How to Setup a Skin Care Routine

Don’t you just hate it when you wake up in the morning, and your eyes are puffy with dark circles around them, the skin feels oily and on the verge of a breakout? I know how it feels; most of us have been there at one time or the other in our lives.

Wouldn’t it be just great if you could wake up every morning feeling refreshed, with toned skin and that French “joie de vivre” you’ve heard all about? Well, let me tell you a secret – it all starts with your skin care routine.

Nowadays we spend a lot of time in the sun, whether we like it or not. Our skin is exposed to all sorts of environmental stressors that can lead to premature aging and other skin conditions.

More than this, with the hectic lifestyles we have, we don’t always succeed in having a balanced eating regimen, exercise enough, and drink plenty of water. And all these are essential not only for our health but also for our skin.

Setting up a proper skin care routine should help protect your skin and also give you a clear idea about what are the best skin care products for your skin.

So, let’s dive in and start with a popular question:

Do you really need a skin care routine?

You are young, your face looks good, there is nothing to worry about, right?

Well, considering these aspects, you might be tempted to laugh in the face of all hyaluronic acid serums and make fun of salicylic acid face masks. However, what you need to know is that there is a skincare routine for every age. And what you do in your 20s counts a great deal towards the results you will be seeing at the level of the face in ten, twenty, thirty, forty years.

All skin care routine steps are important, even if at first sight, you might tend to believe that you can easily do without them. Why not just apply a bit of moisturizer under makeup? Just think of the skincare routine as a recipe. We can even call it the recipe for healthy, glowing skin, whatever your age might be. Just like you would follow each and every step of the recipe to get the best dish ever, things are similar when it comes to skincare and beauty.

More than this, keep in mind that each season comes with a unique set of challenges, and the same is valid for different ages. For example, your skincare routines should be different in your 20s than in your 50s.

Your daily beauty routine should be designed to help you get rid of potential unpleasant skin conditions (fine lines, wrinkles, puffy eyes, acne, overly dry skin, and so on) while providing the proper level of hydration, essential nutrients, and vitamins to the skin. Just like your body thrives with proper nutrition, the same goes for your skin when you use the right products.

So, to answer the question we started with – you really need a skincare routine if you want healthy skin, a natural glow, and to avoid premature aging. And you might be surprised how easy it can be to set up this routine when you know what and when to do.

Are you ready to find out more?

How do I start a new skin care routine?

You’ve read in glossy magazines about how your beauty regimen should include at least five different skincare products and dry brushing, and facial massage and whatnot.

However, things don’t have to be so complicated, and a good beauty routine shouldn’t take more than ten minutes in the morning and just the same in the evening. If you are just beginning to set up a skin regimen, you should be aware of three essential steps. These are:

  1. Cleansing
  2. Toning
  3. Hydrating

It’s as simple as this: start the day with a gentle cleanser to remove the excess oils from the level of the face. Continue with a toner to eliminate any traces of cleanser, and you can finish with a good moisturizer.

Doesn’t it sound like something you can do every morning? Don’t forget to repeat the steps in the evenings too, preferably just before going to bed. This is a daily routine that can help you get better-looking skin in no time.

However, if you want to do more and get even better results, you should consider the other steps in a more complex beauty routine such as:

  • Exfoliation
  • Eye care routine
  • Serums for dry skin, oily skin or sensitive skin
  • Facial masks depending on the skin type

Exfoliation is important as it eliminates the dead skin cells from the surface of the skin. This promotes skin renewal and is one of the routines you can start even in your teenage years. However, keep in mind that getting rid of these skin cells should be done every day.

For people with oily skin, the recommendation is to use a scrub or exfoliation product a few times per week, while for people with sensitive skin, exfoliation might be limited to once every two weeks and only using a gentle scrub.

When it comes to taking care of the skin around the eye area, an eye cream can make all the difference. Eye creams are formulated with ingredients like hyaluronic acid for increased hydration or caffeine (great for treating dark circles and puffiness).

The skin therapists’ recommendation is to include a serum and the facial masks in your daily routine, starting with your 30s. Don’t worry, and I’ll walk you through the whole process!

How to take care of your skin after 30 years old

Around this age, fine lines can occur at the level of the eyes. This is the reason why the eye cream should be a part of your routine, but it is also a good time to introduce the anti-aging serums. The good news is that there is a wide array of serums to choose from. Usually, we choose the facial serum depending on the skin type.

If you don’t have overly dry skin, you can try a vitamin C serum or a serum with Q10 coenzyme as they can stimulate collagen production and improve skin elasticity.

