Starting an anti-aging beauty routine in your thirties is a good idea since the best way to fight wrinkles is to prevent them altogether. However, certain common routine mistakes can stop your skin from looking its best, and can even exacerbate certain skin conditions and wrinkles.
Specifically, over-washing your face can be an easy mistake to make, but it’s one thing you should definitely stop doing ASAP if you want younger-looking skin.
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Over-Washing Your Face
Although washing your face is an important part of a good skincare routine, be careful not to get into the habit of over-washing, which can do more harm than good.
Dermatologist Rachel Nazarian, M.D., at Schweiger Dermatology Group explains how over-washing can harm your skin: "Most tend to use harsh soaps that strip natural oils from their body and disrupt the ideal pH of their skin."
She continues, "Chronic over-washing will cause skin to dry and crack, leaving it prone to infections and flares of inflammatory conditions like eczema, and can even highlight signs of aging, like small wrinkles and lines."
Jerome Garden, M.D., director of the Physicians Laser and Dermatology Institute in Chicago, explains another potential side effect of over-washing to Self. "Not only does too much washing lead to dry, irritated skin, but it can actually lead to the skin paradoxically producing too much oil."
It can even lead to breakouts, especially if your skin is acne-prone.
So how often should you wash your face? Twice a day. Washing your face once in the morning and once at night is frequent enough to keep your skin clean without drying out your skin or exacerbating any skin conditions.
When you are washing your face, more is not necessarily better. According to Self, it should only take 20 to 30 seconds to cleanse your face.
With that in mind, if you are worried about aging, it might not be a matter of buying the right anti-aging products but learning how to use them properly. Over-washing might seem like a harmless mistake, but it can definitely impact the overall look and feel of your skin if you aren't careful.
