10 Bad Beauty Habits You Need To Ditch Now

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Let’s be real – we all have bad habits, it’s what makes us human. However, when it comes to your beauty routine, you could be making mistakes every day that are seriously hindering your glow-up. To take your daily regimen out of the danger zone, here are 10 bad beauty habits you need to ditch and what to do instead.

Bad Beauty Habit #1: Using a Towel to Dry your Hair

While most of us conclude our shower or bath by twisting our tresses into a towel, this is actually most likely to be damaging your hair. When you wash your hair, the water, especially when hot, will cause the hair cuticles to swell and open, leaving them vulnerable to frizz and damage. When the hair is wet and then twisted into a towel, the friction and tension can weaken your hair strands, permanently damaging your hair.

What to do instead: Gently squeeze your hair dry with an old cotton T-shirt or, even better, a microfiber towel. Not only are microfiber towels super absorbent but they’re gentle and will decrease the likelihood of breakage and frizz.

Bad Beauty Habit #2: Touching your Face and Picking Pimples

The average person touches their face 16 times an hour and every time you do, you’ll transfer dirt and bacteria onto your skin, which can clog your pores and lead to breakouts. Similarly, if you pick or squeeze your pimples, you’ll most likely break the skin and increase the likelihood of post-pimple pigmentation.

What to do instead: If you have a tendency to pick your spots, invest in pimple stickers like the Star Face Hydro-Stars, $15, as the airtight dressing will conceal your pimple while absorbing puss and sebum, helping to flatten pimples. So, not only will it stop you from picking but it will remove the need to do so as it gently does the job for you!

Bad Beauty Habit #3: Using Makeup Wipes

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Not only are makeup wipes harmful to the environment, but they’re also not good for your skin. While they may appear to remove your makeup, they’ll never be able to remove dirt, impurities, and excess oil like a cleanser can. They can also be drying and irritating to your skin.

What to do instead:  The best thing you can do for your skin is double cleanse, especially after a long day of wearing makeup. This will offer a deep, thorough cleanse – we swear you’ll be surprised at how much makeup is removed on the second wash. Check out our guide to double cleansing here.

Bad Beauty Habit #4: Over-Exfoliating

As much as we love the feeling of freshly exfoliated skin, there’s such a thing as over-exfoliating. Done too often (or too vigorously), you won’t simply remove dead skin, you could also take off the top layer of your skin, damaging your skin barrier and leaving your skin open and inflamed and exposed to bacteria and irritation.

What to do instead: First and foremost, ditch harsh physical exfoliators and look for gentle products like the WISHFUL Yo Glow Enzyme Scrub, $39, which is gentle enough for daily use. Chemical exfoliators like AHAs and BHAs are also great, however, limit chemical exfoliation to twice a week.

Bad Beauty Habit #5: Putting Dirty Things on Your Face!

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It’s crazy how much bacteria your beauty products can harbor, and it’s not just your tools, your pillowcase and hand towel could also be festering bacteria, which you can then transfer back to your skin (ew!!).

What to do instead: Wash your brushes, pillowcases, and face towels preferably at least once a week. Let’s not forget our phones too – buy an alcohol spray and give your phone a spritz regularly! Check out our beauty hygiene guide here to make sure you’re not making any of these mistakes.

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Bad Beauty Habit #6: Layering your Skincare Incorrectly

Layering your skin in the wrong order will prevent it from being absorbed properly, disenabling it from serving its purpose. It can also cause the product to pill, which essentially means a lot of product waste!

What to do instead: Simple – follow our layering guide here.

Bad Beauty Habit #7: Sleeping in Makeup

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We know you’re tired and we know the thought of splashing water on your face isn’t always appealing, but still, it’s essential – just like brushing your teeth! Not removing your makeup can lead to breakouts, premature aging, dull skin, and irritation. It’s that simple, so STOP ASAP!

What to do instead: As we’ve mentioned, double cleansing is one of the best things you can do for your skin. Check out our guide to cleansing here.

Bad Beauty Habit #8: Washing your Hair too Often

Washing your hair too frequently can ruin the natural biome of your scalp. Hair sits at a pH balance of 4.5 to 5, which is the ideal pH balance for your scalp to thrive. When you wash it every day, you’ll strip that protective layer off your hair (including your natural oils), potentially disrupting your pH levels and causing your hair to look lifeless and dull.

What to do instead: Wash your hair two to three times a week and use dry shampoo and hair mists in between washes to keep your hair oil-free and smelling sweet.

Bad Beauty Habit #9: Using Expired Makeup

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There are those products we constantly restock and others that stay in our makeup bag for years. Chances are, if your makeup, skincare or haircare looks different, smells different, doesn’t apply well anymore, has dried out, has separated, appears old AF, or is old AF, it’s time to throw it away.

What to do instead: We like to do a spring cleaning every six months and throw away any expired products. To determine whether your product has expired, look for a small open cream jar icon, known as the period after opening symbol, which will tell you the number of months a product is safe to use after it has been opened. Check out our guide to telling if makeup has expired.

Bad Beauty Habit #10: Not Wearing Sunscreen

Wearing sunscreen daily, even in the winter, is the most important thing you can do for your skin. If you skip sunscreen, you’ll leave your skin vulnerable to sun damage, premature aging, pigmentation, and of course, skin cancer.

The solution: Apply sunscreen every day as the last step of your skincare routine before you apply makeup. It should be at least SPF 30 with 5-star UVA protection – check out our fave derm-approved sunscreens here.

For more beauty advice, check out 21 skincare tips everyone should know.

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