5 Skincare Mistakes That Are Seriously Ruining Your Skin

Sure, you take care of your skin, but are you making skincare mistakes in the process? No matter how much you think you know, there could be a few bad habits that are preventing you from putting your best face forward and are actually ruining your skin.
Most of us have a skincare routine that we stick to out of habit — it’s all about a repetition of steps you have to do day in and day out. But what if you are repeating the wrong steps? Here are 5 of the top skincare habits we’re all guilty of.
Not Washing Your Face Before Bed EVERY NIGHT
Yes, it happens to the best of us, but that doesn’t make going to bed wearing makeup okay. On nights where you are already in bed and remember you forgot to take off your makeup, remember that makeup actually blocks the sweat and oil glands temporarily, so if you’re sweating at night or have more oil production, it could potentially clog your pores, leading to breakouts. Snoozing in mascara or eye shadow can also lead to issues. If you’re truly too tired to do your whole routine, at least use a face cleaning/makeup removing wipe.
A great easy to use skin cleanser is MintPear’s Clarifying Daily Facial Cleanser with Hyaluronic Acid and Activated Charcoal. Now you may be wondering what benefit Activated Charcoal does for your skin. The fact is, it has multiple benefits! Activated Charcoal is a Charcoal that has been treated to increase its adsorptive capacity. This causes the Charcoal to act as a magnet for dirt, oil, and other impurities and stick to it. When used in a face cleanser, activated charcoal helps bind the oil and dirt in your pores and pulls them out. This clears your pores and makes them look smaller, and helps pull out the excess oil from your skin, leaving it clean and smooth. Here are our five easy steps for cleaner skin.

Over-Exfoliating
While dermatologists maintain that exfoliation is a great (and sometimes necessary) way to shed dead skin cells and reveal the fresh, radiant skin sitting below the surface, the recent popularity of cell-scrubbing cleansers, toners, grains, and serums means that many beauty enthusiasts are exfoliating a bit too much and a bit too often.
So, how can you tell if you need to buff away the buildup or give it a break? Generally, the skin should be exfoliated only one to two times per week to help expedite skin cell turnover without causing damage. If you’ve been slathering on the exfoliating acids daily, there’s a good chance your skin is begging for a break.
A lovely exfoliating masque that isn’t too harsh for sensitive skin is MintPear’s Pumpkin Enzyme Exfoliating Masque. The MintPear Pumpkin Enzyme Exfoliating Masque is loaded with fruit enzymes and alpha hydroxyl acids (AHAs) and 5% Glycolic Acid, promoting and increasing cell turnover, resulting in brighter and smoother skin! The Pumpkin Enzyme gently exfoliates your skin, helps even the appearance of skin tone, smooth the look of fine lines and wrinkles, and clarify to reveal skin that looks smoother, younger, radiant, and revitalized.

Picking Your Skin
It’s tempting, but popping or squeezing a pimple won’t necessarily get rid of the problem. Squeezing can push bacteria and pus deeper into the skin, which might cause more swelling and redness. Squeezing also can lead to scabs and might leave you with permanent pits or scars. It’s best to leave this to the professionals. If you are suffering from a bad breakout, a facial from an esthetician might be the key to clearing up your skin. An esthetician is professionally trained to extract the congested pores on your skin and is able to do this without the risk of permanent pits or scars.
Using Dirty Makeup Brushes
We know, we know. Taking the time out to individually clean your makeup brushes is one of the easiest tasks to procrastinate actually doing. After all, each brush seems to take forever to lather, rinse, and repeat until the water runs clear. Even if you’re always applying to a clean face, bacteria can still build up.
While fluffy powder brushes take a bit more time to build up an influx of bacteria, dense synthetic brushes used to apply foundation and cream products can be unsuited for use after just one application. That’s because bacteria thrive in moist environments. When it comes to foundation brushes or a sponge-like the Beauty Blender, it’s crucial you wash it every night. Just make it a part of your nighttime skincare and cleaning routine.

Not Applying Products In The Correct Order
When it comes to the proper order of application of products, you typically want to go from thin to thick — the viscosity of your products determines how they are absorbed into your skin. If you apply a watery serum after you have already layered on a cream or lotion, you are not receiving the full benefits of the thinner product. This foundational principle has some exceptions when it comes to eye creams, eye serums, and retinol. Check out Rita’s Personal Daily Skincare Routine.