How many times have you thought that your skincare routine isn’t working and that you spend your money and time for nothing? Well, it happened to all of us and it may happen again. Your bathroom is probably overloaded with skincare products, cleansers, exfoliants, toners, essences, serums, creams, eye creams. Does all this stuff helped you to improve your skin appearance? If not, what went wrong? It may be due to several reasons:

Wrong layering, serums must be applied from the thinnest to the thickest texture. If they are applied the other way round, the thickest will block the thinner one to penetrate into the skin. Water soluble serums are applied first. If you simplify your skincare routine, you avoid such problems. The more products with different texture you use, the more difficult the layering will be.

There is no consistency in their use. Skincare products need to be used regularly for the skin to adjust to their active ingredients and eventually start to work as they are supposed to do. At the beginning you may apply the new active ingredient every other day to give time to your skin to adjust. Once your skin got used to the new ingredient, try to be consistent.

Skincare products need time to show benefits. Sometimes, we are so impatient about it, that we change cosmetics without giving the time required.

You may have unrealistic expectations. You expect the serums and creams to work wonders.

You use wrong active ingredient or ingredients. You  may be influenced by the trends on social media or you simply made the wrong choice. You should always be informed about the way active ingredients work in order to avoid wasting your time and money.

Over exfoliation of the skin has a negative effect on the skin barrier. Active ingredients can’t work on a damaged lipid barrier . Before you proceed to exfoliation, it would be better to check the ingredients list of your cleansers. It is possible that they contain hydroxy-acids. You should avoid using more exfoliating products. Otherwise, go for a mild cleanser.

You never exfoliate. Although our skin has the ability to eliminate dead cells, exfoliation is needed.

https://www.christiannak.com/?p=107 Here is my post about exfoliation.

You don’t “listen” to your skin. May give signs of irritation, itchiness, redness. You need to  discontinue the use, moisturize, nourish and leave your skin to be repaired.

You don’t hydrate enough your skin.

Here is my post about skin hydration :https://www.christiannak.com/?p=19

You don’t use sunscreen.

You use the same skincare products all year long. Your skin doesn’t have the same needs during winter time or in the summer season. Generally speaking, during the summer you should switch to lighter formulations and non-greasy creams. You should also avoid strong  or harsh active ingredients as much as you can.

You combine active ingredients in the same routine that should not be used together. As a result, irritation might occur or one ingredient can make the other active ingredient less effective.

You have bought a cosmetic product because you liked its packaging without paying much attention to its ingredients. It may seem funny as a reason, but it happens.

Last but not least, your eating habits or your lifestyle play an important role in your skin’s health. You can’t expect a cosmetic to do all the job. Healthy diet or elimination of foods that you suspect they cause problem, regular exercise, a good sleep, stress management will contribute to your overall health and consequently to your skin’s health.