At Dermalogica, we get numerous questions about which products and treatments we recommend for a particular skin type or concern, whilst it's important to know what to do right when it comes to your skincare, it's also helpful to know where it goes wrong.
Here we share the most common skincare mistakes:
Skin misdiagnosis
For an untrained eye it can be hard to know if your skin is dry or dehydrated or sensitive or sensitised. Often customers are using the wrong products for their skin and not getting the results they are wanting. Dermalogica always recommends customers having Face Mapping Skin Analysis from a professional skin therapist before purchasing any products. This way you can have a consultation, talk to a skin therapist about your skin, skin care concerns and goals and have them look at your skin in detail. They can then more accurately prescribe the right products for your skin, giving you the results you want.
Not cleansing effectively
At Dermalogica, we always recommend the double cleanse method, both morning and evening. The job of your first cleanse is to remove any make up you’ve worn that day, dead skin cells, sebum, and environmental pollutants. PreCleanse is great for this as it is an oil-based cleanser, which effectively grabs onto oils and impurities in your skin, before being removed. Your second cleanse gets deeper into your skin, and we recommend using a cleanser that is suited to your skin type to help to control and maintain your skin type for you. This will be the first step in helping to treat any skin concerns you have with your skin. If you have effectively cleansed your skin products that you apply afterwards can then penetrate deeper into the skin and give you better results.
Skipping SPF
We are very passionate about wearing SPF to protect our skin from any day light 365 days a year. UVA radiation is able to penetrate glass which is why we recommend wearing sunscreen on a daily basis, even if you don’t go outdoors. While it is true that exposure to sunlight (specifically UVB) helps to produce Vitamin D3 in your body, the amount of sunlight that you need for adequate levels of Vitamin D is minimal. About five to ten minutes of exposure to the arms and legs, or hands, arms, and face, two to three times per week is sufficient for healthy Vitamin D levels. It’s also important to make sure you are using enough sunscreen and reapplying often enough for enough protection from UV rays. For effective coverage two tablespoons of sunscreen is needed to be applied to the exposed areas of the face and body. Sunscreen needs to be reapplied every two hours, or more frequently after swimming, heavy perspiration, or towelling off. We always recommend using a minimum of SPF30.
Not being patient or consistent with skin care routines
We recommend that to see results from skin care products you need to be using them consistently for one skin cell turnover cycle. This can take between 6-8 weeks depending on your age. Although it can be hard, we must be patient so that our skin care routine has a chance to give us the results we are wanting.
Not using a toner
Toners are often an overlooked part of a skincare routine, but they make a big difference on your skin if you use them daily. Think of a toner being a primer for the rest of your skin-care routine like serums, targeted treatments, and moisturisers.
A good analogy is thinking your skin is like a dried-up sponge. If you put a cream on a brittle dry sponge, it will just sit on top of the sponge but if you wet the sponge, the cream will sink in more easily. A toner should ideally be used morning and evening after you cleanse your skin. Because the Dermalogica toners come in spritz form they can also be sprayed on the skin whenever you need them throughout the day, even on top of makeup. This makes them fantastic for battling against dehydration caused by air con, heat pumps or if you’re a regular flyer.
Ignoring the neck and chest area
Often people won’t include the neck and chest area when using skin care products. The skin around your upper chest and neck is very thin; it contains less sebaceous glands and limited melanocytes (cells that give colour to your skin and protect it from UV rays) – so damage is more easily done.
You need to take your entire skin care routine on to your upper chest area from your double cleanse, exfoliation right through to your spf as it is one of the most UV exposed areas of the body and therefore suffers harsh sun damage when exposed over time.