THE CORRECT ORDER FOR SKINCARE ROUTINE

Have your friend or cousin ever called you in that resented and irritated tone asking you how to freaking use those 20 items they have in their drawer in a skin care routine? Or Are you that friend? (Grin) Ahan, I’m sure you are!

But don’t you worry gorgeous, I’m right here and trust me this will be everything you wanted to know about building a smart skin care routine. And I’ll try to answer all the queries you had for the longest time, alongside.

Let’s dive in!

First things first, WHY YOU NEED TO LAYER THEM THE EXACT WAY THEY SHOULD BE? Basically, if you apply the heavier products before, they will form a barrier on your skin which will prevent anything from getting through. Therefore, the later added products will not be much efficient so, you won’t get everything you desire for.

HOW TO LAYER YOUR PRODUCTS THE CORRECT WAY? The rule of thumb of you want to follow here is, thinnest to thickest or from liquid to cream. That’s it. Nothing else.

WHAT SHOULD BE TIMING FOR EACH PRODUCT TO SETTLE IN? Obviously timing matters. Some products ask for about 5-30 minutes before applying in some other product over. But duh? Who’s got the time here? So better keep your skincare routine short or give a minute’s gap between each product you apply in the course.

MORNING SKIN CARE ROUTINE

There are 7 total steps in a regular morning skincare regimen. Same goes in night too but with some tweaks here and there which you’ll get to know later in this post.

1. CLEANSING

Cleansing is by far the only necessary step you need to follow. Maybe not the only but still! It’s the base. For all the ingredients to properly seep into your skin, you need totally clean skin free of any oil or grime.

There are different kinds of cleansers recommended for different skin types. You would want to use a gentle foam based cleanser for oily skin, cream based for dry, oil based one for sensitive skin types, balms for mature and water based for any sort of skin you may have.

2. TONER

There’s so much controversies regarding this small little name that you probably just get scared of having one. Here’s every inch you want to know.

Back in the days, toners were just alcohol-based liquids used to disappear your large pores along with irritating the hell out of it.

But that’s not the case anymore with these new breed of toners we have. Basically, toners are used to maintain the ph level of skin after it becomes too basic from cleansing. But you definitely need not to use it if your face wash says that it is ph balanced.

But along with that, nowadays, toners may come to serve some special purposes like hydrating your skin or fighting acne. If you’ve got acne, look for toners having either AHA’s or BHA’s ( i.e salicylic acid or glycolic acid, lactic acid) and if you have any other skin type, try using toners with hydrating agents to replenish the moisture lost while cleansing and drying.

Don’t choose alcohol based toners as they will over dry your skin and water based toners may be a bad carrier to give your skin the active ingredients it needs.

3. ANTIOXIDANT SERUM

Serums are seriously the most hyped step in a skin care routine and you must have heard about it. And honestly, there’s a reason for that hype.

Serums are just highly- concentrated and nutrient rich treatments that address a particular concern for a skin and that’s why you should keep them as close to the skin as possible. They really amp up your skin’s health as soon as you apply them.

It may not be the most important step in a routine but for a fresher and healthier skin, you must never skip on these. Now from the various serums available in the market, the MVP of them is Vitamin C serum. It protects your skin from inflammation and damage from UV rays and pollutants in the environment, along with brightening skin and lightening dark spots. BUT, you should avoid it if you have sensitive skin as it’s a bit strong and may frustrate your skin a bit too much.

4. EYE CREAM

Are you too underestimating the power of this little product for your little eyes? But you should not. We usually tend to ignore the health of our eyelids and area under our eyes and their eye creams play a vital role in a skin care regimen.

Regular use of eye creams will keep the eyelid skin elastic and improve or prevent fine lines. You should look for a formula with caffeine in it as it will temporarily help with puffy and tired eyes.

5. SPOT TREATMENT

Not an important skin care step you have to follow if you don’t have acne, scars or dark spots. If you have, Hi, welcome to a place there’s no going back from! Sorry. Kidding. There is! Spot treatments!

If you have acne, try using benzoyl peroxide or even salicylic acid BUT NOT TOGETHER as they may irritate your skin further. Learn more about what ingredients you should never mix! Continuing, benzoyl peroxide may help you with whiteheads ( as it kills acne-causing bacteria) and salicylic acid might come handy with clogged pores and inflamed bumps ( as it dissolves oil and skin cells ).

For dark spots and acne scars, niacinamide will surely come handy, as it gently brightens marks and scars over time. It can be used daily since it does not cause any kind of irritation.

Remember, acne spot treatments generally have a 1-3 hours of working time. And you should not apply anything on your face before it has completed that time because then the cream applied on the top will restrain the active ingredients in spot treatments to work properly.

Also, spot treatments can dry out the skin so you always have to use it just on the spots needed.

6. MOISTURIZER

You have to use a moisturizer. ALWAYS. No matter what skin type. Sorry, no more arguements!

We all need hydration for our skin after the havoc harsh sun, pollution and chemicals create on our skin. Infact, moisturizer seals in all the products used underneath to make them all even more effective.

For morning, you would want to use a super light, gentle, hyaluronic acid infused moisturizer because you want to keep your skin hydrated without making it greasy or oily.

Find an oil-free and non-comedogenic moisturizer for you if you have oily skin or deal with acne.

If you’re using an spot treatment first, you may want to skip those areas when applying your moisturizer to make sure the ingredients in it don’t react with the active ingredients in your spot treatment.

