5 Steps to a Healthy Skin
The key to a healthy, glowing, and youthful skin is consistency. Following a daily skin care routine is not time consuming nor does it have to cost much.
A daily basic skin care regimen would typically consist of five steps: cleansing or washing, exfoliating, toning, moisturizing, and applying sunscreen. This skin care basics regimen is an essential for maintaining a healthy skin and preventing premature aging.
How you will take care for your skin depends on your skin type. So, you better find if your skin is oily, normal, dry, sensitive, or is a combination of the other types. By knowing your skin type, you can easily adjust the steps of your skin care routine to fit it. However, it is best to keep in mind that you skin type may change with your age, diet, or the season. Therefore, your skin care routine may change as your skin type changes.
When cleansing or washing your face, the key is simplicity. The most difficult process is to find a good cleanser that your skin would respond well to. Once you have found that perfect and right cleanser for you, stick with it! That is why it’s vital to recognize the type of skin you have in order to find your prince charming in the land of Skin Care. Cleansing or washing, when done properly, is supposed to remove impurities such as dirt, makeup, grime, or contaminants, from the surface of our skin. Cleansing may either be beneficial or damaging. It all depends on how you do it.
Exfoliating removes the outer surface of the skin, which is composed of the layer where mostly dead epidermal cells are. This technique is done to expose fresher living cells. The potential benefits of exfoliation may include the following: fresher, brighter looking skin; better penetration of active ingredients of skin care products; and a reduction in oil secretion. However, the benefits of exfoliating daily are not universal. It is a case to case basis whether exfoliation should be included in your daily skin care routine. It boils down to what type of skin you have. People with excessively oily skin would benefit exfoliation as it reduces the production of skin oil or also known as sebum. On the other hand, people with dry and/or sensitive skin, may get irritation.
Adding toning to your skin care routine is also subjective to your skin type. The purpose of toners is to get rid of any residue of dirt, oil, and other factors. However, if you are already using cleanser that does this, a toner may in fact cause dry your skin, which would result to other skin damages. A person with oily skin may benefit from applying toner after cleansing. Otherwise, toning may actually do more harm than good since most toners contain alcohol, and this tends to leave the skin dry or irritated.
It has been said that everyone should moisturize, no matter what type of skin one has. But this statement is purely a myth. This is because people with oily to normal skin do not need to moisturize since their faces produce more than enough sebum to moisturize their faces. Only people with dry skin need to moisturize to avoid dryness, improve their skin’s barrier functions, and reduce irritation. But if you feel you need to moisturize, make sure to use the right type of moisturizer for your skin type.
