Nothing’s quite so annoying as when you put all of this time and effort into your skincare only for it to pill. When your skincare starts forming little balls that build until they fall off, it can not only make you feel self-conscious, but also lessen the effectiveness of your skincare. There are several reasons why skincare can pill, and luckily, it is fairly simple to keep your skincare from pilling. Here’s what you need to know about why pilling happens and what you can do in order to keep your skincare from pilling.
What Causes Pilling?
When most people think of pilling, their minds go to cheap clothes or old knitted blankets. Tiny little balls can also show up on your face if you either are not applying your skincare correctly or are not using products that complement each other well.
If you’re struggling to keep your skincare from pilling, these are a few of the reasons for why that could be:
- You’re using too much product.
- You’re not giving products time to sink into your skin before applying the next step in your routine.
- The products you’re using don’t complement each other.
- One or several products in your routine are either not properly neutralized or aren’t formulated well.
- You aren’t exfoliating enough.
- You’re applying your skincare in the wrong order.
- The products are too heavy for your skin.
- You are rubbing rather than patting on your skincare.
How To Prevent Pilling
It’s easier to keep your skincare from pilling when you understand why it’s doing so. Perhaps you’ve seen the reasons why skincare can pill and you already know where the problem is. Othertimes, though, knowing why skincare can pill isn’t enough, because you swear you’re doing everything right. If you’re not sure where the problem is in your routine, there are a few things that you can do in order to prevent pilling. Let’s get into it!
Apply Products In The Right Order
Generally, you should be applying your skincare in the order of lightest to heaviest. There’s a reason why moisturizer is typically the second-to-last step in your skincare routine, just before sunscreen, after all. You should apply serums and then your moisturizer and then your SPF.
Water-based products should be applied first as they are thinner and lighter. Any oil-based products should be applied after water-based ones, otherwise the water-based products you put on top of the oil-based products won’t be able to penetrate through the thicker oil-based product into your skin, and will thus, pill. If you’re using rich creams or oils, it’s best to apply them as a final step in your routine.
Take Your Time Layering
A common mistake that can result in pilling skincare is rushing through your routine. Especially when you’re running late or in a hurry, it can be easy to just apply one product after another and go. However, this is basically the same as wiping off one product with another, and causes them not to absorb into your skin and you to lose the benefits of some of the products.
An easy way to keep your skincare from pilling is to take more time with it and leave some more time between each step. That way, each product will have time to soak into your skin before you layer the next one on top. For instance, apply a serum, wait for it to absorb, then apply a moisturizer, wait for this to sink in, then apply your sunscreen. If you are someone who wears makeup, wait for your sunscreen to dry before moving on to the makeup portion of getting ready.
You can use the time between steps to get dressed, to get a cup of coffee or tea going, to fill in your brows, that sort of thing. Taking a bit more time with your routine is essential in order to keep your skincare from pilling.
Ensure That You’re Using The Right Amount
It’s easy to assume that more is better when it comes to skincare and getting the most benefit from your products. However, this would just end up wasting your money and can make it more likely that your skincare pills. When people say you should use a dime-sized amount of this, a nickel-sized amount of that, many people assume that there’s no way that can be enough product to actually work.
However, if you use too much product, it makes it much harder for the product to sink into your skin, especially if you’re layering. Applying less product will help everything absorb better, and ergo, work better, since you’re giving each product the chance to soak into your skin, rather than rolling right off it in little balls. Patting your skincare on rather than rubbing it in will help with this.
Exfoliate
If you don’t exfoliate, then the dead skin on your face can cause skincare to pill, due to the flakiness. To keep your skincare from pilling due to layers of dead skin, incorporate an exfoliating acid into your skincare routine. This will help cell turnover and even out the texture of your skin, which can in turn make it easier for other skincare products to absorb into it.
Check The Ingredients
There are some ingredients that can make pilling more likely, such as silicone, which basically sits on top of your skin rather than absorbing into it. This goes hand-in-hand with ensuring that you’re applying products in the right order. Too many silicone products or water-based products applied after oil-based products can lead to pilling, due to the lack of absorption.
Check the ingredients of your products in order to ensure that you’re both applying them in the right order and that you aren’t dealing with too many silicone-based products, so you can keep your skincare from pilling.
If you would like to learn more about how to keep skincare from pilling or have any other questions about skincare or skin concerns, Intermountain Aesthetics is happy to help. Contact us for any questions you may have or to set up an appointment.
