Your Biggest Beauty Sins

Sleeping with Your Makeup On
When you forget to wash your face, your skin has the chance to marinate in a day’s worth of debris and oil overnight.The skin is unable to breathe, regenerate tissue, exfoliate dead surface cells and heal itself. This can lead to breakouts, excessive oiliness, a dull complexion or even dry skin.Nighttime is when the skin rejuvenates itself, so it’s very important to purify and cleanse before sleeping.


Always Sleeping on the Same Side of Your Face
We can’t always control where our head hits the pillow, but repeatedly snoozing in the same spot can cause fine lines to become permanently etched. This is because skin is scrunched up against the pillow over and over again. To ward off wrinkles, make sure your pillow is fluffy; one that’s too firm can cause more squishing. Try placing a moon-shaped cushion on top of your regular pillow; this way, only the perimeter of your face rests against the fabric.

Cleansing with Water That's Too Hot
Washing away residue is always a good thing, but when you rinse with hot water, you can do more harm than good.A temperature that’s scorching causes broken capillaries on the face. The capillary walls are very thin and elastic, so they are reactive to temperature, she says. To keep skin balanced, always cleanse with lukewarm or tepid water

Rubbing Your Eyes
The area around your eyes is the thinnest, most sensitive area of the face.The more you rub it, the more it will stretch. Since there are no oil glands there, the skin has very little give. Repeated rubbing or pulling on the lids, especially when putting in contact lenses, can cause skin to slacken and fine lines to form. To keep skin firm, hydrate it with eye cream—the drier the skin around the eyes, the more wrinkles will be visible. When you put in contact lenses, use your fourth and fifth fingers to hold open your lids. Since these are weaker digits, skin won’t be stretched as aggressively. And most important, stop rubbing your eyes!


Washing Your Face Before Your Hair
Especially when you use a conditioning hair mask. These treatments tend to be loaded with oils, which can seep into your face. Pores get clogged, leading to breakouts, especially along the hairline. Make sure you thoroughly cleanse away any residue from your face after rinsing your hair.

Wearing Too Much Facial Moisturizer
You may be extra-vigilant about keeping skin supple, but too much of a good thing can have a reverse effect. Excess cream won’t absorb deeply enough into cellular tissue, so skin won’t be able to breathe and pores will clog. Sometimes this can even manifest in dryness. Use a lighter hand when applying moisturizer; a dime-size amount is plenty to protect skin from environmental stressors.