1.  Don’t touch your face!

-This seems simple..but think about how many times a day you rest your face on your hands. Your hands contain bacteria that can lead to breakouts and the simplest way of reducing those stubborn pimples is by minimizing how often you spread bacteria onto your face.

2.  Change your pillowcase

-You wouldn’t clean your dishes with a dirty towel, so why would you let your skin rest on a dirty pillowcase? Your skin makes contact with a pillowcase for about 7 hours a night. That is 7 hours of laying on an unclean surface, if you aren’t changing those sheets often enough.

Try washing or changing your sheets, especially your pillowcase every 2-3 days and see how quickly your skin clears up.

3. Wipe down your phone screen

-We are always on our phones, and most of us aren’t really all that careful about where we place them. Bacteria builds up on the screen, and can lead to stubborn cheek acne. No matter how much you clean your face or what product to use, exposing your skin to bacteria the way a dirty phone case does will cause you to breakout.

4. Wash your makeup brushes

-Cleaning them is a given, but how often? As much as we’d love fresh brushes everyday, you should be giving them a good clean at least once a week. Otherwise, you’re giving bacteria an opportunity to make homes out of your favourite contour brush.

5. Listening to your gut

-Do you notice irritation on your skin when you eat certain foods? Don’t ignore it…your body is trying to tell you something. Often times, an allergy to food shows up on your skin right away. If you’re noticing stubborn acne everytime you drink milk, it might be time to lay off the dairy. Allergy tests are also great ways of seeing if there are certain foods or products that irritate your skin.

6. Wash your makeup off, and then wash your face.

-We get it. Sometimes you’re a little too tired before bed to wash your face, so you use a makeup wipe. Although it’s not the worst thing in the world, it’s definitely not the best. Taking off your makeup is important, but it’s also important to clean your skin once the makeup is off.

7. Do NOT pick your skin

-We can’t say this enough. Yes we know it’s tempting. Yes we know whiteheads are the worst things ever, but we also know how terrible scars are. And that’s what happens when you’re picking away at acne. Instead try a gentle exfoliant and patting it dry.