Acquiring a step by step skincare routine is so important!
Navigating skincare in general can be so daunting! Terms like combination skin, hyaluronic acid, retinol get thrown around to bring more confusion—and seeing beauty influencers rattle off all the products they use doesn’t help either. Some products, like exfoliators and chemical treatments are meant to be used once a week or twice a month, whereas things like cleansers and sunscreen are meant to be used daily. You also have to account for your specific skin type to determine if a product will work for you and not worsen your skin problems.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, hang in there! We’ve got some tips for you to find what products you should be using, how often to use them, and what order you should use them in.
1. Learn your skin type
The usual skin types are normal, oily, dry, and combination (in the middle between oily and dry). If your skin is dry, products with hyaluronic acid can help keep your skin more moisturized constantly. Oily skin is caused by an excess of sebum in your skin, leading to things like clogged pores.
Combination skin is when your skin has dry and oily areas. So using heavier, moisturizing products on the dry parts of your face and things like AHAs and BHAs on the oily parts is a good move. There are also cleansers that are specific to skin type—choosing the right one can be vital in your skin’s health.
2. Know what each Skincare product does
Things like moisturizer, cleanser, and face masks are pretty well-known, right? But what about retinol? What does a serum do? Why is sunscreen so important? These ingredients and product can only help you if you understand what they’re used for!
Retinol
Retinol is one type of compound that comes from vitamin A. The way it works is that, unlike other anti-aging products, it goes way deep in the skin and works to boost the skin’s functions that make collagen and elastin.
Serums
Serums are light, oil products that your skin easily drink up! Retinol is actually a kind of serum. They serve many different purposes, for example, experts have said that vitamin C can help with things like hyperpigmentation and damage from UV rays.
Sunscreen
You probably know what sunscreen is, but do you know that it’s probably the most important item in your step by step skincare routine? Sunscreen’s protective agents are so helpful because they protect your skin from sun damage you can’t see—even when it isn’t sunny out. The UV rays that we’re exposed to daily cause things like sunspots, wrinkles, and other damage to the skin. Sunscreen is your best option of protection against it.
3. Know the best order to use them
What order should you use all these things in, anyway? Here’s the order most estheticians, in general, recommend:
- Cleanser
- Toner
- Serum
- Moisturizer
- Sunscreen
The skincare world is such a big space, with so many products, different types of products, some products that don’t work and some that work wonders—it can be very easy to get lost in it all. Following this very basic outline for creating your skincare routine is perfect if you’re just starting out or looking to make a more strategic approach to your skin’s health
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