5 peculiar things that contribute to skin breakouts
Is your skin prone to breakouts and blemishes, despite practising an excellent and thorough beauty routine?
Your skin is a complex and delicate organ, that can be temperamental at the best of times, and during your day to day life, there are many factors that contribute to the overall health of your skin. As skin care advocates, we’ve tracked down some unusual reasons as to why your skin might be playing up, so you know what to avoid, to restore your beautiful skin in no time!
Enjoying super hot showers
We’re all guilty of turning the water temperature up too high in the shower - there’s no denying how soothing it can feel after a long day at work or how great it is for warming up from the cold outside - but in doing so, you could actually be harming your skin.
Hot water is very drying for your skin. This can cause your skin to quickly become unbalanced, and when your skin is unbalanced, it’s more prone to breakouts. If your skin is turning red in the shower, we’d suggest turning down the hot tap and taking shorter showers!
Although washing your face in the shower may seem like an excellent time saver, it could be doing more harm than good. The water in the shower tends to be hotter than the temperature you’re tolerant to when washing your face in the sink. As we mentioned above, it’s hot water that can dry out your skin and cause an imbalance, so always wash your face when you’re out of the shower, using warm, but not hot, water.
Not cleaning your makeup brushes
The majority of us use makeup brushes every day, so it’s no wonder they can carry a whole host of dirt and bacteria that is easily transferred to your face. Keep your brushes clean, and your skin healthy, by washing them at least once a week and leaving them to dry fully before using them again, and although sharing is usually caring, never share your makeup brushes with friends or family as this can cause a whole host of new skin problems!
Urban Life
It’s been suggested that living in a city can cause your skin to age 10% faster, because of the amount of pollution that’s all around us. Not only that, but toxic pollutants can pass through the body and inflame your skin, causing unhappy, blemish-prone skin.
The best way to keep the effects of pollution at bay is to stick to a healthy cleanse, tone and moisturise routine. When you cleanse your face at the end of the day, you’re removing the buildup of dirt and grime that is invisible to the naked eye, helping to keep your skin radiant and beautiful.
Using an alcohol-free toner will help keep your skin healthy and bright, without stripping it of its natural oils and moisturising with an anti-ageing cream will help keep premature lines and wrinkles away.
Using Your Mobile Phone
We hate to break it to you, but your trusty mobile phone is a playground of bacteria. Although we use our phone every day, many of us never think to clean it, causing an alarming amount of bacteria to nest on your phone, that’s invisible to the human eye. To avoid breakouts caused by your mobile phone, pledge to wipe it down regularly using a micro-fibre cloth. Even if it looks clean, chances are it isn’t, so get cleaning!
Using headphones to make and take phone calls is an excellent way to avoid direct contact with your face and mobile phone. However if you’ve forgotten your headphones, and need to make a call, keep it a couple of centimetres away from your face so it’s not directly touching your skin.
Changing Temperatures
When it’s freezing outside it tends to be pretty warm inside, as the central heating blasts on. However this frequent and sudden change of temperature can confuse your skin, leaving it unhappy, unbalanced and prone to breakouts.
To prevent your skin from suffering, try adjusting your skincare routine slightly by incorporating a twice-weekly face mask into your regime. This will help target blemishes directly, and is a simple, subtle change which won’t leave your skin even more confused and irritated by a sudden complete skincare overhaul.