Struggling to see any improvement in your dry skin, despite your best efforts? While you may think that you’re doing everything right, it’s so easy to make mistakes with skincare, and while these may seem small, they could be the reason why your dry skin is only getting worse.
If you want to finally achieve the soft, supple, and dewy complexion you deserve, read on as Celestolite talks through some of the biggest skincare mistakes that you’ll need to avoid making.
Using a Harsh Cleanser
Let’s start by discussing a very common mistake made by those with dry skin: using a harsh cleanser, meaning one that contains aggressive cleansing agents. It’s an easy mistake to make because many cleansers don’t actually feel harsh or uncomfortable in any way when applied to the skin. In fact, some of the most aggressive surfactants out there give cleansers a rich and lustrous lather.
So, what’s the issue? The harsher your cleanser, the more of your skin barrier it will strip away. This exacerbates dryness while also triggering sensitivities, dehydration, and more.
How can you tell if a cleanser is harsh? Take a look at its ingredient list. If you spot any ingredients with the word ‘sulfate’ in them, give that cleanser a miss – it won’t be suitable for dry skin. Instead, your skin type needs a gentler and more moisturizing cleanser, just like Celestolite’s Estrella Cleanser Mousse. Not only do its coconut-derived cleansing agents have a conditioning effect on the complexion, but the amino acids infused into this formula will leave your skin barrier feeling stronger rather than weaker.
Exfoliating Too Often
Just like using an overly harsh cleanser, exfoliating too often can really damage your skin barrier. Dry skin is already lacking in oil, and whatever sebum reserves it does have on its surface are quickly removed each time you exfoliate. Do this too often, and your skin won’t have time to replenish those surface lipids, leaving your skin feeling drier and drier as time goes on.
How often should you be exfoliating if you want to avoid this problem? Once or twice a week is all that dry skin needs.
Of course, you also need to ensure that you’re using the right exfoliator for your skin type. Dry skin doesn’t need potent acids or overly abrasive scrubs. These will, again, cause damage. Instead, just like when it comes to your cleanser, go for a gentle exfoliator, such as the Celestolite Estrella Facial Peel. You’ll be able to use this advanced formula twice a week without having to worry about damaging your skin barrier.
Exposing Your Skin to Hot Water
While we’re on the topic of your skin barrier, hot water is something else that needs to be avoided if you want to keep that barrier feeling healthy. Why? Because hot water strips away sebum from the skin. This not only forms an important component of your skin barrier but, as you’ll know, it leaves dry skin even more lacking since dry skin needs as much sebum as it can get!
How hot is too hot? Sebum begins to melt at 84–86°F, which isn’t actually very hot! Anything too much higher than this will cause your dry skin to lose too much of its sebum reserves.
This means keeping the water temperature at lukewarm when you’re cleansing your face and showering. Just this one adjustment alone can make such a big difference to dry skin!
Skipping Sunscreen
Are you guilty of not being as diligent about sunscreen as you should be? Not only does this put you at a higher risk of developing skin cancer, but it will also make your dry skin so much worse.
The radiation from the sun dries out the skin, depleting it of both moisture and oil. This means that not only will your dryness intensify, but you’ll also likely experience dehydration too. Plus, the inflammation that the sun triggers in the skin disrupts sebum production, which is something that you should be trying to regulate in order to counter the dryness.
Fortunately, putting this mistake right is as easy as taking sun protection more seriously. Start by making SPF a non-negotiable part of your morning routine. An SPF moisturizer, like the Celestolite Nova Bright Skin Cream (SPF 30), makes this easy. Carry it with you throughout the day, so that you can reapply it every two hours until the sun goes down. This will go a long way in improving your sun protection efforts.
Using a Moisturizer That Isn’t Designed for Dry Skin
It goes without saying that if you have dry skin, you need to moisturize. Yes, all skin types should be moisturized, but dry skin needs this more than most. Why? A moisturizer helps to compensate for the lack of sebum on your skin. Like sebum, a moisturizer will form a film over your skin’s surface, conditioning it and helping with moisture retention.
