The Best Skin Care Advice Our Editors Have Ever Been Given

As beauty editors, our Skincare.com team spends a good portion of their time trying new products, creating tutorials on the latest skin care trends—we see you multi-masking—and speaking with our consulting dermatologists to find out the specifics on whether or not we need to exfoliate our skin or how much sunscreen we should be using daily. Somewhere along the way, we have collected what we believe to be the best advice we’ve ever been given from our Skincare.com contributing experts, industry professionals, our peers, and sometimes even…ourselves. From when to wear sunscreen to how your brand loyalty can benefit your complexion, our editors share the best skin care advice they’ve ever been given, below.

Part 1: Being loyal pays off. When I first entered the industry nearly seven years ago, I suddenly had access to more free samples than I knew what to do with and I loved trying out everything and anything I could bring home with me at the end of the day. When I was younger, my skin was super resilient and my habit of jumping from product to product wasn't that big a deal—I mean, I was in my early twenties so I didn't have wrinkles or dark spots that needed correcting quite yet, so to me, everything "worked." Now that I'm older—and my skin isn't nearly as tough—I've learned that being loyal to a certain routine truly pays off. When you find something that works, stick with it. Not only will you see the best results, you'll also save yourself from shocking your skin with a constant onslaught of new products— dermatologists will agree.  Now, this definitely goes for my cleansing, toning, and moisturizing routine but, I still love to experiment and pamper my skin with every mask I can get my hands on! 

Part 2: If you want to glow, use glycolic...acid, that is. Alpha-hydroxy acids, like glycolic, can help to gently and chemically exfoliate the surface of your skin, removing dead skin cell buildup and helping to reveal a more radiant-looking complexion in the process. I used to exfoliate with harsh scrubs too often for years—drying out my skin and irritating it in the process—but when a derm suggested I give glycolic a try, I can honestly say it changed my life—okay, drastic, but it at least changed my skin! I like to use peel pads and cleansers formulated with glycolic acid at least twice a week at night. And of course, I'm layering on that SPF come morning—AHAs make your skin more sensitive to sunlight. 

Most people—my younger self included—fall for the misconception that you don’t need to wear sunscreen when it’s cloudy. If you can’t see the sun, it must not be there, right? Wrong! The sun is always at work, and the damage from UV rays—think: wrinkles, fine lines, and even some cancers—is no joke. Now, thanks to sound advice from my dermatologist, I always wear broad-spectrum SPF 15 or higher year-round regardless of the daily weather forecast. 

The best skin care advice I’ve ever been given isn’t something that was given to me, it’s something that I learned the hard way: some things are best left to the professionals. When I was a teenager, I thought it was a good idea to order a wax warmer and waxing kit on the internet. I was a crafty gal, I liked DIY projects and making my own face masks… surely I could handle waxing my own eye brows, upper lip, and anywhere else I felt like experimenting— wrong. I will save you the details, but let’s just say removing a layer of skin from your upper lip and only getting through one armpit wax is not a cute look. Please, don’t try waxing at home, leave it to a trained professional— your skin (and your ego) will thank you for it.

The best skin care advice I ever received was to stash products in the fridge during the summer months. Living and working in a city during the summer can cause really sweaty situations, and there's nothing more refreshing than spritzing a facial mist that's been refrigerated when I get home. You may also want to try keeping aloe vera gel in the fridge, as it can come in handy when your skin is hot and tight after a little too much sun.