When I first had acne I was determined it was due to my lack of having a proper skin care, and I was right but it never occurred to me that even years later while I had a proper skin care routine I wasn’t paying attention on the ingredients and the products I was using on my skin. Though I was following a skin routine religiously I wasn’t an effective one at all. I did a detailed research going through various ingredients, blogs and even product review. This is a short summary of what steps a skincare routine should consist of
- Cleanser
- Toners
- Exfoliators
- Serum
- Sunblock
Cleansers
The most important thing to consider when buying a cleanser is to note its ability to balance pH of our skin. Though looking for a cleaner based on your skin type is an absolutely good idea but most often those Cleansers make our skin alkaline . While the pH of skin should be around 5 so as to retain moisture and prevent bacterial acne, most cleansers in efficiently clean do tend to strip away the moisture, which is a big no-no for cleansers. I would definitely suggest to look for cleansers that specifically clam to balance pH of our skin no matter what skin type you have.
The second thing is the trend of double cleansing. Though I’m super lazy person my self but double cleansing is necessary regardless if you use make up or not, especially if you have an oily skin. At the end of day or when you return back home clean your face with an oil based cleanser to get rid of all the junk, sebum on your face and of course makeup if have that applied. The thing about oil cleansers is that since its oil it easily removes oil based dirt from your face which water based cleansers can’t. And the good thing is that you can even use oil for this purpose if it suits you.
Toners
As the name suggests its function is to tone skin reducing pore size as well as hydration skin. As much as this step is over looked adding a good toner to your skincare can give you an additional hydration. If you are a newbie you can do without this step too.
Exfoliators
Exfoliation is my favorite step who doesn’t love scrubbing away the dead skin but do you know when you are using physical exfoliators you are in fact doing more harm than good. While on the other hand chemical exfoliators provide the benefit of exfoliation without irritating the skin. A chemical exfoliator with BHA or AHA would be a best pick, more over there are various chemical pads available easily around the market.
Serum
Serums…..Are they really important? I’ve always asked myself. Serums being very expensive were something off my radar since a very long time. And the fact that there are so many characterized as essence and ampoule confused me even more. Serums are definitely more effective than masks( Even though both have their importance) as these are light weight liquid that penetrate the skin. There are so many serums available from vitamin C brightening the skin to pore reducing Hyaluronic Acid, depending on what you want to achieve from your skincare
Sunblock
Half of my teen years I’ve spent getting tan by not wearing any sunblock but apart from tan sunblock is a crucial part of skincare. There are foundations and BB creams that do the work of sunblock, using a BB cream with good spf is definitely time-saving but it’s always advised to use sunblock on it’s on especially if you are outdoor between 1-4pm. A good sunblock should have higher than 30 spf and should be oil free. Look for sunscreen with Titanium dioxide or zinc oxide in them and avobenzone.
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