Short on time, but want great skin? Then follow these four quick skincare steps for your face consistently, and you will have clear, healthy, glowing skin.
Like anything else, good skin care is more a matter of discipline than anything else. Once you establish a basic routine, you can add other steps as needed. Moreover, as you adjust to having these steps as part of your daily hygiene regimen, you will find that it becomes a fast and enjoyable process, and you’ll be out the door in no time flat!
Cleansing
This is the first step in a good facial skincare routine. Cleansing helps remove dirt, pollutants, grease, and extra oil from your skin to prevent damage to your skin. Take a soft washcloth and rinse with warm water. Wring out most of the water and then place a little bit of cleanser on it. Gently wash your face with it using small circular strokes. Rinse the washcloth clean of the cleanser and gently remove the cleanser with it. Repeat as necessary or gently rinse your face with the warm water directly; be careful not to get the cleanser in your eyes, nose, or mouth. Dry your face by gently patting it with a dry towel. Cleansing should be done at least twice a day: morning and evening.
Toning
The next step, but often overlooked step, in a facial skincare routine is toning. Although an optional part of the facial skincare routine, you will often find that it helps provide that extra bit of cleansing for your face, especially if you have any oily areas, like on your nose or forehead. Toning helps remove all traces of dirt, grease, and excess cleanser. Buy a non-alcohol-based toner to avoid drying out your skin. Use a 100%-cotton cotton ball (no, I’m not redundant, you’d be surprised at the misleading labeling on these things) and place it over the mouth of the toner bottle, tip it for a brief moment, and that should be more than enough toner on the cotton ball. Then thoroughly wipe your face with it; you may be amazed at the dirt you removed from your clean-looking face. If at first, you feel you don’t have enough time for this step, then instead of making it part of your daily facial skin care routine, you can use toning occasionally, e.g., when you have been exposed to a particularly harsh environment/pollution.
Exfoliating
Exfoliation is also somewhat of an optional step in your everyday skincare routine. However, be sure to exfoliate at least once a week (or twice, depending on the skin type and the environmental conditions). As skin matures, your frequency should increase to remove the dead skin cells that your body shed more frequently when you were younger. Exfoliation also helps remove the dead skin cells that block the pores, keeping you from getting zits at any age and with any skin type. However, excessive or harsh exfoliation can damage your skin, so do your research on your exfoliation method.
Moisturizing
The last important step in facial skincare is moisturizing. If you have oily or combination skin, you may instinctively want to dismiss this step as part of your routine, but don’t! In fact, moisturizing is the most important part of the facial skin care routine for all skin types. If you have dry skin, it’s a statement of the obvious to say that moisturizers prevent your skin from getting dry. What you may not know, if you have oily skin, is that you are likely drying out your skin by over-cleansing it, using astringents, and who-knows-what to get rid of all the “bad” oil. So if you replace it with good moisture, you will avoid having dead skin cells; those cells can clog your pores and cause breakouts. If you have combination skin, you may need to get two types of moisturizers, one for each skin type. If your budget doesn’t allow for that, then only place a small dab of it on the oily skin and use a tissue to absorb the excess.
If you don’t have time to research all of these items separately, find a reliable brand and select a small kit of these basic items to start. Most of the major brands carry them in sets for each skin type: oily, combination / normal, and dry skin. Start simply so you can just start. You can work your way up from there as you become familiar with what works best for your specific skin. Remember that it is not an exact science, so be patient; what may work great for someone else who has the “same” skin type as you may not work for you. In the end, the most important takeaway is just to take care of your skin daily.
