It can be confusing to know exactly what skincare ingredients you can and cannot mix. There aren’t many substances for skincare that you can’t mix, but the secret to finding ingredients that work is to look for products with formulations that already contain the compounds you want to combine.
Nonetheless, doubling up on skincare actives is a common cause of skincare errors that cause irritation. Here is a guideline you can adhere to courtesy of Beauty on Tap:
Do not mix exfoliants to make them stronger
It might be a recipe for disaster if you don’t have a very detailed understanding of the ingredients in exfoliating creams, which can be extremely fussy. Exfoliants aid in the shedding of skin cells process that occurs naturally on the skin. Use one type of acid in a wash-off product and the other acid in a leave-on product if you wanted to benefit from both types of acids. This would lessen the possibility of skin inflammation.
Do not mix tretinoin with in your moisturizer
First of all, don’t worry; mixing tretinoin with your moisturizer while applying it is very safe. But, it is not recommended to squeeze the entire tube of tretinoin into your moisturizer. While this may seem like a brilliant hack to make your experience with tretinoin more easy, you actually run the risk of cultivating some dangerous microorganisms in your new mixture. Tretinoin is moderately unstable, thus adding it to your moisturizer could potentially destroy its preservative system.
Do not mix your sunscreen with anything
You may have read suggestions that you combine your SPF with a moisturizer or serum to make the entire application process much easier, but this is definitely not a good idea. SPF creates a film on the skin; if you combined it with other skincare products, the components that create the film would be disrupted. You wouldn’t be getting enough protection from the sun as a result.
If you are ever unsure of your skincare needs, it is always best to contact a skincare professional who can advise you.
