The skin is the largest organ of your body. It’s also the one people can see.

Everyone wants to know how to have soft smooth skin to stay looking vibrant and young. However, you could be making a serious mistake in your skincare routine.

Here are 12 top skincare mistakes you must avoid.

12 Skincare Mistakes You Have to Avoid For incredible skin

1. Sleeping with makeup.

So you got home late, skipped washing your face before bed, and fell asleep in your makeup- we’ve all been there. However, there’s a reason why you are supposed to wash your face every night. When you sleep in your makeup, you allow the makeup to clog up your pores. If you want to know how to have soft smooth skin, stock up on makeup wipes.

2. Not wearing sunscreen.

The sun is horrible for your skin. When you get a sunburn, you are drying out your skin. Dry skin produces more wrinkles. Plus, sunburns are uncomfortable as heck. It’s wise to wear sunscreen any time you go outside in the sun. Don’t forget to reapply after a couple of hours if you are outside.

You may want to soak in the sun to get a tan, but there are other options. Try a spray tan or tanning lotion instead. It’s better for your skin in the long run, and it still gives you a tan.

3. Touching your face too often.

It can be easy to touch your face without thinking. You may do it to scratch an itch or rub your head. It seems innocuous enough, but you may have forgotten just where your hands have been. Putting your dirty hands on your face isn’t ideal for your skin.

You should be more mindful of how often you touch your face and stop yourself before it happens. You should also make a point to wash your hands often. This way even if you touch your face, at least your hands will be clean.

4. Changing products too quickly.

When you try a new product, you need to give it time to work. You can’t assume that you will see a difference in just a couple of days. Give a new product time to work. If you are patient, you will learn what products work best with your skin. Give it at least a month before switching products. Of course, you should switch products immediately if you have a noticeable adverse reaction.

5. Forgetting your neck.

Many people have a habit of only washing to the chin. They don’t go underneath the chin and the neck. However, these are important areas. Plus, you want them to match. You don’t want your neck to have different-looking skin than your face. So when you wash, moisturize and exfoliate your face, and be sure to get the neck, too.

6. Being inconsistent with your skincare routine.

You need to be consistent in your skincare routine if you expect it to be effective. Get disciplined. You need to make sure you actually tend to your skin every morning and every night.

7. Not exfoliating/Exfoliating too much.

Exfoliation is the process of using little pieces of hard material to help scrub the dead skin off your skin. This allows your fresh skin underneath to shine through. Some people make the mistake of not exfoliating at all. When they do this, it leaves the dead skin cells upfront and center. Then, there are other people who exfoliate too much, which could irritate the skin and make it overly rough.

8. Using dirty brushes.

We all use makeup brushes to apply makeup every day. Then we put the dirty brushes away. The next time we use them, they may still have old products on them. This could have damaged the brush in some way.

You should clean your brushes properly after every use. To clean them properly, you wet the brush, add a drop of cleanser, thoroughly clean the bristles, rinse the bristles, then allow the brush to dry. This will keep brushes clean and your skin more healthy.

9. Popping pimples.

Pimples are the worst. It’s understandable for someone to want to pop a pimple and get rid of it. However, this is the last thing you want to do. When you pop a pimple, you increase the likelihood of getting acne scars. It may even exasperate the problem and create additional pimples. Just double up on concealer and ride it out until it goes away on its own.

10. Taking boiling hot showers.

I like a hot shower in the winter as much as the next girl, but that doesn’t mean it’s good for your skin. If you tend to take super hot showers, you may notice that your skin is rather dry. Try turning the temperature down a couple of degrees if you aren’t comfortable jumping into a cold shower. This is just one more easy way how to not damage your skin.

11. Eating poorly.

The things you put in your body affect your skin. You want to have a healthy diet to keep your skin hydrated and full of oxygen. You also want to get the nutrients you know to help your skin glow.

So what should you eat to keep your skin looking great? Some great options include:

- Avocado
- Fatty fish
- Walnuts
- Bell peppers
- Broccoli

Try incorporating all of these things into your meals every day to help nourish your skin.

12. Not getting enough sleep.

When someone doesn’t get enough sleep, you can see it in their face. That’s because the skin probably looks emaciated. There are also likely dark circles under the eyes. If you want your skin to look good, you need to get enough sleep. Most experts suggest at least 7 hours a night.

The first step to proper skin care is to educate yourself. Now that you know how to not damage your skin, you can go out of your way to avoid them. This should help you wear your natural skin proudly for many years to come.

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