You catch a glimpse of your face in the mirror and wince. Your facial skin has so much potential but you’re constantly battling with one blemish or another.
You’ve tried every facial care product you can lay your hands on but they never seem to work.
Trust you’re not alone in that struggle; that’s why the beauty and facial care industry was ranked the strongest growing industry globally as at August 2018.
The truth is that as much as facial skincare seems complicated, it usually isn’t.
With the right habits, lifestyle choices, and facial skin products and procedures, you can rest assured your facial skin would be as beautiful as its meant to be.
Some of the five reasons your facial skin isn’t reaching full potential include:
Make-up troubles
Although applying make-up enhances beauty, the misuse of makeup products affects your facial skin negatively.
The golden rule of facial skincare is taking off every make-up product before going to bed.
The consequence of leaving make-up on throughout the night is that it clogs the skin pores thereby encouraging blemishes.
Ensure every make-up product is washed off the face. Cleansers, wipes, and oils, are just a few ways to wipe off make-up products.
Follow this step up by washing your face with warm water and a mild soap or face wash.
Avoid using spoilt or expired make-up products. Also, avoid sharing sensitive make-up products and tools like powder puff and brush, eyeliners, powder, concealers, foundation etc. with other people.
Wrong facial care products
Typically, facial skin types are divided into four: oily, dry, normal(well-balanced), and combination. You may not know but some facial care products are made for these specified skin types.
Using a facial skincare product not intended for your skin type might increase your problems.
To determine your facial skin type, book an appointment with a certified dermatologist. You may alternatively try finding out on your own by using the blotting paper or bare-faced method.
For the blotting paper method, pat the paper on various parts of your face including chin, forehead, and nose.
Place the patted papers under a light. If you notice oil from your forehead and nose, you probably have combination and normal skin.
If the paper is dry, you have dry skin and if there is visible oil from your cheeks in addition to your forehead and nose, then you probably have oily skin.
In the bare face method, wash your face and leave it bare. After thirty minutes if your face feels tight, you most likely have dry skin.
On the contrary, if you see a visible shine on your forehead, nose and cheek, you most likely have oily skin. For combination or normal skin, there’ll be shine on the forehead and nose areas.
After carrying out these tests, choose products according to your skin type.
The sun is not your friend
To be fair, early morning sunlight generates vitamin D which is great for the skin.
However, any sunlight after 10am is potentially dangerous to your skin. A good number of people are ignorant to the fact that sunscreen is the skin’s best friend.
Sunburn and exposure to UV rays from the sun, which could cause skin cancer, skin ageing, are few consequences of continuous exposure to the afternoon sun.
Apply your favourite sunscreen and give yourself at least 30 minutes before going under the sun.
Your exfoliation game is lame
Exfoliation is great but like everything else, proper care must be taken to go about the routine religiously.
Over exfoliation can damage your skin, so also does under exfoliation.
Over exfoliation will cause dryness to the skin, irritations and in worse cases, injuries. Ideally, experts warn to exfoliate at least thrice weekly for persons with oily skin and lesser for persons with dry skin types.
Also, avoid using dirty towels or scrub brushes to exfoliate as these could increase your facial troubles.
An unhealthy diet or eating lifestyle
The absence of a healthy diet will render efforts at achieving great facial skin futile.
Include vegetables and fruits such as watermelon, strawberries, citrus, carrots, kiwi etc. in your diet. Foods rich in Omega 3, vitamins and minerals are great boosters for healthy skin.
Do not also underestimate the power of drinking clean sparkling water. The greatest boost for glowing and wrinkle-free skin is drinking enough water.
Finally, lancing of acne or blackheads with hands and other objects tend to cause more damage than provide remedies. Instead, opt for natural methods to getting rid of blemishes such as cinnamon powder and raw organic honey.
Read Also: 8 Effective Ways To Make Money As A Nigerian Student
This article first appeared in The Cable and was written by GRACE OKOGWU. Republished with permission.
