10 Things That Completely Changed My Skin

I always like to say that taking good care of your skin is not difficult nor complicated. 

In many cases, it’s us and our beliefs of what we should do that’s causing us all sorts of different skin concerns to deal with. 

I can confirm this being someone who’s dealt with severe acne and used to do everything wrong before learning how to reverse and fix the damage. 

So, with that said, here are a few things that helped me completely get rid of my acne and transform my skin for the better:

10 Habits That Completely Changed My Skin (For The Better):

I Stopped Cleansing My Face Twice A Day

On mornings when I wake up with normal skin, not using a cleanser helps protect my skin barrier and prevents my skin from becoming too oily throughout the day.

Here’s how that works. 

You have a very thin layer of oil and sweat called the acid mantle sitting on the surface of your skin. The acid mantle helps keep your skin lubricated and protected. 

Once you remove this acid mantle with a cleanser and not apply a moisturizer after that – your skin will try to compensate for the lack of protection and lubrication by pumping out even more oil. 

This is how your pores get clogged and a pimple (or a few) start to push their way on the surface of your skin. 

Cleansing my face with one cleanser in the evening is something that helped prevent my skin from becoming aggressively oily throughout the day while making it feel nice and comfortable instead of dehydrated and tight. 

In the morning, instead of rubbing a cleanser on my face, I just splash some water, apply my moisturizer, and my sunscreen, and I am done. 

I Stopped Using Makeup Wipes

Makeup wipes are so awful for many different reasons, the main ones being:

They are full of alcohol, fragrance, and sometimes even essential oils that can severely irritate an already inflamed skin with acne. 

Besides that, makeup wipes don’t remove makeup from the face and they are more likely to just move everything around and give you the impression your skin is clean when in reality, you still have a ton of makeup left on your face that will then proceed to clog your pores and causing an onset of new breakouts. 

But what I personally hate the most about makeup wipes is the sheer pressure you have to apply to even “remove” some of the makeup on your face. 

This rubbing and tugging will definitely irritate your skin and even cause active acne to erupt and bleed all over the place (which was the case with me when I was using them a long time ago).

It’s not a pretty sight. 

I Started Using A Moisturizer

My oily skin people know how dreadful the thought of applying a moisturizer on the skin is, especially knowing that your face will turn into a grease ball half throughout the day. 

But since I started using a moisturizer, I didn’t notice any significant difference or increase in oiliness for that matter. 

My skin remained the same when it comes to how oily it is but applying a moisturizer made it feel much more comfortable and less tight after washing. 

The trick with moisturizers is to find the right one for your skin’s needs and use just a pea-sized amount on damp skin. 

This method will lock hydration into your skin and create a nice, comfortable barrier to protect your skin from losing too much moisture and becoming dehydrated. 

Every skin type, including oily skins, will benefit from a moisturizer. 

I Introduced Serums Into My Skincare Routine

Serums are a favorite part of my skincare routine right after exfoliation and although I now love using them, I used to struggle with them when I first introduced them into my routine.

It seemed like nothing worked for me, but I figured out much later that I wasn’t using them in the correct way.

Serums are lightweight solutions that contain concentrated ingredients for targeting different skin concerns. My favorite serums are definitely Hyaluronic acid and Niacinamide because I’ve been using and loving these for a few years now.

I love applying my serums right after cleansing or exfoliating while my skin is in the sweet spot of being damp but not wet. 

This application method was a game-changer for my skin and I get to enjoy all the benefits without having a sticky, gooey consistency just sitting on the surface of my skin.

I Made Sunscreen An Extra Step In My Morning Routine

When I first started applying sunscreen, I wasn’t very diligent with it. I used to apply it only on days when there was sun outside and I knew I was going to head out. 

This resulted in me forgetting to apply sunscreen on many days and just heading out of the house with no protection at all.

Since this was also around the time I got serious and started exfoliating my skin regularly, it wouldn’t be until a few hours later where I would feel my face burning in the sun and remember that I didn’t apply sunscreen. 

In case you didn’t know: exfoliation makes your skin more sensitive to the sun.

So I made sunscreen an extra step in my morning routine that I apply 5-10 minutes after applying moisturizer and 15-20 minutes before applying any makeup to give it some time to set. 

Once you make sunscreen something that you just do every day no matter what, you will be less likely to forget to apply it. 

I Started Learning About Ingredients

I’ve been to beauty school and learned how to do all sorts of beauty-related skills like facials, chemical peels, microneedling, waxing, manicures, pedicures, etc.,

But one thing I wish I’d learn more of are ingredients that are being used in skincare and other cosmetics products. The truth is that they don’t really teach you about ingredients in beauty schools.

In fact, they rarely even mention anything like that. 

So, even after I finished beauty school, I was still having issues with my skin, which was incredibly embarrassing given I was to be someone that takes care of my clients’ skin.

That was until I learned how to read ingredient lists and this is what made me very picky when it comes to skincare products and it’s something that essentially helped heal my skin. 

