Yes, it's tempting, but it's terrible for your skin in numerous ways. Picking at dry skin denies your skin of the time it takes to complete its natural healing process and can cause inflammation, or worse, infection. When you pick at skin you may be causing injury to cells and inadvertently triggering melanin production as your skin works to heal itself, resulting in scars that may take a long time to fade, if they fade at all. Picking at acne is particularly bad, as it can lead to more than discoloration. Atrophic, ice pick, box car, and rolling scars can be an unpleasant result of picking at acne, and touching your face can lead to more breakouts as you introduce more bacteria to your pores. Instead, try investing in a regular facial treatment routine, especially if you are acne-prone. Many options exist that can reduce or eliminate your breakouts when paired with an adequate home routine such as HydraFacial, Photodynamic Therapy, Microneedling, and Blu-U.
FORGOING DAILY SUNSCREEN
We all know the dangers of tanning beds by now, but many of us don't think about sunscreen unless we're planning to hit the beach, pool, or any outdoor activity that will keep us in the sun for an extended part of our day. While using sunblock with SPF 30+ is strongly encouraged during any of those activities, it's also important to use it as you go about a typical day. Sun damage is cumulative and you are exposed to it while walking to lunch, sitting in traffic, and countless other short bursts throughout the day. Invest in a daily sunscreen for your face that will help ward off UV rays when you least expect them—during summer, spring, winter, and fall.
AT HOME EXTRACTIONS
When you get a breakout, how often do you schedule a facial to resolve it? If you want to avoid scarring and infection, you should be leaving the extractions strictly to the professionals every time. Aside from the potential scars and additional acne that can result from an at-home extraction, you also run the risk of cyst formation and blackheads refilling themselves after only 48 hours, which will prolong the misery and damage to your skin much more compared to the initial blemish.
IMPROPERLY MOISTURIZING ACNE-PRONE SKIN
Many times, the treatments required to resolve acne-prone skin can lead to dryness and irritation, and many times we turn to moisturizers which may be too heavy for that type of skin. If you slather on thick moisturizers containing oil, you're only going to deepen the problem and trigger more acne. Instead, swap out for an oil-free, water-based moisturizer, such as a hyaluronic cream or serum, that will give your skin a generous dose of moisture without pore-clogging oils.
REACTING TO AGING INSTEAD OF PREVENTING IT
Not many of us seriously think about anti-aging during our 20s and 30s, however, that's exactly when we should be. By the time you reach your twenties, you should already be using sunscreen and moisturizing regularly, but how many of us considered treatments such as botox injections or laser treatments such as Forever Young BBL or Fraxel? Botox will help prevent the lines from forming that normally start to appear in our 30s due to expression, and Fraxel can work wonders at removing unsightly dark spots long before the damaged cells have a chance to turn into them. And studies have found that Forever Young BBL can quite literally stop the aging clock for those who get just one treatment annually.
PRODUCT OVERUSE
More isn't always better—at least not when it comes to skincare products. Depending on whether or not your skin is dry, combination, oily, acne-prone, or otherwise, you need to tailor your routine not just to your skin type, but to your skin concerns. Only a dermatologist can advise you of how to treat acne while you're also combatting the signs of aging. Applying too many products to the skin can ultimately create more problems than they solve, and many of us are also not applying them in the right order. To simplify the process, after cleansing and toning, sparingly apply your products from thinnest to thickest so that your skin can adequately absorb each product.
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