Seven Things Wrong With Your Evening Routine
Your night time skincare routine is very important as this where you’re cleansing your skin of the stresses of the day and using your most potent and powerful products to really tackle your skin concerns. Whether your evenings are jam-packed or you spend the time going through an elaborate skincare routine, there’s still probably room for improvement. Here are seven things you probably do regularly each evening, yet they’re potentially damaging your skin.
1. Your Skincare Routine Is Too Simple
After a long day you may be tempted to simply run a make-up remover wipe across your face and maybe apply a little bit of moisturiser. While this is better than doing nothing at all, you’re still damaging your skin. Most of the time a cleanser won’t be able to remove all traces of make-up, sunscreen and impurities so it’s important to use a toner as well.
2. You’re Using The Wrong Products
Your skin regenerates and repairs overnight, so it’s important that you use products which will aid this process. Using your daytime moisturiser with SPF won’t cut it in the evening, as SPF is heavy and could block your pores. Your evening routine is the perfect time to introduce a serum, if you’re not using one already. They contain higher levels of active ingredients, which penetrate deeper into the dermis and target skincare problems like dullness, dryness and ageing. You should also exfoliate in the evening, this will allow your skincare to penetrate the dermis and you’ll wake up to a brighter complexion.
3. The Way You Sleep
A silk or satin pillow case will prevent creases in your skin which, over time, can lead to fine lines and wrinkles. Sleeping on your back will also help prevent the wrinkles, especially on the neck and décolletage.
4. Staying Up Too Late
You may aim to get to bed the same time each evening, but it’s easy for life to get in the way. Whether you’re working late, catching up with your favourite TV show or meeting friends for dinner then you’ll find your bedtime becoming later and later. Sleep is essential for healthy skin, as this is the time when your skin is repairing, so try to get into seven to eight hours each evening. Unfortunately you can’t catch up on all your missed sleep at the weekend.
5. Not Tying Your Hair Up
If you put product in your hair in the evening then it’s important you tie it back from your face. Haircare products contain pore-clogging ingredients which can easily travel to your skin, along with the hair’s natural oils, leading to an increased change on breakouts.
6. Talking On The Phone
Do you take phone calls late in the evening? Well unfortunately that’s bad news for your skin, as you’re transferring bacteria from your phone screen to your freshly cleansed complexion. If you have to take phone calls then opt for speakerphone or Facetime, but try to keep calls to a minimum anyway as the artificial light from your phone makes it more difficult to fall asleep.
7. Long Hot Showers
A long shower may seem like the best way to relax at the end of a hard day, but it’s actually drying out your skin. Extreme temperatures can throw your skin off balance and leave it dehydrated, as can spending a long time in shower. Try to limit your time or, if you really need a long shower to relax, make sure to apply a moisturiser when the skin is still damp to lock in moisture.