20 Skin Care Dos & Don’ts

Most, if not all, of the following dos and don’ts are in one way or another talked about in any of the many articles up on this blog. This list is certainly not all of the things you want to do or not do to take care of your skin. But they are here, all together, for you to read through in case you don’t want to search for each separate article. For those of you who just want the list, here it is. Following is a short discussion on each do or don’t.

1. Don’t use hot and/or cold water on your face.
2. Do cleanse both morning and evening.
3. Don’t buy neck creams.
4. Don’t use dirty water to splash rinse.
5. Don’t use a magnifying mirror.
6. Don’t wear foundation.
7. Don’t do facial exercises.
8. Don’t use soap on your skin.
9. Don’t use products with alcohol.
10. Do use toners.
11. Do simplify your cosmetic drawer.
12. Don’t let anything dry on your skin.
13. Don’t tissue products off your skin.
14. Don’t dry the skin out (blemishes).
15. Do put sunscreen on your kids.
16. Do drink more water. 
17. Don’t eat sugar (if you can help it).
18. Don’t spend time in the sun unprotected.
19. Do listen to your body.
20. See below.

1. DON’T use hot and/or cold water on your face. Capillaries are the blood network to the skin on the face. They are very tiny vessels that are weak by nature and can “break” or dysfunction very easily. I have written two articles on the subject that explain in detail all you’ll want to know. See PLEASE—No Hot Water! and Ice & Skin?—Don’t do it! Moderation is truly the healthiest way to treat your capillaries.

   

2. DO cleanse both morning and evening. In the morning, you want to clean off what your skin has eliminated all night long. Just because you’re sleeping (peacefully, I hope) doesn’t mean your body has stopped functioning. It has slowed down, but sweat and oil are still being eliminated all through the night. You also want to start the day fresh by washing off all the product you put on the night before. At night, you want to cleanse off all the debris from the day, environmental as well as sweat and toxins your skin has eliminated from within. If you wear makeup, it is best to cleanse twice at night. Once to get all the makeup off and the second time to get your skin clean. See True or False: You only need to wash your face at night.

3. DON’T buy separate neck creams. Although I’m recommending you don’t buy separate creams for your neck, I am emphatically recommending you do use products on your neck area. This is often a neglected, forgotten, and many times sun damaged area. It is also a place where gravity really takes hold during the aging process. You want to use basically all of your skin care products on this area: cleanser, toner, moisturizers, exfoliators. Unless you have breakout on your neck, there isn’t a strong need to use a clay mask there.

Neck or throat creams are another ploy to get you to buy more products. Although the skin on the neck varies from the skin on the face, I recommend you treat it basically the same. Include your neck in everything you do, 1-2-3 plus exfoliation and sunscreen, but it is usually unnecessary to purchase a separate cream for this area. Take care of your neck—you’ll be happy you did. See The Forgotten Places: The Neck as well as The Basics 1-2-3 Program for more information. 

4. DON’T use dirty water to splash rinse. I know a few companies tout this practice as being great for the skin but really, how much sense does it make to splash dirty water on your face? Use the fresh water coming out of the tap. Let the dirty water go down the drain where it belongs.

5. DON’T use a magnifying mirror. Unless you require one to apply makeup, there is no need to make yourself crazy with this unrealistic view of your skin. Don’t set yourself up. No one looking at your skin can see what shows up through magnification. Not even you. For more details, read Why You Don’t Want To Use A Magnifying Mirror.

6. DON’T wear foundation. Try not wearing it unless humanly impossible and get used to seeing your skin. Water your foundation down so it goes on thinner. By the time you do this, it’s like not wearing it at all so—why wear it? You really don’t want to cover the natural characteristics of your skin. The look of the skin has a wonderful flow from face to body back to the face again. Foundation gives a mat finish and a perfect pallet in which to apply your face paint (makeup), but it disrupts the natural flow of your true skin.

It’s a habit. You are in the habit of seeing yourself with foundation on. Don’t wear it unless you have to. Hopefully, you will get used to seeing yourself without it, become more comfortable a natural, and perhaps do away with foundation all together. It’s unnecessary and doesn’t benefit the health of your skin. Health is the only foundation. See MYTH: Foundation is good for your skin.

7. DON’T do facial exercises. Although the lady in this photo is perhaps not doing facial exercises exactly, when you do these exercises you are making expressions, and wrinkles are basically lines of expression. Therefore when you do facial exercises you are in essence deepening any wrinkles you currently have and possibly creating more. Exercising your body is essential to balanced health; doing facial exercises could be creating the very thing you are trying to get rid of—wrinkles! See MYTH: Facial exercises help reduce wrinkles and/or firm the skin.

