When to Rub vs. When to Pat: Almost your entire skincare regimen — toners, essences, serums, moisturizers, and eye creams included — should be patted into the skin, since liquids, creams, lotions, and gel-based offerings absorb best with this technique.
Patting is generally gentler than rubbing in skin-care products because you minimize the chances of pulling or dragging on the skin, Alisa Kerr, another Tokyo-based Japanese beauty expert, tells Allure.
Better for your eye area
Dabbing your moisturisers and serums should be the ONLY way to apply the product in this area. It stops you from stretching the patch of skin too much while giving it all the love without any of the nasty rubbing business!
Gently pat your face with a towel, don't overly dry or rub, and leave a few droplets behind. Applying moisturizer to freshly moist skin successfully locks in the product and the moisture. If you wait any longer than 3 minutes, you lose your skin's precious moisture to the air.
Step 1: Squeeze a little more than a pea-sized amount into palm. Common mistake: using too much. All you need is between a pea- and cashew-sized amount. And remember to apply moisturizer to the center of your palm—not your fingertips.
The rest of the product then sits atop your face and forms a thin layer of oil, bacteria, and other ingredients. This layer will then clog the pores and whenever cores get clogged, pimples and zits form. So, yes, moisturizer can cause acne but it only typically happens whenever you over-moisturize your skin.
Moisturizers should be applied to clean skin after you cleanse your face, as they prevent skin from drying out post-wash. They're also most effective when applied to slightly damp skin, as they seal in moisture.
Gently patting your face with a clean towel is OK. If you moisturize when the skin is still damp, it seals in hydration and helps prevent against common concerns like dryness and irritation.
When you don't use a moisturizer on your body or face, you are likely to see more signs of premature aging. What's happening when the skin gets dry is that it's actually experiencing a low level of inflammation. This ongoing inflammation can lead to a breakdown of collagen. That's bad news for beauty.
By rubbing or patting your face dry, you remove moisture, making it difficult for the product to reach the deeper layer of the dermis. Other than this, your towel probably sits on the stand all day, accumulating bacteria through the day.
Makeup and skin care pilling are caused when the formulas of the product you're using are not compatible (much like how water and oil repel each other) or by layering products too quickly without giving them enough time to absorb.
Most people tend to rub moisturizer in the palms of their hands before applying, meaning that much of your precious product is absorbing into your hands. Instead, pump a little to the back of your hand, then take your ring finger and dab it all over your face before gently massaging it in.
Also your product should last you a few months not a few weeks — running through product quickly indicates you might be using too much of it. Some signs you may be over-moisturizing are clogged pores, blackheads, bumpy skin and excess oil.
"Skin's oil production peaks at midday, and there is less oil production at night. Therefore, when you lose that protective layer of natural oils, your skin loses more water, so it's important to replenish the water loss with a moisturizer overnight," says Sobel. "While you are asleep the skin goes into renewal mode.
“When you use moisturizer every day, you run the risk of making your skin older, not younger,” he said to Refinery29. “If you apply a lot of moisture, skin will become sensitive, dry, dull, and interfere with natural hydration.”
Leaving water dripping on your face doesn't hydrate it; in fact, when the water evaporates, it could lead to dryness. Remember to pat gently with a soft, antimicrobial towel, being extremely cautious around the sensitive under-eye area.
“Certainly, if you've got any areas on your body, any follicle infections, that could then transfer from a towel on to the face,” says Dr Nick Lowe, consultant dermatologist at the Cranley Clinic on Harley Street, “air-drying will reduce that problem.” Or, he says, drying your face and body with separate towels might ...
In defense of those who air dry: towels can carry germs and bacteria if it's not washed often, and they can be irritating to some people's skin. However, instead of rubbing your body dry with a towel, simply pat your body dry. This will help with preventing dry patches and irritability.
If you're dealing with acne, the right moisturizer serves 2 roles. First, it can help regulate oil production, which may help decrease breakouts. Second, it can help combat some of the negative side effects of the active ingredients in your acne-fighting products, like cleansers or spot treatments.
MOISTURIZER DO: TAKE YOUR SKIN CARE ROUTINE SERIOUSLY
That means cleansing and following up with moisturizer twice a day. Plus, applying moisturizer can help to give your complexion a radiant glow.
Before applying moisturizer, wash your face or body to not only clean your skin but also to allow it to properly absorb the cream. Then, dab the moisturizer on key dry areas, such as your nose, chin, elbows, knees, and feet. However, if any of these areas are oily, avoid putting moisturizer on them.
You should absolutely moisturize your skin even if you have active acne. It's an absolute myth that moisturizing your face will worsen your acne. In fact, moisturizers are necessary to keep acne-prone skin as relaxed as possible.
Clogged pores are the most immediate sign of over moisturising. Too much moisturiser or heavy formulations can clog your pores, because of which you end up with blackheads and whiteheads.
Use an oil-free moisturizer, preferably including hyaluronic acid, to deeply hydrate the skin, says Bratschi. This is an essential step to getting rid of blackheads, because overly dry skin can start to produce excess blackhead-causing oils.