Okay so, here’s a list of things that make me cringe. I’ll go into the why I don’t personally use them but if you have used them please leave me a comment telling me why!
1. Harsh physical exfoliating scrubs
Okay, so you know how soft and smooth you feel after a scrub? You might actually be doing more harm than good depending on which kind of scrub you’re using! One very popular scrub is the Patron “Saint” of physical exfoliants (I’m not going to hint any further with the name but you know the one) – using ground up walnut shells that actually create tiny tears in the skin. Others use little plastic beads that go down your drain and end up in our oceans. Sloughing off a few dead skin cells shouldn’t be so rough as to be creating wounds and tiny tears in your face! When I had bad pimples as a teenager, I used this particular scrub to try to get rid of them, but they kept getting worse! I one day noticed that the less I did to my skin, the better it was, and until recently have strictly adhered to this!
What to try instead: Maybe look into chemical exfoliants – these have changed my whole perception on exfoliation! I love COSRX Blackhead Power Liquid. Or if you really like the feeling of scrubbing your face clean, try gently scrubbing with a sugar scrub while in a warm shower or a “gommage” type exfoliant! Konjac sponges are also amazing to gently exfoliate!
2. Lemon juice
This one is all over Pinterest and makes me want to curl up into a ball and click “report for harmful content” every time. Lemon juice is much much too acidic to go onto your skin, never mind cutting one in half and scrubbing your face with one covered in coffee grains or sugar ugh no no stop. Adding baking soda or bicarbonate of soda to raise the PH doesn’t work unless you’re testing it accurately… even then. Unless you know what you’re doing, leave it to the pros.
What to try instead: If you want the brightening effects of Vitamin C all over your face OST C20 is a fairly inexpensive popular choice. If you want a scrub, well we’ve covered that.
3. Vaseline
Ugh. I mentioned in my Clean it Zero review post that me and Vaseline do not see eye to eye. I understand that some people are happy using it as their occlusive layer and that’s them, but the thick viscous feel of it always makes me cringe.
What to try instead: Try amping up your hydration! If you’re hydrated to the max and love Vaseline as an occlusive then go for it! This one is totally a personal preference.
4. Peel off masks and “quick fix” crazes
Okay so, we’ve all been there. The newest craziest easiest beauty product just hit twitter/instagram/everywhere and you NEED that $463 (okay I just pulled a number out of my butt – like I feel some of these companies do) black peel off mask. OR did you know you can just make it out of things you have in your house for free? Ugh. I hate when things trend like this. Sure, sometimes they’re interesting, fun, or occasionally actually not terrible products (some people hate the Elizavecca Carbonated Clay mask – I like it!) but mostly the idea that you can throw some glue on your face and “instantly, magically” fix your skin (and the accompanied savvy businesspeople trying to sell you 30mL of glue for a ridiculous price because it’s trendy) really makes me kinda sad. Yes, for some people it may be a gateway to taking amazingly good care of their skin – unfortunately, most of these trends are one off – do nothing – wastes of money. That is, if they don’t damage your skin,
What to try instead: Ensure you have a base skincare routine you’re happy with. Try new products – but always take everything – especially anything labelled as “the hottest new skincare trend” or similar – with a grain of salt. Or maybe it’s just me that’s salty…
5. Nose strips
Okay, immediately relating to the above peel off masks, these can actually damage your skin. Those tiny little flecks that get pulled out of your nose/forehead/chin/eyelids aren’t actually blackheads – they’re sebaceous filaments, and they’ll be back in a couple of days. Overuse of the nose-strip type ripping/pulling mask technique can lead to scarring of your pores, and I’m unfortunate proof of this. I had really bad blackheads so I was using the strips – as directed – twice a week. Then I notice one pore in my nose had gotten big. Like REALLY big. Like 4 of my other pores mashed together in a line. It’s been that way for 10 years now, and I’ve accepted my goof, but seriously, please don’t use peel type strips or masks!
What to try instead: GENTLE exfoliation. You can try chemical (it’s not as scary as it sounds, honest) or any of the techniques I mentioned above.
So weirdly, most of my cringe inducting skincare related junk is related to exfoliation. Just remember – a pimple is a wound. If you had a scratch on your arm would you be scrubbing sand onto it to make it “go away”?
Love, Selkie.
Selkie Glow 