Beauty habits that are aging you

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- When it comes to aging, what are the top five things we do daily that may be aging us faster? Dr. Sherry Ingraham with Advanced Dermatology shares some surprising facts about how our beauty habits could be working against us!

Do you use makeup wipes to clean your face? That's fine...to get the makeup off, but those wipes don't clean your face. Instead, they leave a residue of ingredients on your face that could cause skin problems. After using a makeup wipe, Dr. Ingraham says to always use a cleanser to wash your face.

Do you rub your eye makeup off? Most likely, you do! Whether it's a wipe, a cleansing pad, or a cotton pad with makeup remover on it, try not to drag the item back and forth around the eye. The skin around the eye is very thin, and these tugging motions could cause premature aging. Instead, dab the eye, and then gently wipe the product off.

Could your cleanser be stripping your skin? Yes! It could. It isn't a debate about whether a cleanser suds or doesn't - that's just a myth. It depends on the ingredients in the facial cleanser. In most soaps, you'll see soap or sodium lauryl sulfate listed as an ingredient. This can strip the skin and exfoliate the skin beyond what's necessary.

Am I really supposed to apply sunscreen generously? Yes! Every day, you should be applying sunscreen, especially to your face, neck, and decollete. Dab 30 SPF or higher on your face and rub in using circular motions.

Is my pillowcase aging me? Yep, it's true. Dr. Ingraham can usually tell what side you sleep on just by looking at your face. To prevent unnecessary aging on one side of your face, use a copper pillowcase instead of cotton or silk. Iluminage makes a copper pillowcase, and when the skin is in contact with the copper oxide fibers in the pillowcase, those copper ions move into the upper epidermal layers to help reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.