8. DON’T use soap on your skin. Soap is generally alkaline. Your skin in naturally acidic. When you use soap, you literally strip the skin of all its natural oils and water, leaving it too clean. This may signal your oil glands to produce more oil to overcompensate for the loss. Using gentle milk cleansers (that are acidic) is best. Read MYTH: Soap is a good cleanser.

9. DO simplify your cosmetic drawer. Do you have a pile of unused or rarely used cosmetics in the same drawer as the products you reach for often? There is nothing more satisfying than opening what used to be a cluttered makeup drawer and seeing just the opposite: clean and clutter free space with the items you use and love within easy access. This is a case where less really is more. Why stop at your cosmetics drawer? See if there are other areas in your home (and/or office) where things have collected and junked the place up. Take one thing at a time and put it in its place. You’ll be so happy you did! See Makeup De-Cluttering Quick Tip.

10. DO use toners. Toners are an important yet misunderstood step in your daily skin care program. If you use the right kind of toner (one that is pH balanced without alcohol), it helps your skin maintain it’s natural acid nature. Using the wrong kind (toner with alcohol) can set your skin up for dehydration as well as the possibility of becoming oilier. See TONER: What to use and what NOT to use for more information.

11. DON’T use products with alcohol. Alcohol, similar to soap, strips the acid mantle (natures oil and water film on the skin) and leaves your skin dried-out and dehydrated. Again, your oil glands will sometimes pump out oil to replace what the alcohol just stripped off. See Alcohol in Products: The good and the bad.

12. DON’T let anything dry on your skin. Products that dry on the skin just dry the surface tissue out. For instance, almost always you are instructed to let clay mask dry on your skin, but this will simply dry the surface out. One step forward (beneficial cleansing effects from clay), two steps back (you’ve just dried your skin out). See How to use a Clay Mask for more information.

13. DON’T tissue products off your skin. Tissue will not remove any product adequately. If you’re using a cold cream-type cleanser, you almost have to use a cleanser to remove the cold cream. Cold creams are generally not water-soluble, meaning they don’t dissolve in water. My recommendation: Skip the cold cream all together and just use a milky (water-soluble) cleanser. If you use cleansers that suggest using tissue to remove the product, I still recommend splash rinsing instead.

You may be instructed to tissue excess moisturizer off your face, or just do it because you feel you need to. If this is the case, you’ve put too much product on and your skin simply cannot absorb it all. Start with less product next time and smooth it into your skin without wiping, blotting, or tissuing anything off.

14. DON’T dry the skin out (blemishes). As I’ve explained in the chapter on problem skin, when you put products on blemishes to dry them out, you are really just drying the water out of the surrounding tissue, not actually clearing the blemish. Clay mask will go a long way to helping unplug clogged pores. Read Help For Breakouts to see what to do for your blemishes. The last thing you want to do is further irritate and dry out your skin. Unfortunately, most of the blemish control products on the market do just that. Dotting clay mask on your spots and/or using geranium essential oil, is a much preferable way to ease the infection from the skin while not incurring any damage.

15. DO put sunscreen on your kids. Remember, sun exposure is cumulative—from birth, so every minute of exposure counts toward the aging process later on. Don’t be a fanatic, but don’t let your children get any more unnecessary sun exposure than you can help. Teach them early about hats and sunscreen. See Top 10 reasons for not wearing sunscreen: What’s your excuse?

16. DO drink more water. Our bodies cannot sustain life without water. Getting adequate water on a daily basis is very important, even on a cellular level. To read some hints and tips to get more H20 in your life, see Tips to help you Drink More Water!

17. DON’T eat sugar (or at least cut down). Sugar is a huge contributor to breakouts. It also acts like a toxin in your body and can cause blood sugar problems. Although it is added to many foods, from candy bars to the not-so-obvious deli-meats and breads, becoming aware of sugar in your diet will help you eliminate it—or at least reduce your intake. See Hidden Sugar: Sugar in Unsuspected Places along with the many articles in the SUGAR & skin category for information and stories about how sugar affects your skin.

18. DON’T spend time in the sun unprotected. Hats, sunscreen, and protective clothing are a must if you’re spending any significant time in the sun. Sunscreen should become a part of your daily routine. See My Sunburn Preparedness Kit.

19. DO listen to your body. If you have even the slightest hint you may be getting sick, take herbs like echinacea or garlic to help boost your immune system. Timing is everything and if you listen to your body and act on the early warning signs of a cold or flu, you can really help to ward off minor illnesses. Stay well through prevention. See Supplements: all links so far for more information.

20. DON’T worry. DO Be Happy.