5 beauty bad habits you need to break

No matter what your beauty routine, I think we all have at least one sneaky bad habit we’d rather not admit to! Whether it’s not moisturising your legs in winter or taking serious pleasure in peeling off your nail polish, these are my top five beauty bad habits you should think about breaking.

‘Cleansing’ using micellar water – micellar water is a great invention as it literally lifts away makeup from your skin, making it an ideal first cleanse or makeup remover. What it doesn’t do is give the skin underneath a decent clean, so if you’ve been using micellar water as your only cleanser and wondering why your skin’s not looking as great as it could, then now’s the time to change things. Add in a gentle second cleanse after using your micellar water – a balm or cream cleanser used with a warm flannel works well and will leave you with super clean skin without any squeaky feeling.

Skipping/overdoing exfoliation – exfoliating is one of those things we all know we SHOULD be doing, but sometimes it’s easy to forget to add it into your weekly schedule. Not exfoliating properly can lead to a build up of dead skin cells on your face and body, giving skin a dull, sometimes dry look that won’t go away no matter how much moisturiser you use. Aim for a gentle exfoliations once or twice a week and you’ll soon see results. And if you’re sitting there thinking ‘but I exfoliate all of the time, #winning’ then be careful not to over-exfoliate – too much exfoliation can lead to you irritating the skin, leaving you feeling a bit sore and tender. Think Goldilocks – not too much and not too little.

Going in hard on your skincare regime – as much as I love to preach about the latest must-have skincare product, when it comes to a skincare regime, sometimes simple really is the best. Don’t feel like you have to add absolutely everything to your regime at once – build it up slowly and see how your skin responds. Do you really need three different serums, a double cleanse, brightening treatments and many, many more? Probably not. If you’re lucky enough to still be in your teens/twenties, also take care not to start slapping loads of stuff on that you probably don’t need yet – save those anti-wrinkle creams for when you get a bit older and enjoy that lovely bouncy skin you’ve got.

Using Vaseline as lip balm – Vaseline is 100% petrolatum jelly (aka mineral oil) which acts as a barrier to help keep moisture in. Unfortunately it doesn’t actually add any moisture itself, so if you’re suffering from dry lips, a petroleum based lip balm is going to do nothing for you. Instead, try something infused with natural oils/cocoa butter/shea butter for long-lasting hydration and super soft lips.

Picking off your nail polish – yes it might be incredibly satisfying, but picking off your polish can also lead to brittle, thin nails and even long term damage if you’re not careful. Your nail is made up of several layers, a bit like our skin, and improper nail polish removal can lead to these layers becoming thin, weak and exposed over time. This is especially true for gel polish or acrylic nail users, so please, please, please stick to a decent remover!

Are you guilty of any of these? What are your beauty bad habits?