With COVID-19 keeping us at home, I wanted to give some tips and tricks that would allow us to improve the health and look of our skin without having to buy anything. There are plenty of techniques and helpful reminders that can significantly improve our skin.
1. Pat to dry.
It’s simple and it’s easy to do. Patting instead of rubbing dry is much more gentle to the skin. Rubbing your face with a harsh towel not only excessively pulls and moves the skin around, but can aggravate and irritate the skin. In the long run, patting your face gently will lead to fewer signs of aging and will cause less irritation.
2. Reduce TEWL (Transepidermal water loss)
This acronym may or may not be new to you but there has been significant research behind this action. Transepidermal water loss is when water passes from the dermis to the epidermis and evaporates. In other words, water rises through the layers of the skin, evaporates, and now the skin is dehydrated. If the skin’s barrier function isn’t working correctly, then more water can be lost through the skin. To reduce TEWL, make sure to have a healthy skin barrier by properly moisturizing and not over stripping the skin.
A great way to give the skin extra hydration is to apply your moisturizer while your skin is still damp. Since there is some moisture still on your skin, you can seal it in rather than having to start from zero if you dried it all off with a towel.
3. Take it down your neck and chest.
All of your skin deserves love, even your neck and chest. We pay so much attention to our faces but our necks and chest generally see just as much sun as our face. For women, this tends to be more of a concern since we wear lower cut shirts. Make sure to wash your neck to remove any sunscreen or makeup from the day and then use the same skincare products down your neck and chest. You don’t need to have a separate skincare routine for your neck. If you’re using actives however, you can dilute them or skip applying them to your neck since your skin there is much thinner.
4. Don’t forget your hands.
They say that your hands show the first signs of aging. I wish I had worn sunscreen on my hands all through high school and college. I used to hate the greasy feeling but it makes no sense to slather your face and body in sunscreen and neglect your hands. You can still get skin cancer on your hands. It’s not a bad rule of thumb to put whatever you put on your face to anywhere else you care about.
Tip: Any lotions or “anti-aging” creams I don’t like for my face, I apply on the backs of my hands. No waste!
5. Wash/cleanse for longer than you think.
If your skin doesn’t feel clean after washing your face, you may not be washing long enough. I’ve seen a lot of people slap on face wash and wash it off 5 seconds later. To get the cleanser really into your pores, emulsify, and do any good, try to shoot for 60 seconds. That’s right-60. Half the time you brush your teeth. By doing this you’re allowing any acids in your facewash to do it’s magic or for the dirt and oil on your face to be broken down while getting a gentle exfoliation and massage from your fingertips.
6. Ditch the makeup wipes.
Makeup wipes do more harm than good. Just like the tip above, don’t rub your face hard with a wipe, or anything else for that matter. It’s usually too harsh for people’s skin and can cause irritation. The main problem with makeup wipes though is that they don’t cleanse because you’re not washing it off. If you think of a makeup wipe as a soapy cloth, it’s really just smearing around all of the dirt, makeup, oil, and sweat from the day. It may remove some of it, but the vast majority of it is on your face along with the soaps the wipes are soaked in. Do yourself a favor and use anything else to remove your makeup. I recommend oil cleansers but a lot of people like micellar waters as well.
7. Switch to a silk or satin pillowcase.
This is kind of cheating on the buying front if you don’t have one but sleeping on traditional pillowcases causes a lot of friction and wrinkles over time. Most of us squish our face into the pillow and by switching to a silk or satin pillowcase, most of the friction and squishing will be gone. I like this one.
8. Don’t touch your face.
None of us should be touching our faces anyway with illnesses like COVID-19 flying around right now, but it’s a good rule to follow in general. Our hands are filthy because of everything we touch and that bacteria can transfer to our face and cause acne and inflammation. Just. Don’t. Do. It.
9. Layer your products from thinnest to thickest.
The general rule is to layer your skincare products from thinnest to thickest. This allows serums and treatments to penetrate deeper and be fully absorbed by the skin and then moisture and hydration to be locked in afterward with moisturizers and oils. Here’s a post where I can go in depth on how to layer certain products and why.
10. Keep wearing your sunscreen.
I keep repeating this and it’s probably the best thing you’ll ever do for your skin. Protect your skin from the sun. Even if you’re sitting inside by a window all day, UVA rays penetrate most windows. Your skin will get damaged but you won’t see the repercussions of it for years. That’s why it’s so hard to convince people to wear sunscreen. Make it easy on yourself and make it a part of your daily routine or find a sunscreen that you like putting on. There are lightweight, non-greasy formulas out there. You can check out my top 5 sunscreens here too if you need some recommendations.
What are your “free” skincare tips?
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