Learning about ingredients will give you the power to make an informed decision when purchasing facial products instead of just throwing money at something and hoping it will work. 

I Stopped Applying Foundation

I’ve been applying makeup since I was 13 and I never really had any issues with my foundations besides an occasional pimple here and there, which I considered to be normal.

However, things took a turn for the worse when I started getting an adult acne onset in my 20s and every single foundation that I’ve previously used started making the issue even worse. 

At one point, I stopped applying foundations and I started applying tinted sunscreens and a little bit of concealer where I needed it.

I eventually found out about the Jane Iredale Mineral Powder that is a little bit thicker than a regular powder. It works perfectly to cover up redness and scarring left from old acne breakouts without clogging my pores and causing new ones. 

I have a written a detailed review about it, so make sure to check it out. It’s my holy grail that replaced all my foundations. 

I Started Paying Attention To My Skin’s Needs

I often used to buy products that looked good and sounded like they were the solution to my skin issues.

For example, I used to buy products because the label says they will hydrate, heal, and nourish my skin. Although I found the product itself not to be a bad one, nothing ever worked for me the way I wanted it to work. 

I was blinded by my expectations of what the product will do that I couldn’t see it wasn’t helping my skin in any way.

Until I realized I am not paying attention to my skin’s needs, I was using the products I was spending money on in the wrong way. 

Let’s take hyaluronic acid, for example. I used to drench my skin in hyaluronic acid serums day and night because this was my routine. I chose to ignore my skin’s needs because I thought I should use hyaluronic acid twice a day for the best results.

So, I started thinking about why do I need so much hyaluronic acid, and it turns out I didn’t. 

Eventually, I started using hyaluronic acid whenever my skin needed it. 

It turned out my cleanser was just too harsh and stripping for my skin. I was also washing my face in the shower with ultra-hot water, which was further dehydrating my skin. 

Once I figured this might be a problem and started implementing some changes, I started applying hyaluronic acid serums every two or three days instead of twice a day, and I’ve had the best results with it. 

We often get blinded by our expectations, and we forget to see what’s really in front of us. Our skin’s needs should always be in the first place when choosing a product, and just because you want it to work, it doesn’t mean it will.

RELATED: Best Hyaluronic Acid Serums

I Stopped Applying A Ton Of Products On My Face

And I really mean it when I say a ton. This is how my usual morning routine looked like when my skin was at its absolute worst:

Cleanser – Toner – Hydrating Mist – Hyaluronic Acid serum – Niacinamide serum – Hydrating mist – Moisturizer – Sunscreen – Primer – Foundation – Concealer – Powder – Blush – Setting spray. 

My evening routine wasn’t that much better and it consisted of:

Oil cleanser – Micellar water – Gel cleanser – Foam cleanser – Exfoliating solution – Toner – Hydrating Mist – Essence – Hyaluronic Acid serum – Niacinamide serum – Moisturizer – Facial oil.

Reading through this and knowing what I know now is making me cringe so hard because of how bad my skin was and how convinced I was that there is something wrong with me internally.

I was blaming my skin concerns on my hormones, stress, my job, my life, my relationships. I was so miserable because I was throwing a ton of money on a ton of products that did nothing but mess up my skin. 

Once I swallowed my pride, that made me think I knew everything about the skin and decided to stop clogging my pores with all that crap, my skin started getting significantly better after only a few days. 

It’s crazy how I was so ready to blame my problems on everything else in my life instead of just considering that all these products were causing me my issues. 

I then realized that human skin isn’t meant to be dealing with all these different ingredients at once and it will definitely start to freak out when you feed it with a gazillion different things. 

I Improved My Diet

This was something that helped my body heal from the inside out. Improving my diet has been the best thing I’ve done for myself and I am here to say everyone should make an effort to do that. 

My diet consisted of low-nutritious foods such as Mcdonald’s, Burger King, pizzas, fried foods, processed foods, pasta, noodles, and all the bad stuff. 

There was never room for any vegetables on my plate because I hated the taste of veggies. I absolutely hated it.

But this changed when I started learning how to cook and prepare veggies in different ways, combined with different spices and herbs that were adding so much flavor to the blandness.   

Today, I am enjoying a full plate of various foods and I’ve never felt healthier in my life.

Changing my diet helped improve my skin, my health, my mood, my energy, my focus, how I dealt with stress, and the overall quality of my life. 

I also introduced a couple of different supplements into my daily routine which is also something that had a major effect on my skin’s health. 

But that’s not to say I don’t enjoy vitamin J (stands for junk) every now and again. In fact, I don’t stray from treating myself with a mouth-watering burger from Burger King once every few weeks or so. 

This is crucial because the goal is not to be harsh on yourself and forcing yourself to eat healthily, or else.

The goal is to make tweaks and changes that will improve your lifestyle, not punish yourself by strictly eating rabbit food because you think it’s going to help clear your skin.