The Biggest Skincare Mistakes My Clients Make

As an esthetician and skincare specialist, I love working with clients to achieve healthy, glowing skin. It's definitely an inside-out process, involving a balanced diet and healthy habits, in addition to a good skincare regimen. But over the years I've seen a lot of clients who make mistakes with their skincare regimens. Here are the most common skincare mistakes I see, along with the tips I give my clients:

USING THE WRONG CLEANSER

This is one of the most common skincare mistakes I see among clients. The appropriate cleanser for someone with dry, mature skin is a milky or cream cleanser, while normal to combination types should be using an AHA (glycolic acid). Those with hyperpigmentation should use an LHA, and for congested/oily types, I recommend cleansing with a BHA.

USING COCONUT OIL AS A MOISTURIZER

One of my biggest pet peeves is this: using coconut oil as a facial moisturizer—ugh! Coconut oil is a great eye makeup remover, but it should definitely not be used as your facial moisturizer, since the molecular weight of the oil can clog your pores.

OVER-EXFOLIATION!

This is another big no-no I see. I prefer my clients to use a gentle enzyme exfoliant or a cleanser with AHA/BHA for a chemical exfoliant, verses a scrub or using a handheld at-home device.

NOT USING ENOUGH SPF

Not using enough SPF to cover your neck and décolleté as well as the entire face is a big skincare mistake. I also like to educate my clients on the difference between a physical sunscreen verses a chemical sunscreen. Physical sunscreens contain zinc oxide/titanium dioxide and blocks harmful UVA/UVB while a chemical sunscreen absorbs the UVA/UVB rays.  

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