Beauty Habits We Started After Becoming Beauty Editors

We recently polled our Skincare.com consulting dermatologists to find out their biggest skin care regrets. From failing to wear sunscreen to popping pimples their top regrets made us realize that dermatologists, well, they’re just like us! Now, would they ever dream of skipping SPF today? No way! That’s because with knowledge comes power. Naturally, this got the Skincare.com team thinking about some of our own skin care regrets and what we’ve learned—and subsequently started to incorporate into our routines—since starting in the beauty industry. Curious about what skin care habits beauty editors started after becoming beauty editors? Keep reading!

Confession Time: Prior to working in beauty I— embarrassingly— didn't have a skin care routine...at all. I rarely took off my makeup at night, if I had a pimple I would pick at it like it was my job, and I never wore sunscreen, opting instead to bake like a turkey in the sun. Thankfully, that all changed pretty quickly after working in magazines and in the spa industry. SPF is my new BFF, I never go to sleep without going through my entire skin care routine (Which is, for those wondering, removing my makeup, cleansing with a face wash, then a micellar water—because leftovers are real ya’ll—toner, serum, moisturizer, and eye cream for the win!), and if I do get the occasional breakout I follow the appropriate steps to make that sucker goes away—currently OBSESSED with the brand new spot treatment from Kiehl’s that’s formulated with sulfur which I admittedly stole from the office after they sent a complimentary sample for review. While I'm lucky I don't have any lasting consequences of my neglect, I definitely wish I had started these good habits earlier on now that I'm older.

I never used to incorporate toner into my routine before, and— like many others— wrongly assumed that it was just a gimmick. After becoming a beauty editor and having endless supplies of toner at my disposal, I decided to give it a try and I’m hooked! For a long time, I foolishly believed that my cleanser was picking up every last trace of dirt and makeup on my skin. Boy was I wrong!

Prior to becoming a beauty editor, I would use my gentle water-based cleanser to remove the day’s grime AND remove my makeup. The result? A lot of scrubbing, and leftover eye makeup that would come back to haunt me in the form of raccoon eyes the next morning. After researching the 10-step Korean skin care routine, I became skeeved out by my own personal cleansing method (if you can even call it that) and decided to give double cleansing a try. I now cleanse my skin in the morning with a gentle water-based cleanser and in the evening with both an oil cleanser and a water-based cleanser. 

Side note: If you want to remove your makeup and cleanse your complexion at the same time (or in two simple steps), double cleansing isn’t the only way to go. You can also remove your makeup and rid your complexion of dirt and debris with any cleanser formulated to remove makeup and cleanse your complexion, or use micellar water! We share our three favorite micellar waters, here.

This may be an obvious one, but the number one beauty habit I started after becoming a beauty editor was always applying sunscreen— even when it’s not sunny! I have an olive-ish skin tone, so I’m not as sensitive to the sun as others, which always made me feel falsely secure in skipping SPF (unless I was laying out). After learning the truth about how much the sun ages your skin and the increased risk of skin cancer, slathering up every morning has definitely become a habit I’m happy about.