Proper skincare, as part of your daily routine, is key to achieving healthy skin and slowing down or even preventing the premature signs of aging. Here are the steps to follow, every day.
Cleanse: It is important that dry skin gets properly cleansed twice a day using water and mild soap. If you only cleanse once, the best time to do that is at night before you go to bed. In the morning, you may skip the cleanser and just splash water on your face. This is particularly applicable for areas of dry skin, since cleansers tend to partially strip skin’s natural barrier, which is already somewhat compromised when the skin is dry.
Toner: Cleansing should be followed by a toner, with mild non-mechanical exfoliators that can also balance the pH after cleansing such as lactic or malic acid. Use an astringent type with ingredients that can regulate oil production. Watch out for toners that contain ethanol or isopropanol (especially those that show them at the beginning/middle of the ingredients list). Such alcohols can dissolve skin’s barrier, which may result in overproduction of oil to compensate and in turn, clogged pores (and zits, black heads, etc.)
Hydrate: A super-hydrating serum with hyaluronic acid, urea, vitamin B and/or ferulic acid should follow. Make sure that the serum also contains proper humectants such as glycerin or other glycols. They are key to ensure proper penetration and delivery of those actives where needed most. Remember that skin’s outermost layer, the stratum corneum is to the hydrophobic side, which makes water penetration more difficult. Those humectants’ chemistry is ideal to “drag” these ingredients down to the inner layers, where collagen resides, in a pool of water.
Moisturize: Moisturization is very important for all skin types. A good moisturizer is that with the right balance of water, humectants, and emollients. For areas where skin is dry, choose one that contains in Shea butter, beeswax, lanolin alcohol, petrolatum and other rich oils and waxes. Opt for non-comedogenic emollients when oil skin is concerned, such as squalane, olive oil, mineral oil, dimethicone, triglycerides, etc. When your skin is balanced, choose a balanced blend of rich and light oils (or more than one product).
