When teenagers come to me for a makeup consultation, I ask them how they take care of their skin. It seems there are two types of teenagers when it comes to skin care. Many are knowledgeable about cleansing. They get the main idea by reading magazines and advertisements. Upon delving further, I have discovered that some teenagers, as well as young adults, really do not know how to properly cleanse their skin.
Many girls sleep with their makeup occasionally when they are too tired to remove it. This clogs their pores and when not washing, or not washing thoroughly, becomes sporadic, their skin begins to show the signs. Sometimes they will get tiny dots on the surface of the skin. This is the pile-up of makeup that stays on the skin. Other times the facial pores begin to clog, forming pimples. This starts a secretion of oil build-up and eventually acne occurs.
Teenage boys and young men have the same problems when they dont wash their skin correctly. Dirt and pollution build up and acne begins.
This is not to say that teenagers dont cleanse their skin. They may not be doing all they can to keep it clean and some dont realize how clear skin should look and feel.
I just gave a skin care consultation to a 21 year old woman. Her skin was very dry in some spots and she had terrible breakouts.
When questioned about her skin care regimen, she said she had something to dry up her blemishes and was using it all over her face. Naturally, parts of her face were very dry from the lotion. When I delved further, she told me that her skin care products were two years old. This told me that she didnt wash her face twice a day and the accumulation of bacteria developed into problem skin. In addition, she had purchased her products so long ago that she had forgotten how to use them.
Skin care products such as cleansers, toners, moisturizers, and masques should be used up within six months, after that, bacteria can set in. If she had been cleansing twice daily, her products would have been finished.
She confessed that she occasionally went to sleep without washing off her makeup. When we finished talking about her skin care routine, I gave her her very first skin care lesson, with a sheet of instructions to follow so that she would have something to refer to when she got home. She seemed very happy and asked me to share her story in IMAGE Magazine this month.
If you help teens develop good skin care habits, they can avoid skin issues and will always know how to take care of their skin and especially never to go to sleep with makeup on!
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Sylvia Hamowy is the owner of Reflections Cosmetics. She is a professional makeup artist, beauty editor, and former radio show host. She is featured in the International Whos Who of Entrepreneurs.
