What should my skincare routine look like?

Do you know what steps to take for a good skincare routine? Like when you should put on a serum or when a face mask is necessary?

Double Cleansing:

Let’s start with the biggest step in your skincare routine. Step one, double cleansing! What is double cleansing? It's where you clean the skin 2 times either with the same cleanser for each step or a different one. Double cleansing the skin prepares it to take in all of those active ingredients for the next steps. Doing a double cleanse is like sweeping before you mop, you gotta remove all the leaves and dirt before you can really clean the floor or you will just move the crud around. It gets rid of all the dirt, makeup and pollution.

Exfoliation:

Next step is exfoliation. Exfoliation gets rid of the dry crusty skin. By doing this step, it keeps the skin smoother and healthier by allowing skincare products to work better on the skin. Luckily you only have to do this step 2 times a week. Look for products that are aha or bha, that will give you an even exfoliation.

What to avoid in exfoliation

~Avoid any sort of walnut scrub (that will give you micro tears in the skin)

~Avoid anything with fragrance

~Avoid anything that is a peel off mask (it doesn't give you that exfoliation you need it will create unwanted lines in the skin, irritation and widen your pores)

Extractions: Got a pimple? This is the step that you would do it in.

What about extractions? The best saying I have is, if the white is bigger than the red, then it's ready to pop. Before you do any type of extraction, wash your hands including your fingernails. Clean the pimple with alcohol and if need be, please wear gloves. For those pesky black heads, you can look up the q-tip extraction method, it's safe and effective. After you are done with extractions, wipe your face with a clean towel.

*Avoid the pore strips!! They don‘t clean the nose all the way and will make the pores bigger!!*

Toner:

Toner would follow after. Toner is great to help balance the pH of the skin. Without the skin's pH in check, it can lead to many skin issues. When you first start using toner, it will be a little tangy on skin but that just is going back to its natural ph.

Face Mask:

Following toner would be a face mask. Adding toner right before this step will help bring the mask ingredients deeper into the skin. Remembering to put a face mask at this stage is important to getting the full potential of the ingredients. Avoid any fragrance, when looking for a sheet mask or cream mask. This step you can do every day or 3 times a week.

Serum:

Next is a serum. Think of a serum as a treatment, serums are concentrated active ingredients that help treat a main concern in skin. When it comes serums it's good to apply at night but if you really want extra help in the skin you can do morning and night. You don't need to pile on the serums to fix your skin. Pick one skin issue a day for treatment. Your skin is a sponge but it can only absorb so much.

Side note, this would be the place to apply facial oil. This is only necessary if you want that extra hydration.

Eye Cream:

After the serum comes eye cream. Eye cream is usually a little thicker or the same as a serum. When it comes to eye cream, apply a small amount on your ring finger on the ocular bone and not any closer to the eye. The skin around your eye is super thin and doesn't need that much to get the job done. If you apply eye cream right up to the water line, your skin will absorb too much and then will start to water or become irritated.

SPF Moisturizer/ Night Cream:

Lastly, SPF or night cream. This step locks in everything that was just put into the skin. During the day it's important to wear mineral sunscreen. SPF will save your skin from skin cancer, aging and more. You can read more on SPF with our sunscreen blogs! Now at night, it's important to keep that skin nice and hydrated because when you sleep, that's when your skin starts to repair itself. The night cream will add more hydration to the skin and when you wake up your skin will be happy and glowy!

Below you will find a little skincare step by step just to remind yourself what to do!

Hopefully this can help get your skincare all setup!

Thanks for reading,

~ Master Esthetician, Grace Braddock at Ethereal Rejuvenation Clinic