The 7 biggest beauty sins: Are you guilty?

I must admit, I have been guilty of doing one or more of these beauty sins. Everything from sleeping with makeup on (my excuse being 'I'm so tired!'), or over-exfoliation, and of course, the icing on the cake: Not getting enough sleep.

But why are these beauty sins so problematic? Here's a story I found that explains just that. Take a look, and not to mention, stop sinning!

Confession time: You may have seen the inside of a tanning bed at one point in your life and/or popped a zit or two. We're all guilty of committing a beauty sin, but we’ve discovered why those indiscretions may be doing you more harm than you think. Read on to get the full list, some may surprise you.

Sleeping with Your Makeup On

You went out with the girls, had one too many martinis and before you know it you're face down on your bed passed out cold. You'll wash that smoky eye off tomorrow, right? Not so fast. Aside from the fact that your sheets are about to look like an imprint of the Joker's face in The Dark Knight, you're doing some serious damage to your skin. "If you're acne prone, this is the worst thing you can do to your skin," says Dr. Debra Jailman, M.D., a New York City dermatologist. "Leaving makeup on overnight clogs your pores and traps in dirt from the day. Nighttime is your skin's time to repair itself."

Over Exfoliating

Sure, a little exfoliating treatment every now and then feels like tiny angels are scrubbing your face with magical toothbrushes, but exfoliate too much and you could be doing more harm than help for your skin. "Exfoliating gets rid of all the dead skin cells on your face, but this in turn makes it more vulnerable to the sun and your favorite products," says Jailman.

Not Getting Enough Sleep

We know, we know...you don't have time to pee some days let alone get seven to eight hours of sleep. Sorry to break it to you, but according to Jailman there's just no way around this important beauty must. "You can apply all the makeup in the world, if you don't get enough sleep your skin is just not going to look good," she says. Like with leaving your makeup on, nighttime is your skin's prime time to repair and rejuvenate, so those hours of shuteye are important.

If you find yourself falling behind on sleep, make sure you turn off the tube, close your laptop, and set your BlackBerry to sleep mode so you can mentally check out and focus on dozing off.

Popping Your Zits

There is nothing more frustrating that walking around with a blemish on your face, but popping it is not the solution. "Picking at your face often leads to depressed scars, skin infections, and sometimes broken blood vessels," warns Jailman.


Over Moisturizing

Slathering your face in lotion, especially in the winter is good for your skin, right? Not necessarily. Jailman says doing so can cause you to break out, or can even give you milia, tiny white spots that are formed when dead skin is trapped in the skin.