Skin Care and Beauty Tips for Young Adults

Transitioning from a teenager to a young adult is an awkward stage for a lot of people. While your young adult might not be tackling issues like wrinkles yet, they may be facing skincare and beauty crises of their own. Things like blackheads and sensitive skin might not matter much as you get older but are embarrassing and depressing for young adults. Add to this raging hormones and image issues and you have a stage of life that is difficult for many young people to navigate. That said, it is still possible to have amazing skin, look great, and feel confident as you transition to this next phase of your life.

Keep Your Skincare Routine Simple

The internet can make it seem like you need ten different products for your skincare. This more often than not backfires because you end up using products that have incompatible ingredients or ones not compatible with your skin type.

Keep things simple and consistent. To do this, have only two beauty routines, one in the morning and one in the evening. Washing your face is also a good way to prevent common issues and is something you should do in the morning, evening, and after sweaty activities.

To ensure consistency, you can place your face-washing products next to your toothbrush, so you remember to do it. Also, avoid washcloths or sponges that will irritate the skin, and instead use your hands and fingers. If you are not comfortable with these, you can find soft washcloths specifically meant for the face.

Remove Makeup before Going to Bed

You should always remove your makeup before going to bed. Although this should be part of your bedtime face-cleaning routine, it bears special mention. Sleeping in your makeup puts you at a higher risk of blemishes.

If you are too tired to wash your face, at least use a makeup remover towelette to get rid of the makeup.

Wear Sunscreen Everywhere

Many young adults do not think they need sunscreen because their skin is still young and supple. You should never go out without wearing sunscreen. It helps protect your skin from harmful UV rays regardless of the weather.  You should also wear sunscreen if you wear makeup.

Dry skin that is damaged by the sun can get irritated and cause a myriad of issues. The most common is acne, which you do not want to be dealing with at this age.

Consider Changes That Boost Your Confidence

The transition to adulthood can cause serious confidence issues, especially as you are trying to define yourself and find things that make you stand out while also feeling confident in yourself. You might be confused about how to go about this, but it is not as difficult as you think. First, engage your parents to let them involve you when shopping for your clothes if you do not already do that yourself.

How you dress will be an important part of who you are and how you present yourself. It will also determine how confident you feel in your own skin and therefore the people around you. Changes to your outward appearance can also involve a change to your hairstyle and shoes to match your new outfit. Remember, people will carry you how you carry yourself as you transition to this next phase.

Many young adults and teens struggle with their smiles as they transverse this awkward phase of their lives. You can learn how to present the best smile by practicing in front of a mirror or even taking online courses. If you are unhappy about your smile due to misaligned teeth, you should consider getting aligners.

The best thing is that aligners for teens and young adults have become so good that they are practically invisible. This means they do not have to be something else making you feel self-conscious. Invisible or clear aligners are an easy solution for teenagers and young adults who want to be more confident with their smiles.

Wash Your Bedding Regularly

This might seem like an obvious one, but washing your bedding makes a huge difference to the health of your skin. What you might not realize is that your bedding gets full of dirt, oil, skin cells, hair, and other debris the longer it goes unwashed.

These create an ideal environment for bacteria to thrive and wreak havoc on your pores, which leads to breakouts.

You should wash your sheets every one to two weeks, your pillowcases once a week, and your blankets and comforters every 3 months. If you use products with a lot of oil in them, wash your sheets and pillowcases every week without fail.

Tackle Acne Carefully

Acne is very common in puberty due to the hormonal changes that happen during this time. Although it mainly affects younger teens, it can also affect young adults. If you have a breakout, you should only use one product at a time to treat it.

You should see good results after four to six weeks if you are using the right product. If you do not, use a second product. Doing this helps deal with the different causes of acne including inflammation, bacteria, and clogged pores.

The different types of products should include different ingredients. The different ingredients to consider include:

• Salicylic acid works best against inflammation, leading to pore unclogging
• Retinoids including adapalene gel. These reduce oiliness and unclog pores
• Benzoyl peroxide which reduces P.acnes bacteria on the skin

Once the acne clears, consider continuing to use products that contain the active ingredient that works. This helps prevent acne in the first place, ensuring you are not always dealing with a breakout.

Don’t Do too Much

It is important to slow down and do things carefully especially when it comes to skincare. New products, procedures, and strategies appear on the internet every week, and you will not win following them. Using different products to scrub, exfoliate, wash the face, and remove pimples might have detrimental effects due to what they contain.

Trying new products, routines, and procedures weekly or every few days will feel great in the moment, especially when following a trend, but the irritation they may cause will not be worth it. This is not to mention the potential allergic reactions and ingredient interactions that can happen.

Lastly, avoid picking at your face and popping pimples. Doing so will cause scarring and the pimple to heal too slowly.

Use a Spot test with New Products

While using too many at once is not a good idea, there comes a time when you need to change a product you use. If you decide to do this, do a spot test before using the product on a large area. A spot test entails using a small amount of product on a hidden area of the body and watching what happens.

You should do this twice for about ten days, leaving the product on the skin as long as possible. If any irritation or burning happens, you should discontinue the use of that product immediately.

Conclusion

Being a young adult is a confusing time, especially regarding your identity, beauty, and how we think others perceive us. You can use the tips above to ensure you not only look your best but have the confidence to face this confusing and often challenging phase.