Eight common habits that are ruining your skin (and how to fix it!)

Skin care routines may have the greatest range in variety in terms of personal hygiene and health. Some of us have too oily skin, some too dry; some people want to target acne, some want to reduce wrinkles. What may work for our friend or sister, may hurt your own skin.

It varies all across the board, but there are many harmful daily habits that you aren't aware is damaging your skin. We all know about the effects of smoking on our skin and tanning (just use self-tanner or bronzer instead!), but here are eight other common skin care routines you might not know that are actually hurt your skin in the long run.

1. Don't apply perfume on your chest

It seems like a natural place to apply perfume, right below the neck, where the scent can just peek out, but this actually leads to brown spots and skin damage. The skin on your upper chest becomes more photosensitive as it interacts with the alcohol in perfume. Instead, spray it somewhere the sun doesn’t shine (not there, you dirty-minded individual), such as behind the ears or on your clothes.

2. Don’t forget your neck and chest

Skin on your neck and chest also age and can become discoloured after a while as well. Dead skin cells also collect there, and since the skin on the neck and chest is thin, sun damage will show and and it can be hard to repair. Next time you're exfoliating, cleansing, or moisturizing your face, extend that down to your neck and chest as well.

3. Overdoing it with exfoliating

It’s easy to think that by buffing away your skin regularly, you’re helping remove all dead skin cells and anything dirty clogging up your pores. But removing too much of your top skin layer, the protective barrier, actually leaves your skin exposed to environmental toxins and sun damage, which can cause early signs of skin aging.Only exfoliate two to three times a week.

4. Not cleaning your pillowcase

The solution to this is easy: wash your pillowcase. Pillowcases easily collect dirt, oil, dead skin cells, and bacteria, which quickly causes skin to break out. Wash it at least once a week, and skip out on the fabric softeners or scented detergent if you`ve got senstive skin.

5. Turning up the heat

As the leaves change colour, the sweaters-legging and #PSL combo appears more frequently, we eagerly head to turn up the thermostat for a cozy night’s slumber. But waking up with a parched mouth and thirst means your skin was dehydrated overnight. Instead of turning up the heat, sleep with lighter pajama material (or naked!) and keep the temperature normal. Open up a window so you're getting oxygen in your bedroom (not enough can affect blood flow to the skin). If you’re still getting dry skin, consider a humidifier in your room.

6. The position you're sleeping in

Beauty sleep isn't a joke. As stressed as you may be, it's necessary to give your skin time to heal at night. Try to sleep face-up, so you're not constricting the blood vessels, which can cause puffy eyes and dark circles. Sleeping on your face can also form lines, which may become permanent as you lose collagen.

7. Using water that is too hot or too cold

Contrary to popular belief, beauty does not have to be painful. Both extremes in water temperature can irritate your skin. Also, exfoliating or scrubbing too hard is unnecessary and will dry out your skin.

8. Not using sunscreen

If you only had to use one skin care product for the rest of your life, make it sunscreen. Using a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15 every day is the best skin care advice any dermatologist will tell you. We don't need to tell you about the dangers of the sun, and outside of avoiding the outdoors altogether, sunblock is the best barrier. There are several types of sunscreen, so do your research before shopping.