Is steaming your face harmful? Or are all the benefits that you read true? Steaming your face is a common practice when individuals are looking for a deep cleanse. Basically, it opens the pores and then you remove impurities and clog the pores again. As interesting and tempting as it sounds, there are certain disadvantages of steaming face too. If you do it frequently or wrong, you are more exposed to risks than benefits. Facial steaming may not be for everyone.
Disadvantages of Steaming Face
Though the claimed benefits of improving circulation and opening pores seem quite good, Facial steaming can lead to over-drying the skin and ripping the skin off natural oils. When you expose your skin too much to heat and steam, it can harm the skin’s natural barrier resulting in excessive dryness and skin conditions like acne or pimples. When skin is sucked out of natural oils, it tries to compensate by making more oil which can result in acne or oily skin.
Here are a few disadvantages associated with damaged skin barrier and steaming your face.
- Face steaming can increase moisture loss as skin may no longer have the ability to retain water effectively. This can cause persistent dryness.
- Regular face steaming damages the barrier and the damaged barrier can also cause heightened sensitivity in the skin. If you use skin care products, they will cause inflammation and irritation in your skin.
- Also, steaming your face exposes your skin to heat and this direct exposure can lead to burns. Even normal heat can cause redness, inflammation, or irritation after steaming.
- Skin conditions such as rosacea, eczema, and psoriasis will be worsened by face steaming. This can lead to flare-ups and discomfort.
Disadvantages of DIY Facial Steaming
This is very risky because you don’t have any professional looking over you. Individuals themselves may not be able to control the level of heat exposure needed. This can increase the risks of
- Skin burns especially if your skin is too close to steam.
- Broken blood vessels. Too much heat can break capillaries causing redness in skin.
- It can cause acne and breakouts.
- Facial Steaming at home can worsen your skin conditions if you already have any.
- If you are not able to open, clean and close the pores properly, you can block pores leading to skin conditions like breakouts.
- If You have Rosacea and sensitive skin, steaming can lead to increased redness. The heat will cause the blood vessels to dilate and it will worsen your condition.
- Also, people with rosacea have sensitive skin so facial steaming can ignite the flare-ups and make your skin more reactive.
Will Facial Steaming Increases Skin Sensitivity to Products
Yes. Facial steaming damages your skin barrier. This means products can penetrate deep into your skin now and it is not a good thing. Products that contain acids (AHAs, BHAs), retinoids, or other potent actives will cause stinging, redness, or irritation on freshly steamed skin.
Also, as the skin barrier is more vulnerable, it’s more prone to allergic reactions from fragrances, preservatives, or other ingredients in skincare products.
Many people mistakenly believe that steaming makes all skincare products more effective. However, this is not true. If you use strong exfoliants or chemical peels on freshly steamed skin, it can cause over-exfoliation. Which will lead to redness, peeling, and even breakouts.
What Are the Long-Term Disadvantages of Steaming Face
- If you frequently do facial steaming, it will lead to permanent broken capillaries. These capillaries cannot be repaired back on their own unless you take professional treatment like laser therapy for them.
- Also, frequent facial steaming will cause or worsen the hyperpigmentation issues. Dark patches on the skin get darkened by heat exposure.
- Heat in steam can also cause dark spots and acne scars more noticeable.
- Doing facial steaming also makes your skin sensitive to sunlight. If you are not careful enough, this can damage your skin beyond repair. Sun damage will cause premature ageing, sunburns and increased hyperpigmentation.
- Heat and moisture also mess up the skin’s natural pH. Skin pH is slightly acidic which makes it difficult for bacteria to grow and survive. Whereas heat can destroy the natural balance of the skin. This can lead to bacteria build-up, infections and skin breakouts.
What Are Do’s and Don’ts for Safe Facial Steaming
- When doing facial steaming, don’t steam your face for more than 10 minutes. Also, don’t do excessive facial steaming. Once a week is more than enough.
- Keep your face at least 10 to 12 inches away from steam. Overexposure can damage the skin. Also, make sure the steam is not too hot to avoid skin burns.
- After steaming, apply a moisturiser to make up for the lost moisture.
- Don’t over-steam or steam more than often.
- Never use heavy skin care products after facial steaming.
- If you have a skin condition like rosacea or sensitive skin, we suggest, not going for facial steaming at all. As it will trigger skin conditions and do more harm than good.
What Are Alternatives to Facial Steaming?
If you want to cleanse your skin but are afraid of the damage too, you can go for milder alternatives that cleanse the skin more gently.
- Use exfoliants like lactic acid or mandelic acid, which can remove dead skin cells without heat exposure.
- Hydrating masks are good options. These gel-based masks deeply moisturize skin without disrupting the skin’s barrier.
- You can also use Micellar water. It is a gentle way to cleanse the skin without the need for heat or steam, especially for sensitive skin types.
When Not to Do Facial Steaming?
Well, sometimes it is not a good idea to do facial steaming. Especially if you
- Skin conditions. Facial steaming can trigger chronic skin conditions and make skin conditions worse especially if you have rosacea or eczema.
- If you have Psoriasis, a skin condition like eczema, doing facial steaming will harm your skin.
- If you already have undergone any skin treatment, better not to do facial steaming.
- After laser therapy, refrain from facial steaming as it can delay your recovery and do more damage than good.
- Don’t go for facial steaming if you have broken skin, wounds or scars on your skin.
