5 Tips to prevent your skin from pilling

Have you ever experienced getting little flakes and small little balls of product that happen after applying your skincare regimen or makeup? If so, you are dealing with piling of the skin. This is extremely common when layering skincare products and also makeup! We will go over in this blog about the underlying causes for pilling and how to prevent it with 5 easy tips. 

Pilling can happen immediately after layering many skincare products or even hours later. It can also happen after applying your favorite makeup and layering it on top of other skincare products. 

Pilling occurs when you apply a face moisturizer, serum or oil and it doesn't get properly absorbed into the skin. The result is small little moulds that stay in the surface of the skin and when you touch your face, it almost feels as if all the product was peeling of your face. 

What causes pilling: 

Your own skin condition and skin health has a lot to do with pilling of products. If your skin is overly dry and you do not exfoliate enough, it is hard for products to deeply penetrate and can cause pilling.

Below are some causes for pilling and tips on how to stop it from happening: 

1. Not exfoliating enough: It causes a build up of dead skin cells and for products to have a hard time penetrating and doing their job. 

2. Applying your skincare products properly: Most of the time, it can be the order that the skincare is applied, or how much is used. Using too much product, not waiting enough time in between layers of other products or not using the skincare in the proper order can definitely cause pilling. Also, using water-based skincare with oil-based skincare can cause pilling as oil and water don't mix, so it is important to stick with the same line of products and not mix a lot of different lines, as their ingredients might not work well with one another. If you have an oil based moisturizer that you absolutely love and want to use an oil serum with it, you can try adding a couple of drops of oil to your moisturizer and mixing it first before applying it on your skin to create a water/oil based moisturizer instead of just a water-based moisturizer. This will also help with pilling. 

3. Rubbing and massaging the skincare instead of patting: Skincare is meant to be patted on the skin and it will be absorbed on its own. If you massage or rub skincare into the skin too much, it can consequently cause balling up of the skincare. Always pat the skincare on your skin instead of rubbing it in. 

4. Do not use too much skincare: Many think more is best, but when you add too much product to your skin, your skin has a hard time absorbing each item, which leaves a film behind that later causes pilling. Adding less sometimes is more and it will also make your expensive skincare products last longer! 

5. Use products that tend to cause pilling before bedtime: If there is a particular product that you know tends to cause more pilling, for example, hyaluronic acid tends to cause pilling. Try using this particular ingredient at night, before bedtime as it will not matter if it causes pilling then. Try to stay away from using ingredients that cause pilling during the day time and try keeping your routine simple during the day and layer more at night time. 

When using any skincare, make sure to exfoliate 2 to 3 times per week for better absorption and results. Also, make sure to only add the amount that is needed and wait between layers to completely dry before applying something new. Make sure to always add the lighter consistency items like serums first, and thinker items like a moisturizer or SPF last. If you are still experiencing pilling, do the layering at night and keep your skincare routine simple during the day time, like cleanse, tone, moisturize and wearing SPF during daytime and use all of your serums at night before your night cream. 

If you are someone who is more prone to pilling, taking care of your dry skin is a must so this doesn't occur. Adding more nourishing skincare to your routine and exfoliating more often can certainly help.