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We all want younger-looking skin. Whether you are 27 or 57, most women will agree that their skin can always use an adjustment in brightness, firmness, plumpness or smoothness. The best steps you can take to promote a youthful glow involve eating the right foods and using the right skincare products in a consistent beauty regimen.
However, what you might not realize some of your beauty habits are preventing your skin from looking younger and brighter. We spoke to Dr. Rachel Nazarian of Schweiger Dermatology Group in NYC to find out the biggest mistake people make with anti-aging skincare.
While most people know that not wearing sunscreen or smoking can both cause premature skin aging, there is another mistake that most people would never even realize is harmless: washing your face the wrong way.
It is important to cleanse your face daily to keep it bright and clean, but you have to do this the right way. According to Dr. Nazarian, the best rules of thumb with washing your face are to wash twice daily, and to always be gentle with your skin.
“A good general rule is to wash your face twice a day: once in the morning immediately after waking up, which removes all bacteria and oil which make have moved to our face from our mouth and hair while we slept, and the second time before going to bed, which removes the micropollutants and buildup of oil and bacteria that has accumulated during day,” the dermatologist explained. “This includes removing makeup and facial products worn during the day! Leaving products and daily grime on our skin allows continued free radical damage - which translates to quicker aging, more wrinkles and less youthful beautiful skin.”
Dr. Nazarian added, “Washing your skin too aggressively [is another mistake]. Skin has a natural barrier of hydrating oils that protect us from the outside world. Washing with strong soaps or abrasive cleaners strips too much of our own natural moisturizers and can dry out and inflame skin; this predisposes skin to irritation, redness and makes wrinkles look deeper and more noticeable. Use gentle (unscented!) cleansers to prevent disruption of skin's natural pH. And avoid anything with rough scrubbing beads when cleaning your face!”
To cleanse your skin thoroughly yet gently, Dr. Nazarian suggests either the sensitive skin Dove Beauty Bar or the Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser.
The Dove Beauty Bar helps the skin maintain its natural moisture to leave it soft, smooth and radiant, while the Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser is made with a mild formula that removes makeup and dirt, hydrating the skin as it cleanses.
