Here’s another collection of science-backed skincare tips for Pinterest! I’m always annoyed at how many terrible pins there are on Pinterest so I decided to make my own. The first set of skincare tips is here. If you know of any good skincare boards on Pinterest, please send me links! If you’re a skincare nerd or follow me on Instagram, you might have seen these already. I’ve included related posts if you’d like to find out more.
Skin shouldn’t be squeaky
Leave “squeaky clean” for dishes and toilets! If your skin feels squeaky or tight, you’ve probably stripped the protective natural lipids and oils off your skin. This layer is there to keep water in and help your skin stay flexible. It’s very tempting to overwash if you’re oily, but unfortunately, overwashing will trigger your skin to produce more oil. (On the flip side, adding more oil to already healthy skin won’t reduce oil production!)
Related posts:
- All About Cleansing & How to Choose a Gentle Cleanser
- Does oil make your skin less oily? The myth of rebound oil
Avoid these sunscreen ingredients that cause white cast
If your skin is around medium or darker, you’ve probably had that awkward moment when you put on sunscreen and it looks like you’ve been hit with a bag of flour. This is white cast, and the culprits in sunscreen are mostly zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. These are the physical (inorganic) sunscreen ingredients. If the particles are very small and well dispersed, the white cast will be less of a problem. The best way to check is to test it on your skin before you buy.
Related posts:
Money doesn’t mean quality
18You’ll sometimes hear “beauty experts” say that they only buy high end skincare because their skin is important and worth the best or whatever…but there are great cheap products, and crappy expensive products, and crap cheap ones and great expensive ones – you need to do your research for each specific product. Don’t let your budget stop you from caring for your skin! (Tip: The actual ingredients in a product usually cost way less than 10% of the purchase price.)
Protect your lips from the sun
If you’re at risk of skin cancer (e.g. Australian, pale), and even if you’re not, don’t forget to protect your lips too! SPF lip balms are essential. Other places people tend to forget include the ears, scalp (wear a hat), back of neck and feet.
DIY lip scrub
The key ingredients in Lush’s awesome lip scrubs are caster sugar and oil. If your lips are a bit worse for wear and you need to look good, mix some sugar and oil and buff in small circles on your lips. It won’t smell or taste as good as the Lush version, but it’s much cheaper and will still get rid of flakes.
Related posts:
Micellar water might need rinsing
Micellar water is gentler than a cleanser but it still contains irritating surfactants. If your skin is sensitive and you’re getting dry or tight or itchy skin after using micellar water, rinse it off or wipe it off with water or toner and a cotton pad.
Related posts:
- All About Cleansing & How to Choose a Gentle Cleanser
- What is micellar water and how does it work?
- Micellar Water Price Comparison
- Micellar Water Dupes and Near-Dupes
Anti-aging products are useless without sunscreen
Many anti-aging products contain retinol and alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) which increase sun sensitivity, and since sun damage is a huge cause of wrinkles and collagen breakdown, they can make everything worse. Try to use a sunscreen with good UVA protection.
Related posts:
I love these posts! So good to hear some common sense and actual science for a change 🙂
Great post! I didn’t realize that some people could benefit from rinsing off micellar solutions – I’ve always heard them billed as “no rinse” products. The last tip is so important too – I work in cosmetics and sell a lot of skincare and I can’t tell you how many of my customers who buy retinol- and vitamin C-based products admit that they don’t wear sunscreen. It pains me and I do everything I can to get them to start!
these are great! i really need to remind myself that more expensive does not mean better. not because i’m rich but because more expensive = better packaging = better marketing = shiner and gliztsier for my eyes.
also, more popular especially on social media does not mean it’s necesssarily a better product. so many products get hyped because of social media and it creates a huge FOMO, but it also tends to create disappointment due to higher expectations.
love your blog!! (first time commenter though)
Commenting cherry popped! 😀
I’ve bought mediocre products for their packaging before. I think it’s legitimate, as long as you’re not fooling yourself that it has to be better just because of the price tag! Sometimes it’s nice to have a cool airless pump or a weird wand or just a really pretty bottle on your shelf.
So true about the social media bandwagon!
Hello new subscriber here and I just totally love your blog there is so so so much helpful information on here. I have like 20 of your posts open which i still need to read. I’ve just finished reading through one of your skincare regime posts and I had a question. I noticed that after cleansing your face you go straight to using your chemical exfoliants/Retinol/vitamin C products. Are ph lowering toners really necessary after cleansing or can you just go straight to applying the exfoliant. I’ve read some posts which have said the pH of your skin can effect the efficiency of the products which I find a bit confusing. So for example AHA’s work best around pH 3.5ish but what if your skins current pH is about 6 does that mean the AHA won’t work? Shouldn’t it be the actual pH of the product that effects the efficiency? Any guidance would be much appreciated.
Hi Aisha! Thanks so much 😀
It’s a combination of both the product and your skin. If your cleanser isn’t high pH (most modern cleansers aren’t), then you definitely don’t need a pH lowering toner. If your cleanser does have a high pH, it might need a pH-lowering toner… but it also might not, depending on how wet your skin is, how much product you’re using, how long you wait after cleansing etc. I personally have never had an issue, but if you’re finding that you’re not seeing great results from your AHAs/BHA/vitamin C, you might want to look into pH lowering toners or a lower pH cleanser. Retinol actually works better at a higher pH, so that doesn’t need a toner – but you should keep it away from acids in your skincare routine! I usually use retinol on a separate night.
Oh okay I get it. Thank you so much for your swift and helpful response. I’ll keep that in minds. Once again thank you ♡♡♡
Sorry for the long essay. Didn’t realise I wrote so much until I posted it.
OMG YES! I’m always joking about pinterest but the advice is sooooo bad it makes me wanna eat my eyeballs.
As for helpful boards, I’m sure you already know this but it’s worth dropping a mention: Beauty with Brains is solid (https://www.pinterest.com/giorgiabwb/)
Ah yes! I love Gio’s posts 🙂 Good rec!
Hi Michelle,
Love reading ur post. I just have a simple question here. Is it ok if I brush my lips using toothbrush instead of scrubbing it using sugar. I am lazy to do DIY lip scrub so I had this idea to also brush my lips when brushing the teeth.
That should be fine! Just make sure you go gentle and use a toothbrush with soft bristles.