When it comes to skincare, we tend to focus on the products we use, such as face masks, moisturizers, and serums, but we often overlook everyday behaviors that harm our skin. You may be purchasing high-quality products and making the correct efforts with your skincare, but your skin may be compromised by small, daily behaviors.
Common skincare mistakes like over-exfoliating, using harsh cleansers, or forgetting to wear sunscreen indoors can weaken your skin barrier, cause breakouts, and speed up the ageing process. However, it’s never too late for your skin's health, texture, and radiance can all be noticeably improved by recognizing and changing these habits.
Let's explore 6 skin skin-damaging habits you may not even be aware you have and how to break them for long-term benefits.
1. Using Harsh or Alkaline Cleansers
Any skincare routine should begin with cleansing, but if you're using a foaming or high-pH cleanser that leaves your skin feeling "squeaky clean," you may be doing more harm than good to your skin without realizing it.
Why it's harmful: Alkaline cleansers (pH 8 or higher) interfere with the natural acid mantle of your skin, which is essential for preventing skin damage. Your skin can become more susceptible to acne, irritation, and dehydration with a weak skin barrier.
Make it right: Start using a low pH cleanser to help maintain your skin’s acidity and strengthen the skin barrier.
One excellent example is the ACELABS Lumiere Low pH Diamond Essence Cleanser, which preserves the integrity of the skin barrier while gently removing pollutants and dirt. All skin types, including sensitive and acne-prone skin, benefit greatly from it.
2. Skipping Sunscreen Indoors and Cloudy Days
This is one of the biggest errors: using sunscreen only when you're outside on a sunny day. Many people believe SPF is only for sunny days. UV rays can pass through windows and cause ageing, pigmentation, and collagen loss even indoors, and even on cloudy days. UV rays are always present and can affect your skin in the long term if you don’t make SPF a part of your daily routine indoors, outdoors, and on cloudy days.
Why it's harmful:
- Early signs of wrinkles
- Uneven tone and dark spots
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Loss of firmness and dullness
Make it right:
Regardless of the weather or location, apply a broad-spectrum SPF 30+ every morning. Apply it last in your morning skincare routine, and reapply if you spend the entire day in front of screens or windows.
*Daily SPF is the first step in preventing skin damage, so don't wait until it manifests*
Also Read: This Is What Happens to Your Skin When You Skip your Skincare Routine for a Week
3. Over-Exfoliating or Using Scrubs Daily
Exfoliating every day can help you achieve that smooth, radiant appearance, but doing so repeatedly, especially with harsh scrubs, can backfire and make your skin worse.
Why it's harmful:
- Skin becomes overreactive and sensitive
- Inflammation and redness
- Frequent flaking and breakouts
- A weakened skin barrier
Make it right:
Use a mild chemical exfoliant or an exfoliating cleanser two to three times per week. Long-term, gentle exfoliants like lactic acid are safer and more efficient.
4. Constantly Touching Your Face
Touching your face, whether it be by resting it on your hands, picking at blemishes, or mindlessly scratching an itch, can damage your skin.
Why it's harmful:
Bacteria, oil, and dirt from your hands can get straight to your face, clogging pores and triggering inflammation. In addition to making pre-existing acne worse, frequent touching can cause hyperpigmentation from picking at blemishes (scarring).
Make it right:
- Try to consciously not touch your face
- Keep the screen of your phone clean.
- Instead of picking at blemishes, apply a spot treatment.
5. Ignoring Skincare at Night
Think you can just wash your face and go to bed? You’re missing out on the most important time for skin recovery.
Why it's harmful:
Your skin enters regeneration mode while you sleep, healing damage from stress, pollution, and UV rays. Your skin becomes dry, unprotected, and less capable of healing if you neglect your nightly skincare routine.
Make it right:
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To promote overnight repair, apply a light, hydrating formula at night, such as a niacinamide and hyaluronic acid serum.
Niacinamide: improves skin tone, balances oil production, and soothes inflammation.
Hyaluronic acid: hydrates the skin, giving it a plump, renewed appearance in the morning.
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A multipurpose serum that nourishes your skin while you sleep, such as Lumiere's Rebalancing Diamond Drop, is a fantastic option to combine niacinamide and hyaluronic acid in one step, making the wait to go to bed shorter.
6. Combining Too Many Active Ingredients
It may seem like a good thing to do in skincare to layer five different serums every night, to reap the benefits of many ingredients but combining too many active ingredients can backfire.
Why it's harmful:
Some combinations, such as vitamin C + niacinamide or retinol + AHAs, can:
- cause redness and stinging
- cause excessive exfoliation
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Dry out or irritate your skin.
Fix it:
- Apply one or two targeting treatments each time.
- Try the Lumiere Rebalancing Diamond Drop for a secure and efficient solution. There is a result-driving active ingredients in this skin-brightening serum, which include prebiotics, hyaluronic acid, and niacinamide, that are balanced to strengthen, hydrate, and brighten your skin without overpowering it.
Small Habits, Major Skin Improvements
The way you use the products is more important than the products themselves. These daily habits may not seem like much, but they add up over time to cause damage to your skin. These mistakes, which range from using the incorrect cleanser to neglecting sunscreen indoors, can result in dryness, irritation, dullness, or premature ageing.
The good news is that it's simple to break these habits once you recognize them.
- ✓Use a cleanser with a low pH
- ✓Use sunscreen daily
- ✓ Exfoliate sparingly and gently
- ✓ Don't touch your face
- ✓Make rest and hydration a priority at night
- ✓Use balanced products, such as the Lumiere Rebalancing Diamond Drop, to streamline your routine.
You can significantly enhance your skin's health, bring back its radiance, and preserve your skin barrier over time by implementing these minor adjustments.
Discover the best skincare products from ACELABS, which are made to promote glowing, healthy skin without causing irritation or excess. Because having great skin only requires intelligence, it doesn't need to be complicated.
Also Read: Is Skincare Really That Important?
FAQ’s:
Q1: Can daily habits cause long-term skin damage?
Yes, things like skipping sunscreen or using harsh products can lead to early aging and skin barrier damage over time.
Q2: How do I know if my cleanser is damaging my skin?
If your skin feels tight, dry, or stings after washing, your cleanser may be too harsh.
Q3: Is over-exfoliating harmful for sensitive skin?
Yes. It can cause redness, irritation, and breakouts. Stick to exfoliating 1-2 times a week.
Q4: What are some signs that my skin barrier is damaged?
Redness, dryness, stinging, or breakouts are key indicators that your skin barrier needs repair.
