7 Hygiene Habits To Ditch In Your 20s

Your 20s is that weird decade where you simultaneously feel like a kid and an adult, and we often still follow our old habits from college or even high school that are totally teenager appropriate, but don't exactly spell responsible adult. But as your teens slip further away and 30 inches closer, there are several hygiene habits you should ditch in your 20s. You may have gotten away with them ten years ago, but some of these things just aren't going to fly any longer.

As you've probably heard a million times, things change when you age. You can't necessarily get away with things that you did when you were young because your body and skin are changing, so it's important to ditch bad habits when you're young and set yourself up with a good routine that can carry you through your adulthood. It's easy to get lazy when it comes to beauty and hygiene, but it's time to change all of that. Even if it takes you an extra five, fifteen, or even thirty minutes, it's worth it, and your future self will probably thank you.

It might sound gross, but most of us are guilty of following some of these hygiene habits, and you should totally ditch them ASAP.

1. Using Makeup Remover As Cleanser

Cleansing Milk, $28, Nordstrom

The important thing is just making sure you take your makeup off, right? Wrong. The pads aren't cleansing your skin — they're just taking the makeup off. Even though it's an extra step, you still need to cleanse as well as remove your makeup.

2. Never Washing Your Makeup Brushes

Just because they don't look dirty, doesn't mean they don't need washing. Products and bacteria build up on your brushes, which you then put on your face, causing break outs. Make sure you wash every two weeks or so, minimum.

Try: Japonesque Makeup Brush Cleaner, $11, Amazon

3. Febreezing Your Bedsheets

Just like on your makeup brushes, bacteria can build up on your sheets/pillowcases, and when you lay on them every night, it could cause you to break out, so make sure you actually wash your sheets every week or two.

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4. Popping Your Pimples

You know this one without me telling you, but as tempting as it is, do not pop your pimples. In addition to potentially scarring your face, popping pimples can cause bacteria to spread to other areas of your face, creating more breakouts.

5. Not Flossing

Oral-B Glide Floss, $5, Amazon

Brushing your teeth isn't going to cut it — you need to take the extra two minutes and floss, too. It removes bacteria and plaque from your teeth in places the brush can't get, so if you want to maintain good oral hygiene, you better floss.

6. Shaving With Water

Shaving sucks in general, and spending a lot of time on it makes it even worse, but don't just wet (or worse, dry) and shave. You need to have gel, cream, soap, or something on there to coat your body so that you don't cut yourself and you get a closer shave.

7. Using Regular Soap To Wash Your Face

Dove White Beauty Bar (8 Pack), $9, A mazon

If you haven't invested in a cleanser yet, it's time to. Dermatologist Dr. Mona Gohara told Bustle, "Soaps have a high pH, so when you use a soap that has a pH of 13, it strips your skin of natural oils and lipids, and so it makes you look a lot older, it makes your skin more irritated." Instead, use a beauty bar, pH neutral, or non-soap cleanser.

It might be hard to break these habits now, but trust me, you will be so thankful you did in the long run.

Images: Pexels; Target; Amazon; Fototalia