However, this doesn’t mean that any moisturizer will do. If you want to see some improvements in your dry skin, you’ll need a moisturizer that’s designed to tackle dryness. Go with a different formula, such as one that’s created for oily skin, and you could end up making your skin even drier.
How can you tell if a moisturizer is good for dry skin? Take a look at its ingredient list. Ideally, you want to see ingredients that are rich in fatty acids, like the shea butter that has been used in the Celestolite Estrella Night Cream. This moisturizer works beautifully to soften and smooth the look of dry skin.
Incorrectly Layering Your Skincare Products
If you have dry skin, you need your skincare products to hydrate and moisturize your skin as efficiently as possible. However, if you’re incorrectly layering the products in your skincare routine, this won’t happen, meaning that your dry skin won’t get any better.
What’s the correct order? It starts with the products that don’t remain on the skin, meaning cleansing, exfoliating, and masking. Then, move on to the lightest product in your routine. It’s usually a toner or a serum. Ideally, this product should be as hydrating as possible – the Celestolite Estrella Facial Toner is perfect for this. Apply the rest of your products in order of thickness, so that you’re finishing your routine with the thickest product, which is usually a moisturizer.
Waiting Too Long Between Each Step of Your Skincare Routine
Another skincare mistake that many make is waiting too long between each step of their routine. While it’s important for each product that you apply to have enough time to absorb into your skin, too much time can be detrimental.
How? Because the skin is more permeable when it’s damp. This means that skincare products are able to absorb more effectively into damp skin than dry skin. If you apply the next product in your routine while your skin is still slightly damp from the previous product, you should see much better results from your efforts.
What should you do if your skin dries out in between layers? Give it a spritz with a hydrating face mist or toner. You only need enough to lightly dampen the surface of your skin, and then you can quickly apply the next product in your routine. This is particularly important when it comes to applying your moisturizer.
Forgetting to Adjust Your Skincare Routine to the Seasons
Seasonal changes have a big impact on the skin. The summer months tend to be kinder to dry skin, but the winter months can really take a toll. Either way, if you aren’t adjusting your skincare routine to cater to these seasonal changes, you’re doing your skin a big disservice.
What changes should you be making to your routine?
In the winter months, your skin will need more moisture than ever. Richer creams, more layers of hydration – everything that you can do to keep those moisture levels topped up. If you don’t intensify your routine in the winter in this way, your dry skin will worsen.
Using all of those thick products in the summer, however, will suffocate your skin. Plus, at this time of the year, your skin will be producing more sebum, meaning that it won’t feel so dry. If it becomes over-reliant on those rich products, this will interfere with sebum production, preventing you from benefiting from that natural boost.
Neglecting to Consider Underlying Conditions
The final skincare mistake that people with dry skin often make? Thinking that skincare on its own will be enough to help with dry skin that has been caused by an underlying condition. Sometimes, if the dryness is caused by a deeper issue, you may need more than what your skincare routine is currently providing.
Autoimmune diseases, for example, like eczema and psoriasis, cause dry skin. In mild cases, over-the-counter skincare will help. However, if the dryness is severe, you may need to turn to steroid creams.
Diabetes, and the way in which it interferes with both circulation and sweat production, can also lead to dry skin. The topical products that you’re using will only mask the dryness as a symptom. Getting treatment for the diabetes, on the other hand, will help with the dryness in the long run.
Ready to See Some Improvements in Your Dry Skin?
There’s no denying that dry skin can be frustrating to deal with. There’s already so much out there that can easily make dry skin worse, such as the weather. However, if you’re making any of the above skincare mistakes, then you’re also contributing to the dryness you’re experiencing.
The good news? These mistakes are easy to put right. Follow our advice, give your skin the care that it really needs, and those dry-looking patches will soon become a problem of the past!
Click here to pamper your dry skin with more moisturizing bestsellers from Celestolite.
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