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What’s the skinny on beautiful skin at any age? It’s simple! Cleanse your face twice daily, drink plenty of water, rest, exercise, avoid excessive sun and pollution, and take your vitamins and supplements… Okay seriously, everything I listed is important to maintain your skin but now that I have your attention, let’s look at the first item; cleansing your skin.
The Basics
There are four basic components of cleansing: cleanse, exfoliate, tone and moisturize.
You’ll choose a cleansing system based on the type of skin you have; oily, dry or combination (oily and dry areas). Most skin care companies provide analysis tools for you to determine what type of skin you have or you can speak with a dermatologist.
Cleansers will remove the surface dirt, makeup and residue from your skin and is used twice daily; morning and evening.
Exfoliants, or scrubs, are products made containing a mild abrasive used to remove the fine top layer of dead skin. Based on your skin type, you exfoliate once a day, 1-3 times a week.
Toners, also called astringents, are used after cleansing and exfoliating to remove any product residue and to help close the pores.
Moisturize - the final basic step. As with the other 3 steps, use a moisturizer based on your skin type. If you have oily skin, use a moisturizer that will minimize oil production and if your skin is dry you will want a product that adds moisture to the face.
Basics Summary
So you’ve purchased a cleansing system based on your skin type…now what? You want to use it right away and stick with it to see the results. Follow theses steps:
- Clean your face with the cleanser
- Rinse with water
- Exfoliate
- Rinse with water
- Pat (don’t rub) your face dry
- Tone
- Moisturize
It’s that simple. With practice this will be a 5 minute or less regimen (I’ve done this and a shower in five minutes!) And once you’ve mastered the basics we’ll move onto the advanced steps!
Wait, why can’t I just use soap?
You could, yet it’s not the best. Soap is not formulated to cleanse the delicate areas of the face where the skin is thinner. Take a moment and feel your face, now feel your arm. The skin feels a lot different on your arm than your face. The skin on your face is softer, suppler and easier to damage than the skin on other parts of the body. You want to use products designed for that softer skin.
Tips
Purchase your products where you have a 100% guarantee and full refund policy. Don’t get stuck with "we can exchange, but not refund.” There are plenty of products available at specialty stores, drug stores, department stores through direct sales companies and doctor’s offices do some research, ask questions and get what’s right for you.