5 Misconceptions About Skin That You NEED To Know

Esthetician school opened my eyes to a lot of facts about skin. The first few weeks of the program were mainly focused on un-learning all the old wives tales I was told about skincare growing up. I have received a lot of messages from people who have been led astray just as I was when it comes to skincare, SO, its time to get a few things straightened out!

1. “If you have sensitive skin you shouldn’t exfoliate”

FIRST OF ALL, every single skin type needs to be exfoliating. Our skin looses 30,000 to 40,000 skin cells every hour which adds up to a million skin cells per day! Except the problem is that not all of these skin cells actually falls off. A lot of them sit on top of the skin making your complexion dull and slowing down the process of making new skin. When the process of making new skin slows down, thats when you’re skin starts to age & look older (I know scary stuff).

SECOND OF ALL, exfoliate doesn’t mean scrub. In fact, there are very few “scrubby” face washes that I would recommend because beads can cause micro-tears and all sorts of problems. The best way to exfoliate is to use a cleanser that has a gentle acid or enzymes. Glycolic cleansers are my favorite but cleansers with AHAs or BHAs are great too, you just have to find what works for you! If you are very sensitive, use an enzymatic cleanser. Enzymes are derived from fruit such as pineapple & papaya. They eat away at the “glue” that holds dead skin cells together allowing the dead skin to fall off (but you don’t notice it).

My mom has extremely sensitive skin with lots of redness and occasional breakouts. She needed to exfoliate but acne cleansers made her rosacea so bad! I got her this kit and she’s been using the Mario Badescu Enzyme Cleansing Gel for almost two years now.

2. “If you have oily skin you don’t need to moisturize”

I am really really hoping that many of you don’t think this is true. But I remember a day… in my lost teenage years… when I thought lotion would make my acne worse and everyone was telling me to “dry it out”.

THE FACT IS, if you deprive your skin of moisture, it will make more oil to compensate and therefore lead to more oily skin & breakouts! Every. Single. Person. Needs to be using a moisturizer twice a day after cleansing their face. If you have oily skin, breakouts, or blackheads — GUESS WHAT — you can use an oil free face moisturizer that won’t clog your pores. It is also super uber important that your morning moisturizer has SPF in it (and don’t worry there will be LOTS more about SPF later). I will link some of my favorite oil free moisturizers below ↡

3. “You should never pop your pimples”

This one is complicated… I do not recommend sitting in front of the mirror for 10 minutes and picking at all the bumps on your face. This can cause scarring and the bacteria from your hands can make you break out worse. HOWEVER, sometimes you just need to get it out.

When a pimple has come to a head and is “ready”, wrap your fingers in tissue and very gently squeeze what you need to. Don’t force it. Immediately after you should apply an astringent such as witch hazel toner or tea tree oil to kill bacteria and decrease swelling. Tea tree oil is great for shrinking pimples with or without popping them but you may want to dilute it by adding a few drops to your moisturizer (avoid your eyes it will tingle!).

4. “I didn’t wear makeup today so it’s fine if I don’t wash my face tonight…”

We have ALL been there. You are already so comfy in bed and you’re trying to justify not getting up to wash your face. But the reality is that there is so much crap on your face from the day even if you didn’t wear makeup.

Did you know that because of all the pollution in the air, free radical molecules stick to our face and cause us to age faster?! They are like invisible parasites sucking out our youth. If you go to bed without washing off the day, they will continue to reek havoc on your skin all night long. So just do it. Just get up and wash your face.

5. “It’s fine if I tan as long as I wear sunscreen”

I’m not going to sit here and pretend that I don’t go tanning. This Southern California girl loves to lay out in the sun. But I promised to tell you the hard truth about skin so here it is.

There is no “safe way” to get a real tan.

Even if you don’t burn, you are damaging your skin. Burning is actually just what occurs at the surface of the skin from UVB rays (B for Burning, pretty cool I know). Tanning salons remove the UVB rays so you don’t burn but the tan you receive instead is even worse.

If your skin is getting tan, that means UVA rays are reaching the deepest layers of your skin, the dermis. UVA rays break down collagen and elastin causing your skin to sag. It will also cause pigment issues way deep down that won’t appear until up to 10 YEARS LATER. This means the sun damage you’re acquiring now will pop up to say hi in your 30s and beyond.

I know this is very depressing news but moral of the story is wear a hat & sunscreen. Make sure to protect your face & chest from the sun as much as you can because those areas are exposed all of the time!

As always let me know if you have any questions! Don’t forget to sign up to get notified about new posts. Thanks friends!