Skincare Mistakes to Avoid in Your 20s

Skincare isn’t as heavy as it may sound to some people. Nor it’s a tedious task unless you unnecessarily make it. It is a simple delight for your tired skin that pays off over time. But many of us fail to understand the gist of skin care. It is not only about applying a profusion of serums but works largely on the principle that beauty comes from within. Here’s a list of 5 things that people in their 20s do that make their skincare routine ineffective:

1. Not Wearing Sunscreen

There is no doubting the need for a good sunscreen. It helps reduce signs of aging and prevents sun spots and sunburns. Wearing sufficient amounts of sunscreen on exposed skin is important to save your healthy skin. No tan is healthy. So, everyone needs to wear it even on winter days, cloudy days, or when you are at a higher altitude. With this goes the precautionary move of keeping yourself covered when exposed to sun and dirt

2. Too Many Products

Once we enter the world of beauty and self-care, we get easily drawn to the fancy packaging and promising words but the reality is that we only need a few products to achieve flawless skin. Let’s see how you should go about it:

• Identify your problems
• Research about
• Set your priority/work on one problem at a time
• Consult a doctor
• Working your way out with medicines/getting spot-on treatment instead of beating around the bush

The problem with using too many products/hacks at the same time is that you’ll never know what’s delivering the result and what is not suiting you. It is advised by dermatologists to go slow, always. Wait for the results and introduce one new product at a time.

3. Over-Exfoliation

Exfoliating products for the skin come in 2 different ranges – physical exfoliation (scrubs) and chemical exfoliation (salicylic acid). For facial skin, it is recommended to go with chemical exfoliation (only if it suits your skin, obviously) because your facial skin is made differently from the rest of your body. Physical exfoliation works well with other parts of the body. But it is rooted in our minds that exfoliation is the panacea of all skin troubles and hence, many of us tend to overdo it. This should be avoided as it may accentuate your problem and trigger acne.

4. Not Eating Right

Anxious, we fall into the trap of expensive skincare and forget to acknowledge the basic fact that what we eat is what we become. We begin to depend wholly on topical treatments thinking that they will solve all our problems but it doesn’t work that way. They work in prevention to some extent but mostly deliver treatment to an already existing problem, it CAN NOT prevent the skin issues emerging out of poor lifestyle and diet. Just like putting Vitamin C alone without sunscreen won’t help because your skin would be exposed to oxidization anyway. If you are not taking healthy and balanced food, your deficiencies and disturbed digestive tract will show up on your skin constantly. Drinking enough is key to clear skin.

5. Choosing Cosmetics over Medicine

A very meager percentage of cosmetics focuses on the problem, sadly. But those silly attractive glass bottles have little to help you out as they name the ingredients you like. Instead, you SHOULD always consult a doctor and go for an easy over-the-counter medicine to minimize the flaring up. Medicines are always a reliable option because they are developed scientifically, and it is made to solve problem whereas cosmetics only work on short-term goals (instant fairness, getting rid of facial hair), hence, loose dependability.

Overall, one should go minimum and not overdo anything as products take time to show results (minimum 3 months), eat healthy food and drink enough water, target skin problems one by one and not haphazardly, always cover your skin and keep it moisturized in and out while maintaining personal hygiene. Gradually, you’ll notice the severity of skin issues fade away!