Buying the right skincare products is not nearly enough to get the best results out of your skin. Good habits are also a great part of it, and sometimes the mistakes we make can cancel most of the good job our favorites serums should be doing. Stay tuned to understand which mistakes you may be making and how you can change them in order to achieve a better skin.
1. Storing your cosmetics in your bathroom.
This is one of the worst no-nos and the one that most people do. We know that it’s super practical to have everything at hand, but the bathroom is probably the farthest from ideal storing conditions you’ll have. The worst culprits will always be the temperatures and humidity, as the ideal values would be temperature below 25ºC and less than 60% humidity, and those values are very hard to achieve when you’re a fan of hot showers. It’s not that one single day out of those values will ruin your skincare products, but the temperature and humidity levels inside the bathroom tend to be far from the ideal ones, every day.
And why is this relevant? Because the products were designed to withstand the ideal storage conditions we’ve discussed, but higher levels mean that the products will degrade faster – this means that they will be ruined faster and that microorganisms (mold or bacteria) might start growing in your skincare products.
How to solve it: find a place that doesn’t have direct sunlight nor intense temperature variations. If you have an empty drawer, that would be perfect. Store all your skincare there and keep them shut tight.
2. Keeping your products open for a lot of time.
We know it’s tempting to try all the new products the moment they arrive at your door, but this means that the clock starts counting from the moment you first open them. Skincare products have a symbol that is related to the “period after opening”, which is the amount of time the product keeps its integrity from the moment you first open it. The image you can see above this text is the symbol you need to search for in your bottles, as it tells you the number of months the product can be used safely.
The best thing you can do for your favorite products is not saving them for special occasions. On the contrary, the best thing you can do is to use them all up before the period after opening ends, to ensure that you get all the benefits from the products while they are still in perfect condition.
How to solve it: only open the products when you intend to start using them and don’t save them for special occasions. Ideally, write on the bottle the date you opened the product and keep an eye on the period after opening.
3. Not exchanging the pillowcases and towels frequently.
This is one of the biggest mistakes you can make when you’re trying to take care of your skin. Towels, due to being constantly wet, are a frequent contamination point – imagine that you suffer from acne and are trying to avoid bacteria on your skin – not exchanging the towels enough will only worsen the level of bacteria, no matter how well you cleanse it before drying it with the towel.
Another source of contamination is cotton pillowcases, as they tend to build up a lot of dead skin, skincare product remains and bacteria. Imagine that you have just spent 15 minutes on your beautiful and luxurious skincare routine and will now go to sleep. Cotton pillowcases will not only rub off a significant part of those products but will also rub on dead cells and bacteria.
How to solve it: exchange your towels and pillowcases frequently. If you can, opt for individual face towels that you only use when you cleanse your face and switch your regular pillowcases for silk or satin ones.
