Call for a Complimentary Consultation Seattle: (206) 402-3063, Lynnwood: 425-640-5900 | Make an Appointment

Top Five Skin Care Mistakes

Over Exfoliating: People with dry skin mistakenly think exfoliating helps to slough away flakes and remove dead skin cells. However, over exfoliation actually makes dry skin worse by impairing the skin’s capacity to retain water, making it look flat, lifeless, and aged. With some people, their over exfoliation causes their skin to get a rash and become like sandpaper!

Using the Same Moisturizer 12 Month a Year: Your skin complexion changes throughout the year, and so too should your moisturizer. Skin becomes oily in summer, dry in winter. Since their is less water in the air during winter, skin becomes more dehydrated. For oily skin, one shouldn’t automatically use an oil-free moisturizer all year, or even to go absent of it. A better solution is a serum or lotion for oily skin, and then switch to a rich cream moisturizer when the weather is dry.

Using a Harsh Cleanser: The tight, tingly feeling after using a foaming cleanser or bar soaps may feel good, but that electric feel means the natural lipids have been stripped away. This leaves your skin parched and susceptible to premature wrinkling. Instead of a harsh cleanser taking away your skin’s health, try an oil based cleanser, or the standard, Cetaphil.

Not Wearing Sunscreen: The sun’s ultraviolet radiation causes skin damage every time you leave the house. These ray penetrate your skin, damaging DNA, destroying collagen, and depleting your skin’s epidermis layer of essential nutrients like vitamin A. With the accumulation of time, UV radiation produces wrinkles, skin discoloration, and age spots. Use a moisturizer that contains at least an SPF 15, and reapply at least once during the day.

Going Green: We all love organic products, but nature doesn’t produce retinoids and sunscreen. There is no natural supply of Differin and Atralin, proven wrinkle fighters. Organics are adequate for cleansing and moisturizing, but not as sunscreens and anti-wrinkling agents.