Did you know that there are certain ways you touch your face that give you wrinkles? Check them out below and make sure you break any bad skin habits you may have!
There are a few common guidelines for avoiding wrinkles on the face that most people know. Things like always wearing a sunscreen to prevent sun damage, never ever skipping your moisturizer, always using an eye cream, the list goes on.
But one thing many people don’t think about are the hand motions that you do every day to apply and take off skin care and makeup products. From tugging at the skin to resting your head in your hands, the motions you do sometimes even twice a day could have serious effects on your skin, and lead to permanent wrinkling over time.
“Low grade inflammation of the skin, even from rubbing, can lead to collagen damage over time and promote development of early wrinkling,” says Joshua Zeichner, the director of cosmetic and clinical research at the Department of Dermatology of Mount Sinai Hospital. Read below to discover all the mistakes you may be making, the ways to avoid them, and how to treat wrinkles if you’ve already developed a few.
One: Rubbing your eyes
The skin around your eyes is the thinnest and most delicate on your face, so if you decide to greet your itchy eyes with aggressive rubbing, you will thin out and wear down your skin over time. This will not only make the skin weaker and more susceptible to wrinkles, but can also worsen the appearance of dark circles.
However, your eyes are going to itch—that’s just a fact of life. When it happens, try not to rub your whole eye with your whole hand—try and target the center of the itch and rub as gently as possible with only one or two fingers. This will reduce damage and long term wrinkling. Here’s how to do it correctly:
Two: Rubbing your nose
Just like your eyes, your nose is bound to get itchy from time to time. But it’s the same as above—harsh rubbing around the nose can cause or worsen fine lines around the nose and mouth. It will also weaken the skin, since consistent rubbing can thin out your surface layer. Additionally, rubbing around your nose with your hands can spread germs and bacteria around your face, resulting in breakouts and a whole slew of other issues.
If your nose itches (which it will eventually), resist the vigorous rub and go for a gentle, targeted rub with a tissue rather than a full fledged attack on your nostrils. Here’s how to rub your nose correctly:
Three: Tugging your eye while removing makeup
Taking off stubborn eye makeup can be a struggle, I get it. But, if you tug harshly at your eyes to get the makeup off, you’re going to cause some serious long term damage. “Eyelid skin is delicate, and traumatizing it with repetitive tugging can cause unwanted fine lines over time,” says Annie Chiu, a dermatologist in Redondo Beach.
Make sure you’re using an oil cleanser in your double cleanse that will go to work on eye makeup, like the Banila Co Clean it Zero Purity. This will ensure as much makeup is taken away in the cleansing process. Then, the key is to get a powerful makeup removing micellar water—like the Son & Park Beauty Water—that will melt away your makeup without much physical force. Use a cotton pad or a Q-Tip to apply the micellar water, and gently and slowly swipe away any stubborn eye makeup.
Once you’re done removing your makeup, follow up with an anti-aging eye serum, like the Enature Callus Phyto-regen Eye Serum to treat and prevent wrinkling. Here’s how you remove eye makeup correctly:
Four: Resting your head in your hands
Doing this not only spreads germs, bacteria, and oil from your hands that can cause acne, but can also result in long term wrinkling because resting your face in your hands causes your skin to become pressured, which creates wrinkles and lines over time.
Rachel Nazarian of Schweiger Dermatology Group explains that motions like resting your head in your hands that “repeatedly cause skin overlap may result in permanently etched in lines on your face.” I know your head gets heavy, but resist resting it in your hands to will keep wrinkles and breakouts at bay.
Five: Rubbing eye cream rather than tapping
Everyone should use an eye cream, especially those of us who want to avoid wrinkles. Using an eye cream like the Erborian Ginseng Infusion Total Eye, which is packed with anti-aging ingredients like Centella and ginseng, is one of the foremost ways to prevent and treat wrinkles.
But similar to when you’re removing makeup, tugging or rubbing around the eyes when applying eye cream can cause the skin to thin and wrinkle. To avoid this, make sure you are applying eye cream the right way by gently patting it into your skin with your fingertips. This way, you avoid tugging and help the eye cream to absorb more fully.
The bottom line:
When it comes to wrinkling, making sure you avoid these hand motions is one of the best steps in prevention. Taking extra caution to prevent fine lines and crow’s feet is so important, especially for those of you who wear eye makeup and eye cream every day. So the next time you go to touch your face, keep these five mistakes in mind to make sure you aren’t the cause of your own wrinkles.
+ Do you know of any other ways you touch your face that cause wrinkles? Share them below!
