Having beautiful healthy skin means taking care of it. You need to keep it clean, moisturize it, and nourish it. Drinking lots of water to keep your body hydrated make a big difference, too.
Facial skin care doesn’t have to be a long drawn out process, but you should care for it daily for a few minutes in the morning and a few minutes in the evening.
A basic skin care routine consists of:
Cleansing + Toning + Moisturizing
You can do more by adding specialty products, but this three step routine is the foundation for facial skin care – for most skin types. However, toners are best used with skin types that are very oily.
Let’s begin with cleansing.
Treat your face with care. The skin cells on your face are very delicate. Using harsh chemicals or even common body soap may cause your skin to become dry – and may aggravate skin problems like acne or rosacea.
While there are many facial cleanser available in the marketplace, no ONE cleanser is perfect of every face or every skin type. The main purpose of a cleanser it to remove dirt, makeup and other environmental pollutants that have settled on your skin. The value of a quality cleanser is it will remove the dirt without stripping the skin of its natural oils. A good cleanser will also moisturize while leaving that dry tight feeling.
To choose a cleanser, you’ll need to know:
- What type of skin you have – normal, dry, sensitive, oily, or combination?
- Do you experience acne, rosacea or other skin issues?
- Does your skin type change depending on the season due to the impact of changing environment on your skin?
Types of Cleansers
There are a variety of types of cleansers available. The most commonly used are foaming cleansers. They are usually a gel that is mixed with water to form a lather. Cream or lotion cleansers are formulated to cleanse, but are generally less drying to the skin than foaming cleansers due to their moisturizing oils. The least common cleansers are oil cleansers. Some oil cleanser are made to change into a lotion cleanser once combined with water. Oil cleansers are typically suggested for dry skin only.
Cleanser Recommendations
Oily skin cleansers: Generally include chemicals like Glycolic and Salicylic acid that helps exfoliates, removes acne related bacteria, minimizes excess oil production. Our two most popular is manufactured by SkinCeuticals and the Vivite skin care line.
Normal, combination or anti aging cleansers: This cleanser usually contains an exfoliating ingredient to help remove excess dead skin cells and maintain healthy clean skin. An example would be a Daily Cleanser containing Glycolic acid by Vivite.
Dry, Mature or Sensitive skin: The mildest of all cleansers, usually cream or lotion based, used with or without water. We recommend a safe gentle cleanser without dyes, chemicals, or fragrance like Aquanil or Vivite’s replenishing cleanser for sensitive, dry, mature skin.
If you’re unsure of your skin type or the best cleanser to use for your skin type, you can schedule a consultation with an asthetician at your dermatologist’s office. You should seek out the advice of a skin care professional to ensure their prescribed medications and home care products do not cause any irritation or negative side effects. Your Asthetician is trained in skin care and can recommend what type of skin regimen you should be using.