5 Things You Should NEVER Put on Your Skin

No, you should not put coconut oil on your face.

Do you know that meme with the cringe-worthy face that looks like it actually hurt her to hear whatever they said?

Estheticians make this face too. Let me tell you the things that make us side-eye hard.

1. Coconut Oil.

Apply to the split ends on your hair, NOT your face. It's simply too heavy. It can cause pimples, blackheads, clogged pores and a dull complexion.

If you’re thinking it’s a great night time treatment, think again, it's highly likely that you will be waking up to a breakout, not moisturized skin. "But it has anti-bacterial benefits!" Yeah, so does Dial Soap and I don’t recommend you layering that on your skin overnight either.

Bottom line: It’s comedogenic.

Alternative: If you want a natural oil to use on your face, pick jojoba (used in our dermaplaning), hemp oil (we carry Biovegane), or pomegranate oil (in our lash pads). And always choose the most natural or organic when you can.

2. St. Ives Apricot Scrub.

I have no idea how this product got so popular, but use up the rest of that bottle to exfoliate your legs before shaving and stop putting it on your face, like right now.

This product actually makes micro tears in the skin from the crushed particles that are never recommended for face polishing. It creates scarring and a rough texture, prompting you to use it MORE often.

Bottom line: Y’all it's economic for the business, but hardly beneficial for your skin, which brings me to........

3. MLMs.

Sorry not sorry, R+F. These companies target stay at home moms with promises of fancy cars, dream vacations and huge incomes by selling great products, just take our word for it!

Uneducated, non-certified ladies are prescribing medical skincare….and you thought this was fine?

There’s several lawsuits for all skincare mlms for awful side effects and reactions; such as vision impairment, drooping eyelid, scarred skin, 3rd degree burns. This is from using the products correctly!

If your skin practitioner doesn’t know what’s in the products, how it will react to YOUR skin, and why its beneficial for it. Don’t buy it.

Bottom line: Go to a professional.

Like a real, certified professional. You’ll spend around the same price, get actually high quality and beneficial home care for your skin type, and hey a lot of us are moms too, and your friends! We just don’t copy/paste the same exact marketing posts over and over – ok that was a burn. Moving on.

4. Cetaphil, CeraVe, & Dove bar soap.

Your dermatologist recommended it, huh? Well, here’s the lowdown on that: they are doctors. They went to medical school, can treat cancer, do surgery and diagnose. Recommending a face cleanser is hardly why they are thousands of school loan dollars in debt.

Basically they know recommending these things will not give you a harsh reaction and you’ll not be sitting on their treatment room beds explaining a rash from some strong, ill advised product.

Please stop wasting their time on things like this. I have HIGH respect for Derms and all doctors, let them do their thing, and let us do ours.

Estheticians are skin care specialists. This is what we went to school for. I feel like we compliment the dermatology field by taking that off their plate so they can focus on the big things. Also – none of that is helping your skin or frankly doing anything at all besides stripping your acid mantle (bar soap) and leaving a residue on your skin (Cetaphil). No pore-cleaning or exfoliating is happening that is vital for healthy skin. And that moisturizer (CeraVe) is chock full of fillers known to inflame sensitive conditions and is better off as a hand cream.

Bottom line: It’s not helping.

Alternative: I can’t give you certain products through your screen because I need to see your skin, feel it and know what you are using. So I’ll say, a home care regimen recommended by an esthetician suited to your skin is optimal. (Email me to set up a consultation! info@charmnola.com)

5. Witch Hazel.

Great for bug bites, bruises and hemorrhoids, not so great for your face.

While short-term use on other parts of the body are good, long term use will cause irritation. Witch hazel is usually mixed with 14-15% alcohol and is dubbed to help “dry out” acne and treat pimples.

What it actually does is strip useful skin oils, aggravate the skin and cause more inflammation and worse breakouts, redness and can cause an awful flare up.

While I’m at it, toothpaste as a spot treatment is a hard ‘no’ also.

Bottom line: While it may seem to work at first, it's actually damaging your skin.

Alternative: PCA Skin Smoothing Toner with AHA and zero alcohol, parabens or fillers. Medical-grade, gives that ‘drying out’ feeling but is actually healing and treating oily skin and breakouts.

BONUS - magnifying mirror & eyelash curler.

No one needs to look at their skin with a mag mirror and zoom in on their pores! It will only make you pick at your face and decide your texture is awful.

Throw it out!

If you use it to put on your mascara because it’s getting a bit harder to see – see below.

Eyelash curlers. Whatever brand and whatever type will damage your lashes, put strain on the root making them weaker, and break the lashes.

Alternative: Let us pamper your lashes and make them healthier, naturally. Book a Keratin Lash Infusion for a fully vegan lash treatment that will lift and curl, infuse a hydrating treatment, heal, increase volume through plant-based keratin and create a darker lash through a deep henna tint.

So guys, I’m sorry for crushing your dreams and having you evaluate your bathroom vanity, left feeling like you’ve been duped and wasted your money. Or maybe you think what I’ve said for sure can’t be true because "so and so" recommended it and its working for her! It’s not. It’s really not.

Now you know, and knowing is half the battle (shooting star).

XoXo,

Leah