We’ve all been guilty of doing the odd ‘Skin Sin’ and I myself before I got into skincare was no skincare saint. But there’s honestly nothing worse than being an aesthetician and one of your friends either tells you they are using DOVE SOAP on their face (I know, scary) or better still, Nose Pore Strips. Thankfully, I have been here to guide them in the right direction, but we’re all human and it is completely normal to make these skincare mistakes. I thought I’d share with you both some of mine and also people I’ve met throughout my career’s skincare horror stories and I’m hoping that I’ll never have to come across these situations again – or I might cry next time. Ps They’ll be no NAME SHAMING here it’s all just for fun & games.
Not so much a horror story, but one of my most memorable moments from when I was younger was my mum introducing me to Elizabeth Arden capsules. I say introducing, in reality I helped myself to her new addition from her obscene skincare collection. Now I was about 14/15 at the time, and like most teenagers I was eager to try out anything new on my skin. But little did I know that these capsules actually had to be APPLIED to the skin for them to work, when in fact, I had eaten them. Every day. For about 2 weeks. I look back on it now and laugh so hard because I really thought I was onto a winner.
A key conversation that will always haunt me, was with a woman who unfortunately had been suffering from severe acne and was on a course of Roaccutane. For those of you who don’t know what Roaccutane is, it’s basically the strongest form of acne medication there is, prescribed by doctors. It is incredible for treating severe acne but has lots of side effects, the major one being the thinning of the skin – hence why the skincare products that you can use whilst on this medication are extremely limited, especially nothing exfoliating. Now this woman came to me when I worked for a skincare brand and was asking for any products she could use to help improve her skin thickness as you could see her veins. I gave her my recommendations then asked what she was using, TEA TREE FACIAL SCRUB. I literally almost had a heart attack but had to conceal my reaction so that I didn’t worry her. Tea Tree alone is a very strong ingredient but in a FACIAL SCRUB, that is a complete no-no. This poor woman’s skin was already under a lot of scrutiny from the Roaccutane but to top it off, she was using one of the worst possible products and to put it simply, her skin had given in. Please always double check with your GP or aesthetician if you are unsure on what not to use when using any form of acne medication.
Now a bit closer to home, and something I’m a lot more comfortable with dealing, is my friend’s horror stories. I’ve heard them all, from being in 2020 and still using CLEAN&CLEAR, to using Nose Pore Strips, and best believe I always have the exact same shocked look on my face. But I am always able to steer them away and get them onto more ‘acceptable’ ways of life. One of my closest friends, not mentioning any names, prefers the more ‘simpler’ skincare routine. But little did I know she was not even wearing a moisturiser before she went to bed, ARGHH! On top of that, she wasn’t cleansing her face in the morning, big NO-NO. She was in good hands though, and I got her using a simple yet effective 4 step routine using some of my favourite skincare products.
Besides that, we all make mistakes, but with your skin, it is with you for life so if you treat it with care, it’ll be nice back to you.
