As the seasons change, your skin care routine may need to change with it. If you suddenly start to notice that it's starting to work against you, leaving you with dryer, more acne-prone or suffering skin, board-certified Dr. Dendy Engelman shares five solutions to common mistakes.
When used in tandem, or even in the wrong step of your routine, some of the skin care products you utilize daily could be working against each other, says Engelman.
From how much sunscreen you should be applying (yes, even in the wintertime!) to sifting through the amount of product in your cabinet, Engelman shares simple fixes for a skin care routine that works for you, not against you, below.
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Don't get Engleman wrong -- exfoliating is recommended and oftentimes encouraged by dermatologists thanks to the plethora of benefits it provides, like acne prevention, the unclogging of pores and more. However, too much of a good thing might not be so good after all.
"But what I am seeing more and more in my office is patients are exfoliating way too much, either too often or using exfoliants that are too harsh for their skin," she says. This exfoliating toner includes polyhydroxy acid, or PHA, as one of its key ingredients, which Engleman says is "effective and gentle for those with sensitive skin."
Engleman's solution for this problem is simple: a cabinet clean-out. She recommends replacing multiple products with one workhorse that multitasks to provide many benefits.
This 5-in-1 repair cream is an investment, sure, but Engelman says it's well worth it since its packed with prebiotics, peptides, antioxidants and ingredients that are going to leave your skin feeling hydrated without weighing it down.
If your skin still feels dry despite slathering on moisturizer minutes ago, Engelman explains that it might be because you're not applying it right.
Engelman says your skin should be a little damp when applying moisturizer, "so the ingredients can lock in the water." This combination face and body lotion employs ingredients like hyaluronic acid for hydrated skin all over.
Engelman doesn't mean to be harsh, but she notices that the majority of people need to "do better" when it comes to removing makeup. She notes that only "half-heartedly cleansing" when we're too tired to get the job fully done isn't enough.
"An oil-based cleanser is ideal for removing makeup efficiently at the end of the day," she says, adding that this specific cleanser works wonders on dry, dehydrated skin.
Just because we don't see the sun as often in the winter doesn't mean you should be skipping the SPF, says Engelman. The top complaint she hears about sunscreen is that it's too heavy or greasy from reapplying throughout the day.
This sunscreen brushes onto the skin, similarly to a powder, providing you with a grease-free, "weightless" look that sits on top of makeup without smudging or ruining it.
"If you want to up the ante, I love this new hydrator which actively restores endogenous hyaluronic acid production deep within the skin's layer" says Engelman. She also appreciates that the "lightweight serum provides up to 48 hours of hydration."
Its ingredient list includes five different types of hyaluronic acid, joining vitamin F, passion fruit seed oil, avocado oil esters, lotus seed extract and Vitis flower stem extract, each working towards the goal of leaving you with more hydrated skin.
The Shop TODAY editors and writers search the internet to find the best products out there. We interview expert sources and use our own personal experiences with the product and brand to make shopping easier for our readers.
For this article, we utilized the insights and expertise of Dr. Dendy Engelman to share solutions to common skin care mistakes.