Here are some skincare tips that will help you close off the year the right way!

With the new year upon us, it's a great time to look over your beauty routine and see if there are any resolutions you can adopt for even better skin in 2018. In some cases, the best thing you can do is avoid pitfalls of the past to make sure you're setting your skin up for success. 

• Beauty Shouldn’t Hurt

Regardless of what beauty magazines and well-meaning skincare professionals say, skin shouldn’t get worse before it gets better. Red, sensitized skin is always a sign of distress—if your exfoliant, retinol, or skincare product causes this reaction, it’s time to change your routine. It could be as simple as switching to a lower-strength exfoliant, but check all your products’ ingredient lists to be sure skin-sensitizing ingredients (like denatured alcohol) aren’t to blame. 

• Play it Cool While Cleansing

Avoid using hot or ice-cold water while cleansing: Both are damaging to skin, can lead to lingering redness, and prolong the staying time of acne. Lukewarm water should get the job done with any type of cleanser—and be sure to gently dab, not rub, your skin dry with a soft towel. 

• Skip the Long Bath

Long baths are relaxing for your muscles and your mind, but prolonged soaks stress your skin! When skin shows visible "pruning," it’s a sign of a compromised skin surface—Surprise! Too much water is damaging to skin. Too much time in the tub literally breaks down skin, keeping its surface from holding on to healthy substances like cholesterol and ceramides. These serve as the mortar that holds the "bricks" (the protein portion of your skin) together, keeping it feeling smooth, soft, and pliable.

• Kick the Addiction to Scrubs

Scrubbing away at skin like you’re trying to remove bad wallpaper is one of the most common ways people hurt their skin—it’s an antiquated way to exfoliate.

While AHA or BHA exfoliants are the best way to exfoliate skin, you don’t have to give up using a scrub altogether—just avoid those that are overly harsh, abrasive, or otherwise poorly formulated. Think of scrubs as an extra measure of cleansing, and always be gentle when using them on your face and body. 

• Pass (on) the Bar Soap

Bar soaps are always a bad idea for skin because of the residue they leave behind—blame the ingredients used to keep them in solid form: This filmy residue can initially feel good on skin, but with regular use it can worsen dry skin. If that weren’t enough, the alkaline pH level of bar soaps sensitizes skin. 

• Dump Your Abusive Skincare Products

Moisturizers, serums, sunscreens, and other products that contain skin-aggravating ingredients (like alcohol or fragrance) are easy to fall for. But, over the long-term, their drawbacks far outweigh any benefits—and your routine becomes a cycle of treating one concern (for example, acne) while developing another (for example, dry skin). Kick these abusive beauty products to the curb and don’t look back! 

• Perfume Has Nothing to Do with Skincare

We’ve all said it at least once in our lives—"I love this moisturizer, it just smells so good!" Unfortunately, what pleases your nose doesn’t make your skin happy. Highly fragranced products (whether from "essential oils" or other sources) may smell lovely, but they stink when it comes to keeping skin in top shape. 

• More is Not Always a Good Thing

Even a well-formulated product has the potential to do harm if it’s overused, so heed the directions for your exfoliant, retinol, or anti-acne solutions and experiment to find the balance that’s right for your skin.

Signs that your skin has had enough include a tight, lined, or pulled appearance (especially on waking up in the morning), redness, peeling, or sensitivity.

• Peel Now, Pay Later

Whether done at home or in a professional setting, facial peels can be a helpful part of a routine, especially when uneven skin tone is a concern. However, if you’re getting AHA, BHA, or other types of peels too frequently (or opting for ones that are too strong), their benefits can backfire.

Mild peels done at home should not be performed more than once or twice per month; deep peels performed by a doctor should be limited to once per year at most. The goal is to never tip the scales in favor of sensitizing skin, so use this type of exfoliation in moderation.

• Sunscreen is the Best Anti-Wrinkle Cream

Sunscreen is not nearly as flashy as the current beauty products being hyped on the market, but sunscreen has anti-wrinkle benefits that no other skincare product can touch. Unprotected sun exposure is the #1 cause of early skin aging, including wrinkles, sagging, and uneven skin tone. Want to look as young as you can as long as you can? Sunscreen is a daily necessity, 365 days per year, even if it’s cloudy—and your anti-aging products will work much better if you routinely shield your skin from ongoing exposure to daylight.

Health and Beauty tips

Liz Skincare 

2200 SW 16 ST Suite 224 Miami, FL 33145

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I hope you’ve found some of my tips helpful!

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