4 DIY Skincare Routines That Could Destroy Your Skin

These days, many women are trying out homemade skincare remedies either as a way to save money or to avoid harsh chemicals. But the truth is some of these DIY skincare routines, many made popular through Pinterest, could actually be damaging to your skin. While some ingredients you find in your kitchen are great for your skin, others simply aren’t. Here are a few routines you should stay away from: 

1. Using lemon juice to lighten your skin.

We used to turn to lemon juice to lighten our hair in the summertime, so what about using it to lighten freckles? Not a good idea. Lemon juice contains Vitamin C, which can be great for your skin as it does brighten the complexion, but lemon juice isn’t the way to get this benefit.

Instead of lightening your freckles, by applying lemon juice to the face, you risk irritating your skin and increasing your sensitivity to the sun. If you’re looking to add some Vitamin C to your skincare routine, try using a serum or another product that contains the ingredient. And take it from your naturally freckled-friend here and learn to embrace your freckles instead of trying to get rid of them.

2. Making your own sunscreen.

This one has disaster written all over it if you ask me! A quick search on the web will return recipes that contain coconut oil, shea butter, and zinc oxide for creating homemade sunscreens. It may seem tempting to try and make your own sunscreen that doesn’t contain chemicals, but it’s a bit risky!

Sunscreens are created by trained chemists in a laboratory, then tested to ensure they are up to FDA standards. The same cannot be said for DIY sunscreens. By making your own, you leave your skin open to the risks of sunburn and skin cancer. You’re much better off purchasing a high quality sunscreen that’ll save your skin and help keep it healthy.

3. Mixing apple cider vinegar and aspirin to fight acne.

Let’s face it… When a new zit pops up, we are always desperate to find the treatment that will get rid of it as quickly as possible. Quite a few homemade treatments involve mixing aspirin and apple cider vinegar. The combination of the salicylic acid in aspirin and the alpha-hydroxy acid in apple cider vinegar may seem like a winning combination, but it could do more harm than good. Instead of banishing that pesky pimple, you could be left with red, irritated skin as the mixture of the two could actually burn your skin.

If you’re looking for an acne-clearing skincare product, try any of these products from Yon-Ka.

4. Drying out blemishes with hydrogen peroxide.

I’ll admit, I was guilty of this in my teenage years! However, hydrogen peroxide is not the ingredient you want to use when treating a blemish. Because hydrogen peroxide is an antiseptic, it will not treat one of the main issues of blemishes: inflammation. Instead, hydrogen peroxide will likely sting your skin and leave you with a scab shortly thereafter. Use products that have ingredients such as salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide to treat blemishes. Yon-Ka’s Juvenil is a great choice instead.

Which of these DIY skincare remedies are you guilty of trying? Let me know in the comments below!