Daily habits can become dangerous for the skin, even if some are initially useful. Beautician and plastic surgeon Nadezhda P. told Okemen.xyz about how our daily actions can harm our skin.
1: Sleep on one side: because of this, creases appear on the neck and face
“Almost everyone has a habit of sleeping in a certain position. When this happens over the years, wrinkles naturally begin forming on the face or neck’s left or right side. She sees a responsible approach to sleep, a certain awareness of this process as a way out of the situation – it is worth choosing a good pillow that will preserve the natural line, buy an orthopedic mattress. Sleeping on your back will help avoid creases in the neck and on the face, notes Nadezhda.
2: Not to carry out hygienic cleaning of the phone and also not to regularly change pillowcases on the pillow: sebum and dust accumulate on them, and bacteria develop
The phone is a storehouse of bacteria: we touch it with our hands in a store, transport it, put it on the cheek, which is covered with foundation and other makeup products, and there is also sebum (sebum), says the beautician. Therefore, the surface of the gadget accumulates a large number of microorganisms.
Roughly the same can be said about the pillow. The only difference is that we do not take it outside the house and do not touch it with dirty hands in transport. “Nevertheless, we touch the pillowcase with our face, on which we apply care products, with our hair, and we don’t wash our hair every evening,” warns Nadezhda.
It is necessary to change the pillowcase a maximum of once every three days – remember hotels where bed linen is changed daily or every other day. And the surface of the phone must be treated with alcohol or chlorhexidine, especially when there are some inflammatory elements on the face since frequent contact with the skin can cause the screen to spread infection.
3: We take a long shower: because of this, the skin dries out
“You can take a shower for as long as you like. The main thing is that the water temperature should not be too hot since this contributes to the epidermis drying,” the cosmetologist notes.
It is also useful to resort to a contrast shower – it increases blood circulation and blood flow to the skin’s surface layers. It improves the skin’s metabolic processes and nutrition.
After a shower, do not dry your skin. It is better to leave it slightly damp and apply a moisturizer. This will help keep your skin hydrated and youthful. Nadezhda recommends that you also practice after a shower massage with a rolled towel to further enhance blood circulation and skin nutrition.
4: Carried away with exfoliating agents and preparations with acids: this destroys the protective barrier of the skin
For home care, only skin exfoliators are used: as a rule, these are acids. Professional care requires others. “Unlike professional products, home care products contain very low concentrations of acids. The natural process of exfoliation occurs constantly, but with age, the regenerative functions of the skin decrease, so the use of acids for exfoliation is fully justified. But you should not do this every day,” the specialist explains.
Some people constantly use mechanical methods of exfoliating the skin: washcloths, scrubs, and brushes and add acids to this – in this case, we thin our skin, it does not have time to recover, and the water-lipid barrier is broken, which can lead to irritation, dryness, redness, inflammation, the vascular wall grows, the effect of a “tired face” occurs. Therefore, it is better to use products with acids once a week, Nadezhda advises.
5: Use soap that comes to hand without looking, sulfate or sulfate-free
When there are any problems with the skin, it is most often irritated. In such a situation, it is especially not worth grabbing everything that comes to hand, and it is better to use soap with less aggression. Sulfate-free options are more gentle on the skin of the face, notes Nadezhda.
6: Add oils to daily care: against this background, the risks of blockage of pores increase.
The expert notes that it is necessary to understand for what purpose we use oils. “When it comes to dry skin, then the user is possible. But it is important to remember that oils often form a protective film on the skin: for dry, sensitive skin, this is useful, and for oily skin, this is the cause of the appearance of new foci of inflammation, acne, and acne. The oil creates an ideal environment for the development of bacteria,” emphasizes Nadezhda.
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7: After removing makeup with micellar water, do not wash it off
Micellar water is a skin cleanser. It dissolves the remnants of dirt and makeup, so it must be washed off with water, says the beautician. After that, you should apply a tonic since all cleansers are alkalized, and we have a slightly acidic environment on our skin. “If we alkalize, we create conditions for the development of bacteria that live on our skin. When the environment changes, bacteria lead to an increase in inflammation. Toning helps restore balance to the skin. Therefore, washing is necessary after micellar water and then applying a tonic. Micellar water is not a tonic,” warns Nadezhda.