Notes on Life : Skin Care Routine

Skin. Care. Routine.

There is nothing more key, I have found, than having a good skin care routine. When your have cared for, luminous skin it cuts down greatly on the amount of makeup you need to purchase and use and, I find, greatly increase self esteem. 

There are 9 steps in a skincare routine.

AM

Light Cleanse

Moisturizer

Skin Protection

Antioxidant Protection

PM

Deep Cleanse

Acne Treatment (if needed)

Anti-aging Product

Moisturize

Bi-weekly

Acidic Peel

This might sound like a lot but I have combined many of the steps to suit my needs.

I have normal skin but I struggle with acne and can be sensitive to strong acne treatments. During the course of trying to treat these issues I have found what makes my skin happy. These ideas are a good place to start but you may want to modify them for your own use.

AM

If you have thoroughly cleaned your face the night before, all you need to do is splash some water on your face to refresh and rinse off treatments from the night before. Generally if I take a shower in the morning, I just combine my rinse with the shower.

For moisturizing and sun protection, I currently use a combination lotion. CeraVe AM moisturizer also is SPF 30. If you desire more skin protection than that you can use an additional SPF with your lotion. I also combine the antioxidant step by adding a serum to my moisturizer.

Antioxidant serums are important because they protect the skin’s barrier. When I first started treating my acne I used harsh face washes and treatments. Sometimes I found that this would cause more acne instead of being helpful because it started drying my skin out and destroying its natural barrier. Living in the city and the pollution, my natural barrier is my best defense against blemishes.

I use Super Vitamin C from Skin by Ann Webb and mix it right in with my moisturizer. This product you can get from a vitamin or supplement store. I have found that my skin likes products with more of the active ingredient and less of the chemical fillers. With 15% vitamin C you are also getting more of the benefit with a higher concentrate of the actual active ingredient.

Remember if you are looking for an antioxidant serum, make sure the percentage of the actual active ingredient is high. If it is far down the ingredient list you are not getting much of the benefit. Super Vitamin C also is formulated with ingredients that help to absorb the vitamin C into your skin. This is crucial too as you don’t want the antioxidant ingredient sitting on top of your skin with minimal benefit. Also, FYI, Vitamin C is an antioxidant that does not break down or oxidize in the sun. This is important in the morning as you don't want your antioxidant to become ineffective as soon as you step outside.

PM

At the end of the day, you want to wash off all those pollutants and bad stuff. Be gentle with your skin if you can. I use Boots Botanical Gentle Cleansing Cream because it seems to get my skin clean but doesn't over dry.

You want to make sure to apply whatever product you want to have the strongest effect on your skin first. Depending on the state of my skin I usually apply my acne treatment or anti-aging treatment first.

For someone who is young, anti-aging is more of a preventative and protective measure than anything else. I also notice that my skin can often look tired and saggy without being treated.

You may have heard of Retinol or Retin-A. Retin-A is the prescription version of Retinol and what is Retinol? A fancy work for Vitamin A!! Who knew! Vitamin A helps your skin maintain its natural collagen and exfoliates among other things. Retinol is supposedly a version of Vitamin A that absorbs well into skin. For the last month, I have been trying another tactic to get my Vitamin A though.

At your local vitamin store, you can get Vitamin A or Vitamin A and E (Vitamin E is another powerful antioxidant) gel capsules. Every night I take a clothes pin and puncture one vitamin A capsule and massage it evenly into my skin. Supposedly, this method does not absorb into your skin as well, but with 100% vitamin A the treatment is much more potent. I have notice a visible difference, and definitely more of a difference than my regular Retinol cream that I was using before. The only caveat is that this type of Vitamin A is created using Fish Oil, so it has a slightly fishy scent. Another fact, Vitamin A breaks down and oxidizes in the sun so it is not a treatment you would want to apply in the daytime anyways. As I apply it right before bed, the fishy scent does not bother me in slightest, and the price tag is amazing at $6. (The higher the UI, the more Vitamin A in the capsule. If you have more sensitive skin, get a lower dose as Vitamin A exfoliates and may irritate your skin.)

As acne treatments go, I use two, which in tandem can help with a bad breakout, and separately seem good enough for preventive care.

Clean and Clear Dual Action Moisturizer has added salicylic acid, but is mild on my skin leaving it moisturized and tingly. Clinique’s Step Three of its Acne Solutions has the benzoyl peroxide which, though harsher, is sometimes the only thing that will tame my pimples.

Over that, I moisturizer with CeraVe’s PM lotion and Cetaphil’s moisturizing cream. If you are badly needing restoring of your skin overnight, I would apply Cetaphil’s moisturizing cream liberally. Its thick enough to regenerate your skin but doesn’t clog and absorbs without being oily.

The last thing I use on my skin is a home peel kit. I find even with cleansing and the exfoliating power of Vitamin A, after a couple of weeks my skin can look dull and have a rough texture. I use Olay Regenerist Microdermabrasion and Peel Kit to change this. It only takes a minute and a half and it leaves your skin smooth and soft. It’s fairly gentle, but I only use it bi-weekly versus the once a week recommended amount because it will start drying out and irritating my skin. Its only $24 and it last way longer than the 8 treatments it lists on the box, especially if you are treating bi-weekly. Exfoliation is super important if you want to avoid acne and blemishes. If there is dead skin sitting on top of your skin you will start have all sorts of issues.

That is my current care regime! It’s been brilliant so far. My skin looks 1000% better now that I have ironed out a good routine. I hope you find yours too!

As I adapt I will keep you posted. The next thing I am looking into are facial sprays. There are supposed to be numerous benefits when used in combination with moisturizers and then are supposed to help give you a dewy look.

There is a whole range of pricing and so called luxury-ness to facial sprays. But what I am looking for always is:

Something that works.

Something unassuming that could attain a cool cult status.

And something with value. Worth the price.

What is your favorite facial spray? What other products would you add to the routine? I’ll let you know my findings!