From neglecting your neck to applying SPF incorrectly and using out-of-date products, these are the biggest skincare mistakes to avoid.
Never Neglect Your Neck
Skipping the neck and décolleté area is a skin sin that many of us make. Yet simply put, the skin on your neck is no different to that on your face. There is no need to invest in a specialised cream, just use your daily products (cleaner, toner, serums, moisturiser and SPF) on this area every single day.
Beauty tip: When applying products to your neck, make sure you do so with upward motions towards your face to help lift before gently pressing into skin, and never drag down as this can cause sagging.
The Correct Way To Layer SPF
Whatever your morning skincare routine, be it a leisurely and meticulous ritual or more of a slap-dash approach, the order in which you apply each step makes a huge difference to how your products perform.
Post cleanse and tone, pat on your everyday serum and then apply sun protection before your moisturiser – heavy creams can create a barrier that interferes with an SPF’s penetration and reduces the effectiveness of the protection. We recommend looking for a multi-tasking moisturiser already formulated with an SPF.
Beauty tip: Brimming with powerful antioxidants, Vitamin C serums offer a whole host of skin benefits (think brightening and anti-inflammatory), but the real skincare science gets to work when this active ingredient is paired with SPF. Vitamin C further enhances the function of sun protectors by slowing the rate of free radical damage to collagen, all while helping the skin to repair. We’ll take it by the litre please!
Don’t Ignore Expiry Dates
Take a good look at your skincare stash and carefully examine each product’s packaging – you should find a tiny symbol of an open jar and a number (usually placed on the bottom of pots or the back of bottles and tubes). This represents the amount of time in months that a product will be safe to use once opened. For example: 6M, 12M, 18M or 24M.
Be especially diligent when it comes to acne, anti-aging, antioxidants or SPF, as all can lose their efficiency once expired – you may even notice a slight change in colour.
Beauty tip: Never forget to look at the expiry dates on your make-up too, as it can reduce in quality and result in irritation due to a build-up of bacteria over time – particularly in mascaras, which beauty experts advise replacing every three to six months.
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