Your skincare routine will be unique to you, and depend on your skin type, your age, the season and your environment.
Is your skin oily, acne-prone or dry? Summer skincare routines differ from winter skincare routines.
How is your skin is behaving from one day to the next?
Getting into good daily habits with your skincare routine will pay off in the long term.
Everything you do for your skin today is about maintaining, preventing and delaying how your skin will look in years to come.
So let’s start with the most important step. Sunscreen.
If you do nothing else apart from splash water on your face and then apply 3 – 5 MLS of sunscreen on your face, neck, chest and ears, you’re doing your skin and your long term skin cancer prevention a great service.
We cannot express how important sunscreen is on the daily. Our favourite (and the favourite of many dermatologists) is the La Roche Posay Anthelios.
READ THE ANTHELIOS REVIEW
However, the best sunscreen for you is the one that you will wear every day. Even when your inside or you think it’s not sunny.
If you want to amp up your skincare beyond the cold water splash and a slattering of sunscreen, and we recommend you do!
Then this is our quick guide to skincare routines the ‘What to do when and how often’
Daily Morning/Night Routine
- Cleanse – We each have our preferred way of cleaning our face. In the morning I use a gentle cleanser in the shower. My cleanse of choice is the CeraVe hydrating facial cleanser.
- I do a vigorous and thorough cleanse at night and I feel that a gentle massage with a liquid cleanser is all I need in the morning. You do you, but cleaning your skin in the morning is a good idea. This step prepares the skin for receiving any ‘actives’ you apply in your acids and/or serums.
- Acids/liquid exfoliators/toner/mists – These are the next step and depending on what your skin needs will dictate what you choose to use. For me its Clinique clarifying lotion number 1.
- Serums – This is a very important step and one I wouldn’t miss. Here you apply your Vitamin C serum or another antioxidant. This helps protect your skin from ‘free radical’ damage. You want these on your face in the morning so they can do their job while your out in the world.
- Eye Cream/Moisturizer – I am not a believer in the eye cream, or I have just not met an eye cream that I wanted to form a relationship with. Moisturizer is enough for me and I choose one that doesn’t have ‘actives’ so that I can put it around my eyes without causing irritation. My long time favourite is the Dr Hauschka Revitalising Day Cream.
- Sunscreen – Apply the recommended 3 – 5ml. I apply a thin layer wait for that to sink in then apply another thin layer. 3 – 5ml sounds tiny it’s actually quite a lot and most people do not put enough on.
- Now let me scare you with this fact from Dr Davin Lam Dermatologist:
“Half the amount of sunscreen equals half the amount of SPF”
Yikes! So get liberal with your suncreen.
Daily Night Routine
Your night skincare routine can be as quick as a double cleanse, a serum and lip balm.
There are plenty of nights I have do just that. But most nights my ‘Night Routine’ starts as soon as I get home.
I love taking my makeup/sunscreen off and starting the evening with clean skin.
I will always do a double cleanse. This removes makeup and sunscreen and prepares my skin for ‘actives‘.
Then I take the time to do a Nu Face microcurrent 3 – 4 times a week or put on a mask, maybe do some microneedling.
Next I put on Retinol and some Sunday Riley C E O Glow.
I also wear what every lip balm and hand cream I have to hand.
Weekly Skincare Routine
2 – 4 times a week I recommend doing some microcurrent treatment to your face. I adore the Nu Face Trinty, but there are lots of others on the market.
I also do a redlight LED mask a few times a week and a face/sheet mask at least twice a week.
This can seem like ‘a lot’ to fit in but its 5 mins here and there throughout the evening.
I very rarely leave it till I go to bed, usually, I am tired by then and my enthusiasm for skincare is waning fast.
Brushing my teeth is all I want to do at ‘bedtime’.
You can spread these steps out or do them all at once. Whatever fits and works for you.
The least I recommend you do is clean your skin and apply a serum.
If you have ‘normal’ skin you can do gentle facial scrubs or chemical exfoliants once a week.
If you have ‘normal skin’ you can add exfoliants including gentle facial scrubs or chemical exfoliators.
Monthly Skincare
Professional chemical peels, microdermabrasion, hydrafacials and dermaplaning are all options and typically I will do one of these once a month.
3 – 6 Months
Botox depending on how fast your body metabolites botox. Micro or baby botox. Conservative dermal filler, you don’t want to overdo filler!
Yearly
Fraxel medical-grade laser and chemical peel treatments for your skin type and concerns.
Understanding your skin takes time.
It changes with the season and with age, hormones and environmental factors.
