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5 Things You Should NEVER Do in Order to Have Amazing Skin

 

Lines, wrinkles, sagging, dark spots, dry, dull, unhealthy skin is not what we want as we age. They make us feel uncomfortable in our skin, they make us look and feel older than we really are.

 

What we really want is to look younger and give Father Time the finger, but if you’re doing anything on this list, you’re actually aging your skin. 

 

Believe me, I know, I’ve been there.  I was doing all of this, and when I stopped, the lines, wrinkles, sagging, unhealthy-looking skin started to improve. 

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Most of us are married to an old way of taking care of our skin.  We were brought up being told to use soap to get clean, exfoliants with harsh abrasives, and, if you’re anywhere near my age, you’ll remember what life was like before sunscreen.  Oh, the damage we have done. 

 

As we age, we need to do things that support our aging skin. 

 

I know this can be confusing and frustrating.  You’ve been using amazing skincare for the last fifteen to twenty years and it’s no longer working, you’re seeing lines and wrinkles, maybe some sagging and dark spots, UGH!!  The reasons your products no longer work is because they are too harsh for your aging skin and don’t include ingredients your skin now needs for nourishment. 

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A great place to start taking care of your aging skin is to treat it with the respect it deserves by following my 5 Things You Should Never Do in Order to Have Amazing Skin list below. 

 

Your skin will thank you for it.

 

1. Don't Use Soap

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The skin is delicate, and soap is way too harsh to use on your face, this has to do with pH.  We’ve all heard the marketing term “pH balanced”, it’s been used for years but no one ever really knows what it means, so here’s the deets.

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pH is a measure of hydrogen ions in a water-based solution.  It is a scale of 0 – 14 with 7 being neutral, below 7 acidic, above 7 alkaline. 

 

Our skin has a pH of anywhere between 4.5 – 5.5, this is its happy place, slightly acidic to prevent bacteria and toxins from getting through, but not too acidic to cause irritation and damage.

 

If you’ve ever washed your face and felt that tight, squeaky-clean feeling, that’s because whatever you used had a pH higher than 5.5. 

 

This tight feeling is actually the stripping away of the skin's natural barrier that keeps it, and us, healthy.  Yes, this barrier corrects itself within about 20-30 minutes, but daily stripping of this barrier can cause permanent damage.

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Soap has a pH of about 9 or 10 making it WAY too alkaline for skin.  With continued use of soap, you will cause permanent damage to your skin.

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Want to learn more about pH?? Check out this blog post

 

2. Don't Use Harsh Abrasives When Exfoliating

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I love to exfoliate twice a week, it keeps my skin glowing by forcing it to continually rejuvenate itself.  This helps keep skin looking younger and smoother by plumping up lines and wrinkles, supporting collagen production which keeps skin high, tight, and right, and when removing the top layer of dead skin cells makeup goes on smoother, and products are absorbed much more easily (this includes toxins, so if your products contain toxic ingredients be aware that they can be absorbed much more easily into the skin, and potentially the bloodstream).

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As you can see, exfoliating is great!  But, if you use harsh, abrasive products that contain sugar, salt, seeds, or crushed shells they can actually damage your skin by causing tiny little tears that are invisible to the naked eye.  These tears can allow toxins into the body, and potentially the bloodstream.  Tears also disrupt the barrier allowing moisture to escape dealing to dry, dull skin.  You never want to tear your skin!

 

3. Don't Sleep in Makeup

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I understand we all want to look good for those Zoom calls and makeup is something that’s extremely important, but skin regenerates during sleep and makeup can interrupt that process leading to terribly aged-looking skin.

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During the course of the day, we come into contact with dirt, bacteria, and toxins, we can’t see them, but they’re there.  These toxins combine with our makeup and the skins natural oil.  If we don’t remove this toxic mixture before bed, it will disrupt the natural process of repairing and regenerating, causing the following signs of aging:

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• skin break downs which cause sagging

• inflammation occurs and causes lines and wrinkles

• dead skin cells become trapped under makeup causing a dull complexion

• bacteria trapped in makeup can cause acne, and, if you already have blemishes can lead to infection.

• trapped dirt and bacteria cause a breakdown of the skin's barrier causing lines, wrinkles, sagging, and dehydration

 

To keep skin looking radiant and youthful, allow your skin to rejuvenate by removing your makeup!

 

4. Don't Go Without Water

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Our bodies are mostly water; we all know this, and we’ve heard we’re supposed to drink a certain amount of water every day to stay healthy.  Well, your skin needs this water too.

 

Drinking water keeps the skin healthy in many ways.  It maintains its pH, which is so important to its health and flushes the toxin that can cause aging on our skin.  Water helps maintain the skin’s elasticity and can even help prevent pimples and acne because the more hydrated the skin is the less our pores clog be. 

 

As we age it becomes harder for the body to retain water, so by drinking more water you are keeping your skin looking young.

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5. Don't Go Without Sunscreen

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As we age, sunscreen becomes more and more important due to metabolic changes that occur in our skin that age us and make us more prone to skin cancer.

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Melanin is the pigment that is responsible for producing the color in our hair, skin, and eyes.  It protects the cells of the outermost layer of the skin from UV light by absorbing the light before it’s able to damage the DNA of our skin cells.

 

During sun exposure, UV rays penetrate the skin and begin to damage the DNA of the skin cells. In response, the body produces more melanin to protect the skin cells. This increase in melanin production is what creates a tan. This means that once the skin begins to tan, cell damage has already occurred.

 

As we age, the amount of melanin produced through tanning isn’t actually enough to protect the skin cells from damage, so over time, this damage can potentially lead to skin cancer.

 

As if this wasn’t bad enough, as we age, the production of melanin decreases leaving skin more exposed to DNA damage and in turn, leaving us at a higher risk for skin cancer.

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The sun activates enzymes in our skin that break down collagen and elastin. 

 

Elastin is what keeps our skin bouncing and resilient. 

 

Collagen keeps our skin firm and tight. The last thing we want is for the proteins that keep our skin high, tight, and right to break down! This just ages us.

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The sun also causes stem cells to die off and because we need stem cells so the skin can continuously regenerate itself, our skin gets thin, and it wrinkles.  Don’t want that either.

 

As you can see continued use of soap, harsh exfoliants, sleeping in makeup, not drinking enough water, and not using sunscreen will only cause more lines, wrinkles, sagging, dark spots, dull, dry skin, all the signs of aging we don’t want.

 

By following these five tips will support your skin's aging process and diminish all these signs of aging.

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If your skin isn’t looking as young, healthy, or vibrant as you’d like it to, email me to set up a skincare consultation to discuss how I can support you and your skin on your aging journey.

 

Our private Facebook Group – Getting Under Your Skin – is another great place to get healthy aging support.

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Check out our blog, there’s loads of information about aging healthy from the inside and the outside.

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Haven't had enough of us yet?  Check out our Beauty in Aging Podcast to learn everything you ever wanted to know about all things skin

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I look forward to connecting with you soon!

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Donna

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