.  Make sure you are getting at the least 6 hours of sleep a night.

8. Overexfoliating: Limit the exfoliations to once a week, maybe even once a month if you can help it. All that scrubbing is throwing a signal to your pores that they need to produce more oil. This over buildup causes acne.

9. Stop using that cell phone: No, I am not telling you to put it away, but if you must use it at least clean it! Your cell phone is full of dead skin cells, oil, grease, dirt, old makeup, just nastiness! If you do not have the time that it takes to clean the phone, invest in a headset. If you can clean it, put a little rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball (A little!) and wipe the phone clean.

10. Using dirty makeup brushes: You do know what’s in that brush right? Probably some of the same things that are in your cell phone. Dirt, oil, skin cells, nasty makeup. Take a few minutes out of your day and wash those brushes with some baby shampoo or brush cleaner and let them air dry. Your face will thanks you.

11. Skipping the Dermatologist:  It is important to see a dermatologist once a year just like you would your regular doctor. Make sure that you address any moles or other suspicious skin lesions.

12. Stop ignoring your neck and chest: Your neck and chest have to be cleansed and moisturized just like your face. Just a real quick FYI.

13. Picking the wrong skin care products (again): It is imperative that not only do you use products that are appropriate to skin conditions, you should also be using skin care products that are for your skin type. If you have dry skin, please avoid all products that contain alcohol, they will only further dry out the skin. If you have oily skin, find products that will draw some of the oil out of your skin, while keeping it moist (Clay based products are great for this).

So there you have it! Take these tips and use them to your advantage to have healthy glowing skin

Thanks for reading

Danielle