What is skin pilling? Here's how to avoid it 

Skincare enthusiasts often experience situations of skin pilling, little balls or rounded flakes on the skin that appear on skincare or makeup applications. This is a frustrating issue for many as it leads to product wastage, and lesser absorption, and the more one rubs, the product the more flakes appear.

There are many reasons that result in pilling of skin such as:

One’s skin type: Dry skin is more susceptible to pilling and so is oily skin when it comes into contact with products having a rich and creamy texture. Hence, it is important to know one’s skin type and to choose products according to the same.

Using excessive amounts of products: Using too much product contributes to skin pilling. Thus, having knowledge of the correct amount of products usage in the correct order comes in handy when tackling it.

Rushing the skincare regime: Pilling often occurs when one doesn’t leave skincare products for long enough to absorb into the skin. Ensure every product gets absorbed into the skin before moving on to the next step.

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Applying products in the right order, reading ingredients and more: Ways to avoid skin pilling

Product pilling can take place as a result of the wrong order of application. Hence, it is a good rule to follow the lightest to heaviest consistency of products such as serum, moisturizer, and then SPF (SPF 30 or higher) allowing actives to be in closest contact with the skin.

Moreover, take into consideration that water and oil-based products don’t mix well resulting in the incompatibility of layered products and pilling.

Secondly, impatience is another reason that causes skin pilling as the same occurs if products are given enough time to absorb. The simple solution for the same is taking a minute between layering products.

Pilling can also occur when too many products are applied at once, hence one must consider sticking to the absolute essentials.

One major reason that causes skin pilling is over-exfoliation. Too much or too little exfoliation plays an important role in how products sink into the skin. Applying multiple products on top of heavily exfoliated skin can cause it to pill.

For instance, many skincare enthusiasts state that their skin undergoes pilling when they go overboard using retinol. Dry skin types must exfoliate once a week while oily or combination skin types can exfoliate three times a week.

The key to knowing when the exfoliation limit has been reached is when one experiences inflammation or dryness.

The most underrated yet important trick to preventing skin pilling is to take a good look at the ingredients of one’s skincare products. If skin pilling persists despite one's best efforts, this trick can break the chain of pilling.

If a product pills by itself, it indicates that it isn’t well-formulated or properly neutralized. This is often seen in carbomer-based products as carbomer is a gelling agent which tends to result in pilling when not neutralized properly in a formula.

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Skin pilling isn’t the end of the world, it is absolutely normal and can be prevented with simple techniques. Adopting the above mentioned tips into one’s skincare regime will save the aggravation of pilling and save plenty of time, money, and panic.