5 Skin sins that dermatologists wish you'd stop doing 

We all want healthy, beautiful, glowing skin, so we do everything we can do achieve that — sometimes to a fault.

We overwash our face, pick our pimples, buy the most expensive new product, and worst listen to randoms.

GMA News Online spoke to three board-certified dermatologists about myths and trends they wish you stopped doing because yes, they drive them crazy. 

Skin sin 1: Pricking pimples

When done right, pricking pimples will make them go away, right? Wrong.

"When you prick pimples, you might be squeezing content out but at the same time, it also pops inside," says Dr. Tanya Perez-Chua, a dermatologist with a clinic in St. Lukes BGC. 

This causes more swelling, more inflammation, and more scarring.

The dermatologist also gets triggered when she hears people recommend not to treat pimples and to simply wait for them to get resolved. "If you don't treat them, your pimples will scar," she explains. "That's the reason why we have to be aggressive in treating them."

Perez-Chua recommends consulting with experts instead. "You will achieve your goal faster by asking board-certified dermatologists about your skin, hair, and nail concerns," she says.

Skin sin 2: Washing your face too much

According to Dr. Melanie Chao-Lo, too much washing your face — repeated washing, scrubbing, and exfoliating — can do more harm than good.

"They think scrubbing the skin will make them glow more but really, it just makes their skin more irritated," Chao-Lo said.

Adds Perez-Chua, it's wrong to think that washing excessively will help us get rid of germs, bacteria, and dirt. "But if you wash too much, it dries up your skin and really breaks the skin barrier. That makes you more prone to irritation, which can come in the form of pimples or eczema."

Says Chao-Lo, washing once or twice a day should be enough. "Hindi tama 'yung after a while, because nag-oily ka na, you'll wash your face. Ta's after few hours, you look oily again, wash na naman. That will only stimulate more oil production in the long run," she warns.

"Kung nag-gym ka, you can wash again or pwede kang maligo. But don't overwash. Don't scrub din and don't exfoliate," Chao-Lo said.

And as for exfoliating, Perez-Chua says that's a form of friction with "the goal to remove the outer layer of the skin, or to thin it out, right? That’s a form of injury." 

"When you use products with pearls, beads, texture — that's another form of injury that may cause other problems like melia formation or the white spots that appear on the face," Perez-Chua said.

Our skin naturally self-exfoliates every three to four weeks, so we should let our skin do its magic.   

Skin sin 3: Applying too much products

"I don't want my patients to apply too much products all at the same time. Maybe a couple are enough," said Dr. Charlene Ang-Tiu.

"You don't need five active ingredients to achieve healthy or glowing skin."

Perez-Chua agrees. Recalling patients who would fly to Japan or Korea to buy skincare products and then coming home with very bad skin, Perez-Chua said "A lot of skin problems could be avoided if patients don't over-apply products."

"For me, less is best," Chao-Lo said, as she points to those trendy 10-step skin routines, recommending a chemistry lab skin test instead. "Let's just stick to what is needed because it really depends on your skin."

Skin sin 4: Believing that if skin care is expensive (and if it burns) it must be effective

One thing Chao-Lo sees on TikTok that drives her nuts is how people think their skin care is effective when they feel their skin burn. "No, it's not. If your skin feels like it's burning, that's your skin crying for help. 

The same with expensive skin care, said Perez-Chua. "It doesn't mean that if it costs a lot, it's more effective." This is also true for affordable products, they said. Just because it's affordable doesn't mean it's not effective.

She reminds her patients, "you don't have to spend too much to achieve good skin."

Skin sin 5: No sun? No need for sunscreen

"Even if it's cloudy, the UV rays can still penetrate the clouds," reminds Ang-Tiu as she recalled going on a skiing trip with her family and her brother coming home with "sunburn will all the peeling and scaling" because he didn't apply sunscreen, thinking there was no need.

They clarify the brief about sunscreen causing oiliness: Yes they can trigger oiliness if the sunscreen is oily. That said, they also don't recommend sunscreens that are too drying. "That can also weaken the skin barrier, so find the right one for you."

Skin sin 6: Using silk pillows, supplements, toothpaste, and glue to treat skin problems

These days, it's not unusual to hear your grandmother recommend toothpaste as a solution to acne or someone recommending silk bed sheets because they are supposed to be good for your skin. 

But the doctors all agree: They are all baloney. 

Silk sheets pillows won't prevent acne. "There might be less friction because it's so smooth but it won't prevent acne," Ang-Tiu said straightway.  

The same with toothpaste. According to Chao-Lo, toothpaste as an acne medicine is a persistent rumor. "People think when you apply toothpaste to the acne, it will magically zap it away. But no. it will just make it worse and irritate it."

"Toothpaste is not made for pimples or for skin. You should use it on your teeth," added Chao-Lo, who also holds a clinic at Metropolitan Manila.

"I've also heard  people use glue daw to remove blackheads, but please don't do that. This is your skin, not a school project," she said.

Supplements won't replace a healthy diet, too. "Remember, everything you take in is processed by the liver, by the kidneys so it could hurt you without you getting a benefit," warns Perez-Chua, as she recommends minimizing oral intakes of supplements and vitamins.

"A lot of supplements only work if you're deficient, for example biotin. If you eat lots of vegetables, you probably won't be biotin-deficient. So if you take biotin supplements and you're not deficient, there's no point. You're just wasting money."

Perez-Chua, Ang-Tiu, and Chao-Lo have a popular TikTok account, where they answer people's pressing questions about skin care. We suggest to click the link and head their way if you have any question about how to get healthy, glowing skin! — LA, GMA Integrated News