Are These Cleansing Mistakes Aging Your Skin?

Cleansing is one of the most important steps of every woman’s skincare routine. The first and foremost step to a healthy and glowing skin. But are you aware that some common cleansing mistakes can be causing aging of your skin? While it may seem scary but it is true. Some cleansing mistakes can actually age your skin faster and leave it looking dull and old. Read on to find out, are these cleansing mistakes aging your skin?

1. Not cleansing face twice a day

While some people swear by cleansing there face every few hours, some are too lazy to even do it twice a day. If you are guilty of this habit, you sure know now, what can be causing those early aging signs. While you sleep at night you skin secretes oil and attracts all sorts of dirt and dust. Especially from the pillow cover, if it hasn’t been changed for a while. This can accumulate dead skin cells and cause you to break out often. Make sure you wash your face right after waking up before you even start your breakfast.

In the evening after returning from work, or before you have your evening cup of coffee, make sure you wash your face again to keep it clean from any pore clogging bacteria or dirt stuck on your face, because of the environmental factors etc. If your skin is prone to dryness, use a pH balancing cleanser and help retain your skin, its natural moisture.

2. Using harsh cleanser

Every woman has different skin type. Some ladies need moisturisation for their dry parched faces throughout the day, but others cannot keep their excess oil secretions away. Skincare for every skin type is thus very different. And for you to keep your skin healthy and glowing you should know what works for your skin. Using a harsh cleanser over gentle skin can result in unnecessary stress to the face. To avoid cleansing mistakes aging your skin make sure you are using the following cleansers for different skin types.

Dry skin- Cream based cleanser with high content of oil.

Oily Skin– Gel based cleansers, or clarifying cleansers.

Combination skin- Mild herbal cleansers, foaming cleansers.

3. Rough exfoliation

Exfoliation is a good skincare habit and it can really help maintain youthful and smooth skin. It is a great way to naturally remove dead skin cells and keep your skin soft and supple. But, just like too much of anything can be bad, same goes for exfoliation. If you are guilty of using a scrub every single day you are causing your skin more harm than good. Over exfoliation can strip off the natural moisturization of your skin and make your face look dry and patchy. Keep the scrub only for once a week use. Make sure you know which scrub to use for your face type.

4. Using hot water

While there can be nothing that is more relaxing than a good hot water splash on your face but if the water is too hot you can actually causing early skin aging. This is a classic cleansing mistake that is aging your skin. Hot water can remove all the essential oil not just from your face but from your pores. It can leave your face chronically dry and in the long run promote wrinkles. The aging process can worsen if you do it more than 2 times a day. Use normal to warm water if you cannot use cold water for a face wash.

5. Using same towel for days

We do not suggest that you use a towel just once and throw if off in the machine right away. But for women who suffers with acne issues, this can be a great way to prevent the old deposited bacteria in the towel from affecting your face. Make sure although to not use a towel for your face for more than a day. Do not use old towel on sensitive skin as it can cause breakouts easily. This is definitely one of the most common cleansing mistakes aging your skin.

6. Not Moisturizing after cleansing

To keep your skin healthy and youthful, your skin needs to maintain its moisture and keep the dead cells away. A lot of times women wash their faces and rush off to dinner or carrying out their daily chores. A lot of times this is the primary cause why women with dry skin develop fines lines and patchy skin. After using a face cleanser, dry skin tend to lose whatever little natural moisturisation it has, and by not replenishing your skin with moisturiser you tend to cause stress to your skin that could have been easily avoided otherwise. This habit will make your skin dry out and eventually look flaky and old. This cleansing mistake can cost you a lot in the long run, so make sure you do not skip on the moisturization step, post face cleansing.

7. Using too many products

When usually we make a trip to the skincare shop, all the products around us, packaged in the most beautiful containers can motivate you to start taking up skincare seriously, it can also make you impulsively buy a lot of skincare products. In a desire to take care of your slowly aging skin you tend to become over enthusiastic and over use a lot of anti aging products. These anti aging products contain Alpha-hydroxy acids and retinol, this is known to attract more sun damage and cause extremely bad effect on your skin. For reducing this damage, make sure you use just one product at a time and do not mix up two of more different types of compositions together on your face. Keep a close eye on using a night cream before sleeping and only use the day cream before heading out.

8. Skipping the sunscreen

Women tend to put on sunscreen only on sunny days, but it will surprise you to know that is actually the cleansing mistake aging your skin. The sun may be nicely hidden in the clouds but the Ultraviolet rays of the sun can still reach the earth and to your skin. So even when you are relaxing out on a cloudy day without sunscreen it can actually leave your skin damaged and accelerate the aging process. To prevent this from happening make sure you apply a good sunscreen after cleaning your skin every time you head out of the house. A sunscreen lotion with Zinc oxide or Titanium dioxide is suggested for best results, as they work for a broader spectrum of the light.

These were the top most common cleansing mistakes aging your skin. While some habits are old and can take a while to leave, but others can be stopped right away. Make sure you take care of your face and avoid cleansing your face in this manner. The best of beauty advice can be of no use if you do not follow the right procedure. Make sure you know what you are doing is correctly executed. And if you were unaware and were actually doing these cleansing mistakes that age your skin, Now you know where you were going wrong. Hope this helps. Do share with us what you think.