If you’re one of the millions of women in the UK who has acne or spot-prone skin, you probably have a skincare routines that is almost hard-wired into your brain to help you keep your spots at bay. There are, however, a lot of things that can contribute to breakouts, many of which you may not have even considered, so we thought we’d put together a list to give you a gentle reminder of what not to do.
Don’t Touch!
Every time you touch your face, you transfer dirt, oil and other nasties which can all make spot breakouts significantly worse. Keeping your hands clean at all times is nigh-on impossible, unless you use anti-bac gel every five minutes (trust us, your hands will NOT love you for this…) so keeping your hands away from your face is best practice. Dermalogica Clearing Skin Wash will help remove bacteria from your face.
Clean Your Phone
Prepare yourselves for a statistic which will make you want to live in a sterile bubble – it’s estimated that your phone screen carries around TEN TIMES MORE germs than the average toilet seat. Disgusting, huh? Every time you put your phone to the side of your face, you risk these bacteria transferring onto your face, so make sure you give it a thorough clean on a regular basis.
Change Your Sheets
According to various surveys, the average person changes their sheets every 24 days, although for some people is more often and for some is less. The general rule of thumb is that we should be changing our sheets every 7 days, because of the amount of sweat, skin cells and bacteria which are captured by our sheets and pillow cases, so changing your sheets regularly is essential if you want to avoid breakouts.
Use a Probiotic
Much of our internal health is dictated by our gut health, and scientists are now linking thinks like obesity, type 2 diabetes and even dementia. As such, your skin is also affected by your gut biome, so one of the simplest ways of getting a handle on your complexion is by adding a probiotic to your diet. Just one pill or drink per day can make a huge difference to your skin’s health.
Clean Your Brushes
Every time you sweep make-up onto your face using your brushes and sponges, you also sweep bacteria transfer onto your face. Keeping them regularly cleansed is SO important for making sure you don’t infect your skin or give yourself a breakout of spots. Dermalogica Special Cleansing Gel is great for cleaning your face but can also be used to cleansed your brushes without damaging a potentially expensive investment.