From washcloths to skipping sunscreen: 7 surprising habits giving you acne scars.

Ahh acne. You can fight it your whole life (fun!), only to be rewarded with indentations and scarring at the end of the show (cool!).

While we all know squeezing and popping your pimples has a bad rep when it comes to acne scarring, what you might not know is that there are a whole heap of other surprising things that can cause discolourations and marks, too.

And they're all super normal things that you probably do on the daily. We know this because we do them too.

Acne scars for EVERYONE!

Watch: Zoe Foster Blake shares her best ever beauty tips in the clip below, and we reckon you should take a peek at 'em! Post continues below.

Now that you know this fancy fact, you're probably wondering what these things are so that you can stop doing them, like, right now. 

Yes? Great.

We'll start with the obvious one first, shall we?

1. Popping your pimples.

Anyone else feel like a child with no self-control when it comes to NOT squeezing pimples? Why are we like this, you guys? UGH.

We know that trying to avoid squeezing a pulsating twin on your chin is easier said than done, but honestly it'll be worth it in the long run. We promise.

Listen: Can a potato fix your pimple problems? Omg CAN IT, YOU GUYS? Listen to this episode of You Beauty to find out. Post continues below.

Getting in there are squeezing pimples not only aggravates your spots more (makes them sore, inflamed, pissed off), but it can also mean your pimples will take much longer to heal.

By popping your pimples, you're pretty much just destroying your skin tissue and you'll actually risk spreading the bacteria further - causing your skin to scar. 

So, no touchy on the facey. 

If you don't give a s**t what we say and you're going to do it anyway (um...) - at least read our guide on the best way to pop a pimple without scarring your face.

2. Picking at scabs.

Just like squeezing a pimpy (or 10), picking at your pimple scabs and touching your face 24/7 will only aggravate your skin issues in the long-run - possibly leaving you with annoying indentations and discolouration.

Scabs can look heaps gross and all, but it's actually your body's natural protection to let your wounds heal. So, give it a go already.

When you rip these scabs off (cause they might be looking all crusty and flaky under your makeup), like someone who can't be named (let's call her, Erin Tocherty), you're actually delaying the whole healing process and increasing your chance of scarring.

Mitts off and let your face heal, you silly goose.

3. Skipping sunscreen.

Omg imagine if we wrote a post and didn't include how much we love sunscreen! HA! As if. 

Old mate SPF does everything - even prevents acne scarring.

And tbh, there's ZERO point spending all your money and time on clearing up your acne and then not protecting your skin with sunscreen. Very silly indeed.

While we all know that sunscreen is an important thing to do when you're using acne treatments (they tend to make your skin sensitive to the sun), you mightn't know that sun damage also makes your skin more likely to scar. No, it really does.

Not only this but it can also cause scars to discolour (reddish/browny/purply) and make them take ages to heal.

So, make sure you're applying the stuff daily to avoid acne scarring, ageing skin and, y'know, cancer.

4. Not treating your acne.

Acne is not an easy thing to treat - we know this to be true. Ask anyone who has struggled with it and they'll tell you. But! Avoiding treatment will make things a lot worse.

Y'see, it's much harder to deal with acne scars and hyper-pigmentation (the browny/purply discolouration thing) than treating and preventing acne. So don't not do this.

Remember, prevention is always, always, always better than cure.

If you need help figuring out which treatments are right for you, check out our article on the best prodz for acne. Might help.

5. Constantly staring at your skin in a magnifying mirror.

Do you spend a lot of time staring at your skin in the mirror? 

Like, having a really long hard look at every pore in a magnifying mirror and making sure you've ripped out any s**t with a metal extraction tool?

Probs don't do this.

Why? Cause there's a 10/10 chance you'll end up messing up your skin and doing a lot of damage. 

Plus, no one is looking at your pores that close, anyway! And if they are - pls politely tell them to rack off RTFN.

6. Using a washcloth or cleansing brush on your face.

While getting in there with a washcloth or those fancy cleansing brushes makes you feel like you're giving your pores a big ol' deep clean, you need to read this. 

Because these things can be waaaay too harsh on your skin if you're using them on the daily.

And for those too shy to ask, this includes exfoliating mitts. Please do not use these on your face, friend. NOT ON YOUR PRECIOUS FACE.

If you're consistently scrubbing your face with washcloths, cleansing brushes and the likes, your poor face can become tight, irritated and vulnerable to bacterial infections - which can lead to acne scars.

So, don't go crazy on the mechanical exfoliation front. Leave some skin on your face. Please and thank you.

7. Wearing heavy makeup.

For some cruel reason, the skin gods decided to make this a thing. Wearing makeup and applying too much foundation to cover your blemishes can irritate your skin and indeed makes acne scarring worse. A total catch-22, hey.

Sigh.

For this reason, we recommend reaching for makeup products that are oil-free or non-comedogenic so you don't end up making things worse.

Feature image: Getty.

Are you guilty of any of the above habits? Share with us in the comment section below.