My 8 Skincare Routine Tips for Beginners
Firstly, notice how the title says MY skincare tips; which means these are from myself and in no way am I saying I am an expert, but I'm just sharing the things that helped me! This is a blogpost written in the form of girlfriends sharing skincare secrets, kapeesh?! So read on to read some tips from me!
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| *FYI, These are pictures with no filter, no edits to show you my natural bare face. |
1. Know your skin type
I can't stress the importance of knowing your skin type! Now and days we see so much skincare products and we want to lather them all on in hopes of curing our slightest imperfections. But what we don't know is that that can ultimately hurt your skin in the long run. Trust me, it happened to me. Before really getting into deets of a skincare routine, I was trying everything on the shelf and ultimately it made my face freak out! Once I decided to just stick to one cleanser, one toner, and so forth, it calmed down. There are generally four skin types which consist of: normal, oily, dry, and combination skin.
- Normal: well balanced or healthy skin.
- Oily: skin with heightened sebum production.
- Dry: Skin that produces less sebum than normal skin.
- Combination: skin that consists of a mixture of skin types.
Once you know this, move on to creating products that are made solely to cater to your skin needs!
2. Drink lots of water
We are supposed to be drinking about 64 oz. of water a day (8 cups of water per day) and it's a must! I know sometimes life gets in the way but drinking less water causes you to become dehydrated and guess what? Your skin cells are made up of water, so without water your skin isn't going to be functioning properly. Water also helps remove waste and toxins from your body. With proper hydration your skin is able to obtain proper skin moisture and it also helps replenish skin tissue and increases its elasticity (aka delays the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.)
3. Face moisturizer with SPF 30+
We all know that we're supposed to wear sunscreen to help protect us from the sun so of course its a must to protect our face as well! Luckily, there are plenty of moisturizers that have SPF already in them to prevent us from adding another layer onto our face. Again, sunscreen helps slow down the development of wrinkled and aged skin. Your beautiful face needs protection from harmful rays. It helps prevent brown facial spots and also discoloring of your face. And number one?! Helps prevent skin cancer!
4. Use a toner
I honestly just started using a toner last year and I SWEAR BY IT! I've seen such a difference in the oil build up in my face when I don't use it. A toner is meant to be sprayed onto your face after cleansing and before moisturizing. It adds a layer of protection, it shrinks your pores, and also helps restore your skin's PH balance. Remember to use one that caters to your skin's needs. For example, I use this one from OleHenriksen and it's specifically used to target oil control on oily skin. Ever since using it, I can't live without it. A toner also moisturizes and refreshes your skin.
5. Wash your face everyday, face wash
You need to be washing your face everyday at least one or twice IF NEEDED. For me, I wash my face twice; once in the morning and once at night before bed. Just because I produce a lot of oil throughout the day so my face definitely needs that cleanse. I typically wash my makeup off with a Dove bar soap first and then go in with my facial cleanser from derma e which helps with brightening my skin when it's dull. I got this one because it was a corrective cleanser and helped even out the skin tone. There was a time where I would get terrible pimple scars that took forever to lighten so this helped the process.
6. Exfoliate 2-3 times a week
I learned about exfoliating recently when I had went to get my first facial and the esthetician told me she could tell I didn't exfoliate because I had TONS OF DEAD SKIN. (Yeah, pretty embarrassing!) Aside from the obvious of removing dead skin cells from your skin, exfoliating also helps increase blood circulation. The removal of dead skin cells gives your skin a soft, even, and clean canvas. This will help with creating radiating and glowing skin. When you exfoliate, you're also helping unclog your pores, reduce break outs and acne, and it helps your skin absorb other products. (aka, lets that moisturize sink in your skin!) Not to mention your skin is as smooth as a baby's bottom after you're done! I use this one from OleHenriksen and it smells amazing!
7. Use a mask at least once a week
Again, get one that caters to your skin or has some specific niche that you're looking for. If you're looking to help brighten your skin, get one that does just that. Or if you're looking to firm that skin, do just that! I actually do two face masks a week. One on a Monday and it's usually one that helps firm my skin and another one on Friday/Saturday and this is my charcoal mask that helps drag out all those impurities that I've developed over the week. Let's not forget how good your skin feels after a good face mask and honestly, your skin will thank you for that afterglow! I use Glam Glow gravity mud firming treatment to keep my skin tight and Boscia's charcoal pudding to really drag out the dirt from my pores. A face mask is the perfect skincare treatment to help with your skin needs and the right one will hydrate your skin, remove excess oil, and help the appearance of those pores girl!
8. Get yourself an aloe vera plant
I started with just a small aloe vera plant and that baby has since blossomed into a giant beautiful source of benefits. What I usually do is cut off a piece once a week and apply it straight onto my face from the cut off piece. I try and get as much gel on my face as possible and typically leave it on for 30 minutes, maybe longer. Aloe vera treats sunburn, acts a moisturizer, fights aging, treats acne, lessens the visibility of stretch marks (HEY!), it quickens wound healing (which I love for my acnes scars!), and lightens blemishes, etc. There's also many other uses for it, such as: putting it in your hair, using it on your body, the list goes on. This plant is forever giving!
Here are the list of products I use on my face for links + reference:
Face Moisturizer: Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Facial Moisturizer
Facial Wash: derma e Evenly Radiant Brightening Cleanser
Face Masks: Glam Glow Gravity Mud Firming Treatment + Bosnia Charcoal Pore Pudding Intensive Wash-Off Treatment
I hope you found this article helpful and insightful for your skincare routine! Let me know if you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer to the best of my ability.
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