As part of your skin care routine, the serums can also contribute to treating different skin conditions such as acne, breakouts, and so on. Ingredients like retinol, lactic acid, glycolic acid, and vitamin E are also commonly used in serums for different skin types.

If you have sensitive skin, you will want to avoid face products that contain harsh chemicals. Always choose a high-quality moisturizer for your face, your skin will thank you for it!

When using just the cleanser, toner (or micellar water), and moisturizer, things are simple, and you can’t get confused about their order. However, when introducing the serums, eye creams, and other products when you take care of skin, one might start to wonder if there are any rules here?

So, let’s take a closer look at:

How to layer skin care

When you use not one, but multiple care products, you might be tempted to apply them depending on their consistency. You will notice that certain products designed to cater to different skin needs have a thicker consistency while others are more fluid, or even watery.

The chances are that you will struggle to apply the watery one on top of the thicker ones. So, what can you do in this situation? Well, before anything else, stick to the rules developed by professionals:

Rule #1: Always cleanse your face and use the toner to get it ready for other products. Instead of the cleanser and toner duo, more and more women prefer nowadays to choose another product – micellar water.

Rule #2: If you are using an acne skin treatment, this is when to apply it immediately after cleansing and toning the skin. Follow the recommendations of the label of the products.

Rule #3: Now, you can apply the eye cream if your skin beauty routine involves a moisturizer for this area too. The eye cream can be one with high contents of antioxidants.

Rule #4: The serum comes next. If your serum has a watery consistency, and it feels like it can hardly penetrate the skin, allow a few minutes to pass in between different product applications.

Rule #5: The face moisturizer or face oil completes a good skin routine. However, there is something to keep in mind when using these products. Nowadays, some moisturizers are designed with an SPF while others are not. If your moisturizer has an SPF over 20, there is no need to worry about sunscreen protection (not unless you go to the beach or the pool). If your moisturizer is without SPF, then you should consider adding another step to your routine, and this is…

Daily sunscreen protection products

Sunscreen protection should be a part of your daily skin care routine, whatever your age might be. This is how you protect your skin from the damaging effects of the sun rays that can, later on, lead to pigmentation spots, dehydrated skin, and premature aging.

Using sunscreen protection every day is an investment for the future. Even if you have normal skin without any problems now, you might notice the damaging effects in the years to come.

So, when it comes to the sun, better to prevent than treat!

But sunscreen protection becomes even more necessary for people over 40 years old. This is usually the time when collagen and elastin production is decreased and, as a result, the skin is less elastic and tends to lose firmness.

You are more prone to develop wrinkles at this age, especially if you are not protecting against the sun. Aside from the sunscreen protection, this is an excellent time to start using serums that can help you reduce the visibility of wrinkles and age spots.

3 Skin care tips and tricks for the summer

When it is hot outside, it might be quite tricky to follow your regular beauty routine, mainly if you use heavy consistency creams or serums. Here are a few tips and tricks for your skin regimen in summer:

  1. Use sunscreen protection not only on the face but also the neck, cleavage, and hands. Excessive sun exposure can get your hands slightly dry, so make sure they get the same treatment as your face.
  2. An oil-based moisturizer or a face oil can be unpleasant to wear during the hotter months. This is the reason why you can switch to a gel consistency moisturizer during summer. Keep it in the fridge during applications, and it will feel amazingly refreshing on the skin in the mornings and evenings!
  3. Don’t use hot water to wash your face or shower. Despite what you might believe, hot water can actually cause skin dehydration, so better switch to warm water, at least during summer.

Final words about your skin care routine

As you might have realized already, it is not that difficult to set up and keep a beauty routine.

The daily skin regimen is not something that only celebrities with plenty of free time on their hands do, but all people who want to improve their appearance and have a naturally glowing complexion. It doesn’t take more than ten minutes twice a day to have the dream skin you have always wanted, so why not start today!

The main steps of any good care routine, as recommended by the experts, are cleansing, toning, and moisturizing. As we have discussed before, you can get much more creative from here!

With time, you can introduce one by one, an eye cream, a serum, and even specific products to treat conditions such as skin irritation, redness, sun spots, excessive dryness, discoloration, and blackheads.

Keep in mind that choosing the right products for your beauty routine is just as important as daily care. Always avoid skin care products containing dyes, irritants, and sulfates as they can make your skin overly sensitive and even cause inflammation and blemishes.

Not all skin care products were created equal, so make sure to focus on good quality; it will be visible on your skin!

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