Mistake #1. Blasting hot water

You may think a steaming hot shower is doing therapeutic good by relaxing your muscles, but a dermatologist would tell you to stick to the heating pads and save the scalding hot water for your tea. Hot water is bad for two reasons, first, it removes too much of your natural oils . Second, hot water brings blood circulation to your skin which is why your skin turns red like a lobster. With the circulation comes inflammatory building blocks to create more itch and even a rash. Water temperature should be tepid, meaning skin temperature or just a little warmer—especially if you have fragile skin that’s prone to dryness.

Mistake #2. Showering for too long

Between the steam, streaming water, and warmth, it’s tempting to spend 15, 20, even 30 minutes in the shower, but many experts say anything more than 10 minutes is too much.You shouldn’t shower for more than 5 to 10 minutes. “Shorter is better.” Long showers strip your skin of moisture, too.

Mistake #3. Using deodorant soap

It can be hard to part with products you’re used to, but if you’re using deodorant or antibacterial soaps, the harsh fragrances and ingredients are stripping moisture out of your skin. Traditional antibacterial or deodorant soaps can cause extreme dryness, itching, and flakiness. Soap-free cleansers are best for aging skin. With age, the skin becomes thinner, and loses fat, sweat, and oil glands—thus moisturizing washes are most important.

Mistake #4. Soaping your whole body

Soap is formulated to dissolve dirt and oil, allowing water to wash it away. The skin on arms and legs generally doesn’t have a lot of oil to give up, so cleaning them with soap is like drawing water from a stone—your limbs are left bone dry. Minimize soaping to only the oily and odor-causing parts of your skin such as your face, armpits, buttocks, groin, and feet.

Mistake #5. Waiting too long to moisturize

Dermatologists agree, three is the magic number. Waiting any longer than three minutes after leaving the shower to moisturize allows your skin to lose precious moisture to the air. Proper moisturizing protocol: After stepping from the shower, gently pat excess water from your skin, leaving some droplets behind. Then apply a liberal amount of a moisturizer that contains ceramide (a natural oil found in skin) and massage over your whole body. What is crucial is that you trap that water with application of moisturizing cream within 3 minutes of toweling the excess surface water off of your skin.

Mistake #6. Washing your hair daily

How many times a week do you think you should wash your hair? Every day? Every other day? According to trichologists, the technical term for health professionals who specialize in hair and scalp, that's way too often. Someone with thin, fine or delicate hair should avoid shampooing too frequently—no more than two times a week should help maintain the natural oil production, while achieving moisture balance. If you have coarse or curly hair, try once every seven days. Coarse texture or natural curly hair takes longer to establish a good amount of natural oils, so shampooing can be pushed back to once a week. A person could refresh the hair/scalp mid-week, if necessary, by simply applying a conditioner and rinsing thoroughly.

Mistake #7. Using the same old shampoo

Just as your skin becomes more delicate and dry as you age, so does your hair. For people 50 and older, hair strands require more TLC. As you age, the hair loses protein, elasticity, and density. Safeguard your hair by using sulfate-free shampoos, which are much gentler, avoiding brittleness. If your hair seems especially prone to breakage, she recommends using a protein conditioning treatment once a month to help restore lost protein and increase hair strength.