7 Post-Workout Skin Care Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make

Taking care of your skin post-workout can be just as important as your morning and night time routines. And while you may already have your post-workout skin care regimen on lock, you could be—unknowingly—committing some major post-workout skin care faux paus. From skipping out on cleanser to keeping your sweaty active wear on to exfoliating your sensitive post-workout skin, we share seven things you should never do after exercising, here.

Just like your morning and evening skin care routines, one of the most important steps of a post-workout skin care routine is cleansing your complexion. Cleansing is necessary in order to rinse away sweat and any pore-clogging dirt and debris that your skin may have come into contact with while somewhere between your squats and burpees. We recommend keeping a mini bottle of micellar water and cotton pads in your gym bag to ensure that you give your skin a quick—yet effective—cleanse post sweat-sesh even if there’s no sink space to be found in that crowded locker room. Don’t forget to follow up with a gentle, fragrance-free moisturizer!

Another post gym no-no? Applying scented products to your skin. After your workout, your skin can feel more sensitive than usual, which in turn can make it more sensitive to scented skin care products. When packing your gym bag with skin care products, try to choose ones that are fragrance-free or formulated for sensitive skin types.

After a particularly intense workout you can often find yourself sweating long after you’ve completed that last rep. To get the most from your skin care products you’ll want to give your body a chance to cool down before completing your post-workout skin care routine. That way you won’t find yourself wiping your sweaty face on your dirty gym towel and having to go through your regimen all over again. Need some refreshment while you wait? Spritz a soothing facial mist on your complexion. Many are formulated with ingredients like aloe vera and rosewater and can leave your skin feeling refreshed upon application.

If you want to go down a fast track to body breakouts—we hope not—leave your sweaty gym clothes on. If not, bring a change of clothes to change into. Better yet, rinse off in the shower and throw on your fresh change of clothes before even leaving the gym. The sweat and dirt that you may have rinse off your complexion post-workout could be lingering on your sweaty workout clothes, waiting to wreak havoc on your body skin.

If you just finished a sweaty workout, the last thing you’ll want to do is take your hair down. The sweat, dirt, oils, and product from your hair could come in contact with your hairline or complexion and leave you with some unnecessary breakouts. Unless you have plans to rinse your hair in the locker room shower, you’re better off keeping it tied back in a ponytail, braid, headband—you get the idea.

After working out at the gym, one of the last things you want to do is touch your face—before giving them a good rinse, that is. Whether you ran on the treadmill, lifted weights, or did some yoga in the conditioning area, chances are you came in contact with other people’s germs, sweat, oil, and debris. And those germs, sweat, oil, and debris could wreak havoc on your complexion! So, do yourself—and your skin—a favor and try to keep things sanitary.

This one is sort of a give in. For health and skin reasons, drinking water throughout the day is always a good idea… especially after sweating some of your body’s moisture out at the gym. So, before grabbing that sports drink, protein shake, or whatever else you like you fuel up on after an intense workout, drink some water! Your body (and skin) will thank you in the long run.