Wellness Lifestyle Blog | York School of Continuing Studies

360 Degree SkinCare Guide

Written by Shivani Arora | 14-Jul-2022 5:04:38 PM

As we all know, skin is your body's biggest organ and needs our attention, like the rest of the organs.
We often tend to forget that our skin needs to be taken care of, and realize it when the damage has already been done. We need to protect our skin from the very start. But better late than never. We can start by creating the best skincare routine using the best skin care products.

If you are new to skincare routine steps and don't know what all needs to be done, don't worry. We are here to guide you.

Your skin deserves a routine as unique as you are. Here is the skincare routine order you need to follow:

1. Cleanse

Cleansing is one of the most important steps in your routine.

In the mornings, we only need a gentle cleanser but, at night, we need to make sure to do double cleansing.

Your first cleanser should include balm, oil, and lotions, to remove your makeup and SPF. While the second cleanser should include a proper cleanser to remove everything.

You can use anything, gels, lotions, oils, and balms except Wipes and Micellar water.

Recommendation of skincare products:

  • The Ordinary Squalene Cleanser
  • Then I met you Living Cleansing balm
  • Clinique Take the day off cleansing balm
  • Joanna Vargas Vitamin C facewash
2- Treat
After cleansing, one must start treating your skin problems by using various acids depending on your concern. Most famous acids and what they do:
  • Lactic Acid- It helps to gently exfoliate the skin which helps in making skin soft.
  • Glycolic Acid- It penetrates deeply into the skin and helps in the production of collagen. It also evens out skin tone.
  • Salicylic Acid- It helps in loosening the desmosomes, allowing the cells to let go of the excess sebum, thus helping in curing breakouts and oily, uneven skin.
  • Mandelic Acid- It is good for people with oily skin. This oil tends to have antibacterial properties.
  • Citric Acid- This helps with reversing the sun damage.

    Recommendation of skincare products:
  • Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Peel
  • Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% tonic solution
  • Inkey List Beta Hydroxy Acid

Eye Products

You should try to use a separate eye-specific product to take care of fine lines, dark circles, and puffiness but if you don’t face any such problems, you can skip it in your early years. You are under your budget constraints; you can skin eye products and use your hydrating serums on the orbital bone.

Use only the lightest serum around your eyelids, otherwise, it can lead to puffiness.

Try keeping all your products fragrance-free, especially eye products, otherwise, it can lead to irritation.

Use ring finger to apply the eye products.

Recommendation of skincare products:

  • Paula’s choice clinical ceramide-enriched firming eye cream
  • Biossance Squalane + Peptide eye gel
  • OSKIA Eye wonder serum
  • Belif Eye cream

 Serums

Serums are used to provide a high concentration of active ingredients. They should be used just before a moisturizer. The maximum amount of money you plan to spend on your skincare should be spent on serums.
It is the ‘Treat’ment stage of your skincare. You should use the active ingredients according to your concerns.
Always use the thinnest serum first.

Recommendation of skincare brands for serum:

  • La Roche-Posay
  • Ordinary
  • Inkey List
  • Oskia
  • Murad
  • Medik8
  • Kate Somerville
 3- Moisturize

This step can also be called the final hydrating step of your skincare. It seals all the products which you applied earlier and moisturizes your skin.

There are various types of Moisturizers:

  • Humectants- They take moisture from the environment and are the most common. It is targeted at dehydrated and oily skin.
  • Occlusives- They prevent water loss from the stratum corneum (Outermost layer) and are usually recommended for people suffering from eczema.
  • Emollients- These add oils to the epidermis layer of the skin and soften it. Mostly found in products for dry skin.

    Recommendation of skincare products:
  • Glossier Priming Moisturizer
  • Avene Tolerance Extreme range
  • Murad Hydro-Dynamic Ultimate Moisture
  • CeraVe Moisturising cream
  • Kiehl’s Ultra Facial cream
  • Belif The true cream Aqua bomb

 Moisturizer is your coat. It protects your skin from the elements.

Your cleanse-acid-serum routine is your outfit. Just don’t forget the coat (moisturizer).

 

4- Protect

The most important step of your skincare is protection from the sun. If you do your skincare every single day, but, if you don’t wear SPF. It won’t work.

You should wear SPF every single day, even if you are at home, or even when it’s raining.

SPF stands for Sun Protection Factor.

Two concerns about being in the sun:

  • Skin aging
  • Skin cancer

 UV rays cause sunburn and sun damage by damaging cellular DNA.

UVA rays penetrate deep into the skin, destroying elasticity and thus causing premature aging.

UVB rays cause burning and damage skin and alter skin cells, thus leading to skin cancer.

 Always use a separate SPF.

 How much SPF you should use?

 Around two teaspoons for each body part- arms, face, neck, leg.

Recommendation of skincare brands for sunscreen:

  • EltaMD
  • Evy Technology
  • Heliocare
  • La Roche-Posay Anthelios
  • Supergoop
  • Clinique
  • Biossance 

Avoid Fragrance in skincare

Which ingredients to look for for your specific skin concern?

  1. Anti-inflammatories

When your skin is aggravated and red, look for the following key ingredient in your skincare products:

  • Aloe Vera
  • Green tea extract
  • Chamomile
  • Zinc
  • Niacinamide
  • Licorice Extract
  • Oats
  • Azelaic Acid
  1. Pigmentation

When the color of your skin changes, look for the following key ingredient in your skincare products:

  • Vitamin C
  • Kojic Acid
  • Niacinamide
  • Hydroquinone
  1. Anti-aging

When your skin starts showing fine lines, look for the following key ingredient in your skincare products:

  • Peptides
  • Vitamin A
  • Vitamin C
  1. Dehydration

When your skin feels dehydrated, look for the following key ingredient in your skincare products:

  • Squalene
  • Glycerin
  • Hyaluronic Acid
  1. Antioxidants

When you need to protect your skin from pollution, look for the following key ingredient in your skincare products:

  • Green Tea extract
  • CoQ10
  • Alpha-lipoic Acid