No matter what your skin type is, a daily skin care routine can help you maintain overall skin health and improve specific concerns like acne, scarring, and dark spots. A good skin care routine is only as good as the products you use. While good quality products can help your skin look better now as well as the future, poor quality products can be ineffective and even cause harm.
Why skin care is important.
I. It helps your skin stay in good condition. You are shedding skin cell throughout the day, so it's important to keep your skin glowing and in good condition.
II. Your skin will look more youthful. Using a quality skin care line can help remove dead skin cells so your body will replace them with newer, more youthful cells.
III. Prevention is easier that correction. Preventing skin problems is easier and less costly than trying to fix them in the future.
IV. Your self confidence will get boost when your skin looks better.
V. Don't smoke - it makes your skin look older and contributes to wrinkles. It narrows the tiny blood vessels in the outermost layer of skin, which decreases blood flow and makes skin pale. This also depletes the skin of oxygen and nutrients that are important to skin health. It damages collagen and elastin, the fibers that give your skin strength and elasticity.
VI. Eat a healthy diet, this can help you look and feel your best. Plenty of fruits, vegetables, wholegrains, and lean proteins. Drinking plenty of water helps keep your skin hydrate.
VII. Manage stress, uncontrolled stress can make a skin more sensitive and trigger acne breakouts and other skin problems. Take steps to manage your stress, get enough sleep, set reasonable limits, scale back your to do list and make time to do the things you enjoy. The result might be more dramatic that you expect.
There are basic steps to a daily skin care routine.
a) Cleansing- choose a cleanser that doesn't leave your skin tight after washing. Clean your face no more than twice a day, or just once if you have dry skin and don't wear makeup. Cleansers known to work well for all skin types include Celaphil and Benila, clean it shebet cleanser.
b) Serums- a serum with Vitamin C or growth factors or peptides would be better in the morning, under sunscreen. At night Retinol or prescription retinoids work better.
c) Moisturizer- even oily skin needs moisturizer, buy the use of that is light weight, gel based and non comedogenic, or creams that doesn't block your pores, like CeraVe facial lotion.
For all skin types.
Stay hydrated. Change pillow cases at least once a week. Wash or wrap your hair before bedtime.
Start with a basic and simple routine to see how your sin reacts. Once you're comfortable, you can then add extra products such as Exfoliants, masks, and spot treatments to boost your skin health.
An allergic reaction may include irritation, redness, small bumps, or itchiness. If you notice these symptoms, wash the area you tested with water and a gentle cleanser. Then return the product and try another that better suits your skin type.
Your skin type can be checked at home by measure of sebum production. Sebum is a waxy, oily liquid that comes from your pores. The amount of sebum your skin produce an determine if your skin is dry, oily, normal, combination.
Testing serum production on a clear face is the most accurate way to determine what kind of skiing you have. Wash your face and pay it dry, gently press oil blotting papers or tissue on your face. Press the paper on different areas of your skin, such as your forehead, nose , cheeks, and chin. Hold the sheet to the light to see how transparent the paper looks o. Your face. No transparency but with flakes or tight skin is dry. Soaked through is oily, different levels of absorption on different areas of the face is combination and not too oily and no flaky skin is normal.
Your skin type can affect how products work for you. Using the wrong products, even when natural, can cause breakout, worsen blemishes or cause redness. It's best to find out what skin type you have and build your skin care routine around that. The goal of any skin care routine is to tune up your complexion o it's functioning at best, and also troubleshoot or Target any areas you want to work on.
DIY HACKS TO AVOID.
I. Lemon juice - it's far too acidic and can cause dark spots to appear after sun exposure. It can also dry and irritate your skin.
II. Baking soda - at a PH level of 8, it will stress your skin and significantly decrease your skin's water content and cause dry skin.
III. Garlic - in raw form, garlic can cause skin allergies, eczema, skin inflammation, and watery blisters.
IV. Toothpaste - the ingredients in toothpaste may kill germs and absorb oil, but they can dry out or irritate your skin.
V. Sugar - as an exfoliate, it is too harsh for the skin on your face.
VI. Vitamin E - topical application of Vitamin E can irritate your skin and is not proven to improve scar appearance.
These hacks may cause more long term than benefit because they can change our skin's barrier.
Some of these ingredients may be all natural and cost effective, but they aren't formulated for your skin. Even if you don't feel immediate side effects, the ingredients can cause delayed or long term damage. It's best to use products formulated for your face. Talk to your doctor or dermatologist before trying DIY applications on your skin.
Treating Skin Problems.
There are ways to tackle skin problems without damaging your skin. Just remember the number one rule of skin care is; don't pick! Picking at acne, blackspots, scars, or other skin problems can cause open wounds or darken skin spots known as hyperpigmentation. Open wounds can lead to infections, more acne or scars. The deeper the wound, the more likely your skin will scar.
Here are some scientifically backed ways to treat problem areas.
a) Acne - treatment depends on how deep or serious your acne is. Overall skin care is the most important step in treating acne, but for mild acne you can use nonprescription products from your local drugstore such as Tea tree oil, Adapalene, Alpha hydroxy acid, Benzoyl peroxide.
For immediate, inflamed, and individual pimples, you can also try acne patches that work as spot treatments to help as makeup can't cover them.
b) Sebaceous filaments - they are tiny , cylinder like tubes in your pores that are whitish yellow. They are usually confused with blackheads. Sebaceous filaments can make your pores look bigger and you may be tempted to remove them by pinching your skin or using pores strips. Massaging your your face with mineral or castor oil for one minute. The safest method is to have an esthetician or dermatologist remove them for you
c) Blemishes, scars, and hyperpigmentation, blackspots, can take anywhere from a few weeks to six months to heal and fade.
Ingredients that help fade scars include:
a) Silicones - products with silicone dioxide are listed to improve scar thickness, color, and texture.
b) Honey - is said to heal wounds and scars. This is preferred for home treatment.
c) Niacinamide - can help reduce blemishes and dark spots, especially from acne.
How you care for your skin can greatly affect your appearance.