“My Skin Barrier Was Ruined”: People Are Confessing The Worst Skincare Mistake They’ve Ever Made

“The ’90s were a wild time to be a teenager, weren’t they! If I didn’t feel the burn, I’d do the whole thing a second time. Yikes!”

—kalisisrising

—windbreaker_city

—Boxyourheart

—SoSteeze

“I showed her my routine and my skin. Told her my dryness and rationale behind my strategy, but lamented that my skin was so dry it felt like nothing was even penetrating enough to hydrate. All she had to say was, ‘Okay, but where is your exfoliant?’

My classmate did a superficial peel with microdermabrasion, and I PEELED, which is just unheard of for the gentle approach she took

For years I was so worried about upsetting my skin barrier I skipped exfoliating. Now I know the key words ‘I feel like it doesn’t absorb, it sits on top of my skin’ means there are too many dead layers for product to penetrate!”

—TbhIdekMyName

—Alternative-Still956

“I did the same with the benzyl peroxide. It was the cycle of getting acne, then applying it, then it getting redder and me thinking it’s more acne when it’s just my skin dying, and then I apply more benzyl peroxide. Until it looked like I had a horrific sunburn.”

—Lithogiraffe

—Dulcette

—Unlucky_Lynn

—WhereDidIGetThatCat

—Mystarshines

“May I ask – what was your misunderstanding of it? Did you use too much or use it too frequently? Did you not realize you had to apply more sunscreen because you were UV sensitive after use?”

—6pcChickenNugget

“Yes, sunscreen, I was way too relaxed about it. I was also using it with other active ingredients 😅.”

—Mystarshines

—LadyJannes75

—blckrainbow

—Hira_Said

—knockrocks

—kellsbells210