7. SUNSCREEN

Sunscreen should be the last step in your day time skin care routine. And can i focus enough on exactly how important it is? But here’s the twist!

It’s the last step only when you are using physical/mineral sunscreens not when you decide on chemical sunscreens. Because chemical sunscreen have to be absorbed into the layers of your skin that means before applying moisturizer which will surely hinder the process of sunscreen-ing ( a word directly from my dictionary ) process. On the other hand, if applied before moisturization, your moisturizer will not work effectively because the skin is covered with chemical sunscreen.

In that case, you need to use a sunscreen with a moisturizer or a moisturizer with a minimum spf of 30.

But, dermatologists recommends using a physical sunscreen with zinc in it after your holy grail moisturizer. Zinc is safe, effective and protects your skin from UVA AND UVB rays from the sun.

NIGHT SKIN CARE ROUTINE

Night time skin care routine is quite similar to the day one with few tweaks. But these tweaks are important and can’t be ignored.

1. DOUBLE CLEANSING

You come from outside with that beautiful face full of dirt, oil, grime and makeup. Do you think just your normal cleanser could remove all of that in 20 seconds? NOPES!

So first you have to remove the makeup if any with a cleansing oil. Loosen up that dirt bro! And then you would want to use your “gem” cleanser to remove all the sebum, dirt and makeup you loosened up in the first step. You need a squeaky clean skin for your skin care products to absorb deep into your skin to provide you deep, very deep benefits. (Ya, you had to laugh!)

2. MASK

If it’s the masking day for you, the right time to apply it is now. Don’t tell me you didn’t knew that you can use a mask just 2-3 times a weak. So this doesn’t have to be an everyday step in your skincare regimen. Use a clay mask for all the good work it does to your face.

3. TONERS AND SKIN BOOSTERS

If you are applying toners, it’s same. No change. Apply as you would in the morning.

But some people may want to use something more for that extra care and hydration. There comes the role of skin boosters. Skin boosters are mists, beauty waters. They are infused with more active ingredients but mostly with the hydrating ones. It can be rose water or even a green tea mist for a natural way.

If you are using both, toners and boosters, then you might want to use toners first and then boosters. Since, toner is to mainly clean and balance the surface and skin booster is to deliver that active agent you need.

4. EYE CREAM

The same eye cream for the morning would do wonders. You don’t need a different eye cream for night. And you also don’t want an eye cream with retinol to help you with wrinkles. Just a normal cute little eye cream.

5. TREATMENTS, PEELS, AND SERUMS

You know that body repairs itself at night while you sleep. So does your skin. That’s why the most targeted skincare treatments like retinol, vitamin B3, peptides, anti-aging serums etc are better used at night.

6. MOISTURIZER OR A NIGHT CREAM

You can just get through the day with your same morning moisturizer and it would be done. But what’s the difference with a night cream is that it is more thicker and heavier. So it provides you all the more hydration over the night. But if you are oily, you may want to stick with the same light moisturiser.

7. FACE OIL

Not a very crucial step but Oils seal in all the ingredients and moisture you just applied to your face. On their own, oils aren’t even moisturising but adding onto the skin care products you used, it helps to the desired result quickly.

Just make sure to always, ALWAYS, use them last. Because, oils can easily penetrate moisturisers, serums and treatments but no product can penetrate oil.

And don’t take oils just to be a dry skin product. Oily skin people can use rose-hip or jojoba oil which can decrease the excessive oil production and sensitive skin people can make use out of aloe oils and marula oils as it will help soothe their irritated skin.

FEW FAQ’s RELATED TO SKIN CARE ROUTINE

Do we really need different products for morning and night?

Not everytime, but yes. Like cleansing at night must include makeup removal first. And moisturizers need to a bit more hydrating than the former one. And skincare treatments should only be used at night. Else, you are good to go!

Can a diet really affect acne?

Simply put, it doesn’t affect it like we think. Chocolates doesn’t cause acne. What causes acne are the foods with high glycemic index, such as refined sugar or potatoes, because they increase the level of hormones in the body. So next time, remember, you didn’t got acne due to fries but the potato!

What’s the best age to start using anti-aging products?

There’s not a specific age for them. It really does depends on when you start seeing wrinkles on your face. But ideally, you should start using it in your late 20’s. And start using sunscreen from the very beginning of your 20’s or even before. It’s the most important aspect of aging.

Do we need a separate eye-cream? And is it important?

Yes yes yes. An eye cream is very important in your regimen since the skin around your eyes is so thin and delicate so you need to give it more love and care by using a product meant for it. Also, we do so much of concealer and baking around our eyes that it can lead to early wrinkles and dryness.

Why a proper skincare routine is important?

Basically, our skin sheds skin cells like everyday. So to maintain a healthy glowing skin can be difficult. Here comes Skincare. It helps maintain good condition, prevent acne, fine lines, dryness or any other skin issue to keep your skin at it’s best.

At what age you should start a proper skin care?

Now it does depend upon your skin quality. I started developing acne when i was 17. I started a skin care routine and it helped me a lot. If your skin is good and glowing even if you are 25, you essentially don‘t need anything than a cleanser and moisturizer. But you must start your anti-aging routine in your late 20’s. It is important.

And with this we end this long like life topic of building a skin care routine your skin will be thankful for!

Keep shining and smiling!