It’s been a decade since I was a teenager and, even though admitting that make me feel older than I really am, I look back on my teen years as a time of getting ready for adulthood while trying to survive high school and college. Because of this, it was a time of learning, making mistakes, and learning how to not make them again. Although I could recant many stories about my teen years and what I learned since then, I wanted to focus on the skin care mistakes I made that I look back on and shutter knowing I did it.

Not Applying Enough Moisturizer

When I was a teenager, I did not like applying moisturizer. I don’t remember why I didn’t apply moisturizer, but I remember having problems with the lotions and moisturizer not working well with my teenage oily skin and pore clogging problems. Although I understand my logic about not applying moisturizer to my face, I don’t know why I didn’t apply lotion to my arms and legs. As an adult I still don’t like applying lotion, but it has more to do with problems finding a good fragrance free lotion. I remember the problems I had with dry skin due to lack of skin moisture and wished I had the ability back then to find a lotion I liked and worked for me.

Not Using The Right Foundation for My Skin Type

Back in the day, there wasn’t a lot of foundation choices someone with acne prone oily skin to pick from. There was pressed powder foundations, pressed cream foundations, and liquid foundations. Even though you can still all those foundations find in the make up department, they were oily and always clogged my pores. The only option I had was either use a Neutrogena oil free foundation that still clogged my pores or use powdered foundation. I learned since then my skin loves powdered foundation when it’s at it’s oiliest, but I didn’t know that as a teen. If I used powdered foundation back then, teenager me probably would enjoy wearing foundation more than I did.

Not Cleaning my Pores… At All

For whatever reason, I never cleaned my pores. I remember there was a reason why I didn’t clean my pores but the reason probably is I heard it never helped combat acne. It is something as an adult I wish I did.

Not Cleaning My Skin With the Right Cleanser

Actually, my problem as a teen was not cleaning my skin with the right cleanser. My probably was not having the right cleanser within my budget or a 20 mile radius of where I grew up. I like to joke my body loves luxury, which my brain and budget hate. I need to use foundation that can’t be found at the drug store or else my skin will be angry. I have a sensitivity to wool, so if I wear a wool scarf, sweater, or anything made out of wool, it need to be cashmere. And, when I was a teenager, the cleansers that worked best on my skin cost over $20 USD. Even though it has to do more with the ingredients in the cleansers, the price point was something that was hard for me to swallow. So, in order to save money, I would wash my skin with other soaps that are not meant for facial use. It did clean my face, but it also dried my skin out. Even though finding the right cleanser was a problem I struggled with, the only solution was to buy the expensive cleansers or go without. So, I went without until I found cleansers that worked well with my skin and cleansers that are at an inexpensive, more budget friendly price showed up on the market.

Not Using Enough Sun Screen

Finally, the last skin care mistake I regret is not using enough sun screen. When I was a teenager, I was in marching band. Since practice took place outside in the sun, wearing sun screen is a must. Although I was fairly disciplined in wearing sun screen during marching band practice, I wasn’t as disciplined in wearing sun screen any other time I was outside for long time periods. Since sun damage is a serious concern for me, I wish I wore sun screen more often than I did back then.

Well, that’s all for now! Thank you for reading!