WHAT IS A SKINCARE ROUTINE ?

I am going to give you my advice on a skincare routine that I feel works, is suitable for every skin type and is basic enough for anyone to follow.

There are three basic steps to a skincare routine which are as follows:

1. Cleanse
2. Tone
3. Moisturise

I’ll explain a little here about each step, some more and why. But before going into that I also want to cover the point of how many times and when.

My personal advice and experience is that you need to do this twice a day.  Once in the morning and once in the evening.  During the night your skin goes through a sort of cleansing process, clean out, etc.  If you have been at work or play all day you would definitely want to remove what has attached itself to your skin before going to bed, thus ensuring that it does not slow down your regeneration process.

Night is also a great time to add any additional products to your routine that are a bit heavier and something you don’t want to have on your face during the day, but help with the overall health of your skin and assist it in its regeneration process.

In the morning when you wake up your skin has essentially gone through its regeneration process and is ready for the day.  There may however be substances on your skin as a result of the skins process at night that you may want to get rid of before starting the day.  This can be accumulated dead skin cells, excess oil, dirts that have come out through your pores, etc.  It also gives your skin a fresh start and preps it for the day!!

Here are my steps to beautiful skin including the correct process for layering the various products you may have in your beauty cabinet!

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1.CLEANSE

This is a step to target surface bacteria, pollutants and other foreign particles that have lodged themselves on your skin.  This can be either through the air around one or touching your skin with your hands, etc.  Either way foreign particles can get stuck to your skin including your own oils from your face.  An accumulation of this can make the skin look dull, lack lustre and dirty.

It can also lead to clogged pores, blackheads and pimples!

Therefore this is the first and most important basic step in a skincare routine.  Before you put anything else on your face it is vital to make sure that it is clean and ready to receive the new products to reap their full benefits.

My suggestions for cleaners are as follows.  Note: Cleaners can vary not only with skin type but with the climate that you live in.  I have tried to include some suggestions as well in regards to that:

DRY/MATURE SKIN:

Cream cleaners tend to be a bit softer on skin and contain more active ingredients that offer extra hydration.

DELICATE SKIN:

 A cream cleaner will be softer on the skin you should choose one that is packed with ingredients targeting sensitive skin such as Chamomile, Milk Thistle, Rosehip Oil etc, which contain specific soothing qualities.

OILY/COMBINATION SKIN:

If you have oily or combination skin or simply want to get a deeper clean, my suggestion would be a gel type cleanser such as this one here (link).  These types of cleaners typically contain active ingredients to unblock pores, remove dead skin cells and balance the skin.

If you work or live in and environment susceptible to more pollutants I would suggest using a gel cleanser for a deeper more thorough clean.

 

DRY CLIMATE:

Some of us our skin is affected not just by a particular skin type but also the environment we live in.  There are extreme environmental conditions that can essentially change the way your skin reacts to skincare products and therefore you may need to adjust slightly.

For those living in a dry climate they may suffer from loss of moisture and parched skin.  You may need to be using a cream type cleanser like the two listed above to help boost the skins hydration levels and prevent it from drying out.

HUMID CLIMATE:

For those of you that live in a humid environment you will notice that in the majority of cases your skin will be extra hydrated and feel sometimes almost greasy or wet to touch.  The idea of adding more products to the skin that will increase its moisture content would definitely turn one off.

Having lived in both types of environments I find that a gel cleanser for my skin in humid conditions works best.  When in these types of conditions the pores of your skin will generally be more open allowing the skin to breath.  This will then essentially open up your skin to more bacteria and clogged pores.  Therefore sticking to a cleanser that is for deeper cleaning works best.

2.TONE

Some of us avoid this step however it is actually an ESSENTIAL to any routine to help you achieve better results for the products to come and also help in the process that you would have just completed which is cleansing.

Toners help remove anything that was left over from cleansing to ensure that nothing has been left behind.

It also helps prepare the skin for a moisturiser or serum that is about to follow.  The water content present in a toner helps act as a carrier for the next step in your routine and it is a good idea to follow your serum or moisturiser right after you tone and before it dries.

In addition to those basic functions above there are various toners designed to help address different skin type conditions to give them an extra boost.  Here are some examples of ours of course and what they also help with.

 

3.CONDITIONAL

This is where you add those additional products to your routine that offer additional benefits such as vitamins, collagen, antioxidants, etc   As these products are water based it is best to apply them after toning and before moisturising.

Moisturizers in general contain some form of oil and trying to apply a water based serum after a moisturiser will leave you with a product that is going to essentially just sit on top of your skin unabsorbed.  Oils potentially create a barrier to your skin when applied.  Therefore my recommendation is to apply all water based serums right after toning.

4.MOISTURIZER

This is the time to put on your favourite moisturiser.

There are MANY beautiful moisturisers out there on the market today and these of course are my favourites because I make them!

 

You definitely want to use a moisturiser formulated specifically for your skin type otherwise you may end up with clogged pores, breakouts, dry skin, dull skin or irritated skin.

With the array of beautiful oils available today each of them have specific qualities that are suited to specific skin types.  I will list shortly those oils on a seperate post that are best suited for each skin type and their comedogenic rating (which is essentially a scale from 0-4 where 0 means it will not clog the pores and 4 is a heavy oil with the potential of clogging the pores).

Note: You really should only use moisturisers that contain cold pressed oils.  Oils that have been heated during their extraction will loose a lot of their qualities and therefore their benefits will almost be null and void.

A moisturiser offers many benefits to the skin including and most importantly, nutrients vital to the skins health, regeneration and overall appearance.

While we all want results in our skincare and sometimes we overlook the fine print and what might truely be in the products we are putting on our face, I truely believe that long range usage of a natural product will give the same results as a chemical laden, synthetic containing counter product.  It isn’t just the short results we want, it is the longer term and also the longer term effects of what we put in our body.  While it may not affect us today there is many scientific evidence to back up the fact that chemicals and harmful substances we put in or on our bodies can be stored in the fatty tissues of our body and be released at later stages of our life creating a bad effect both on our health and wellbeing.

More about that on another post, but for this one I wanted you to get the basic idea of a skincare routine.

5.FACE OILS

This is where you would be putting on your face oils.  Some of us like to put a face oil on as our only moisturiser and some of us add it for an extra boost.

I think that you need to use what works for you.  Later posts will go into this but this is essentially where you would add this product.  If you are doing this as an extra boost after moisturising I recommend adding it to your moisturiser itself as it will be better absorbed.

If you are using this as the only moisturiser then add this straight after your serum and while the face is still slightly damp.  This helps with its absorption.

Again ensure that you are using oils that are correct for you skin type.  This is key to get the benefits that YOUR skin needs.

 

Another note on face oils and applying them, specifically in the morning.  Once you have applied it and allowed it to absorb if you still feel there is a little bit left on the skin I would blot the skin with a bit of paper or a towel to remove that excess as it will most likely not be absorbed very fast and leaving it on your face and going about your day could allow it to attract dirt or other substances and essentially counteract what it should be doing.

This is just my personal experience both with myself and helping others.

If you are applying it at night I believe that it is totally fine to leave the excess there as the rest of it will eventually be absorbed during the night.  Again however if you do not like the greasy feeling of it just blot it off before going to bed.  But do give it a bit of time to absorb.

One other note!  You also might be applying too much oil to your face.  If you are putting two drops on your face and it feels a bit too greasy then maybe cut back to just one drop and vice versa.  Your skin will let you know!