Everyone should have a skin care routine. It doesn’t have to be 10 steps long, but everyone should be at least washing their face and using sunscreen, every day. You think you have ‘good skin’ but one day it will turn on you and you won’t know where to start or what to do. Here are the skin care essentials you should incorporate into your routine.
This guide, if you will, will teach you why you need each step if you need each step, what ingredients to look for depending on your skin concern and skin type, and so much more.
Follow me on Instagram @annierosette93 to get more daily skin care tips!
So first…..
The Importance and Benefits of a Good Skin Care Routine
Time isn’t stopping and neither is your skin. With age and time comes different skin problems or concerns. It could be acne, dark spots, wrinkles, clogged pores, uneven skin texture, oily to dry skin anything or any season can make your skin change and react in different ways. You only have one face and we need to treat it with care.
Having the confidence to feel your best without makeup is a blessing and an amazing feeling! If you ever felt like you had to hide under your makeup and never leave the house without it, you know what I’m talking about.
We all know routines are good to have and a skin care routine is no exception. For those nights when you are so tired you can’t keep your eyes open for another second, having a routine you can literally do with your eyes closed will be a lifesaver for your skin.
When Should I Start A Skincare Routine & How?
It’s never too early to start and it’s never too late. With age and time, you will need to adjust or add more skin care essentials into your routine.
But first..
You need to know your skin type and know your skin concerns you want to ‘fix’.
**Note: Skin care isn’t one-size-fits-all. What works for your sister or best friend, might not work for you. Get samples where you can and try to return products when you genuinely don’t like them or they don’t work. You do need to give products time to work so if you don’t see the acne that you’ve had for 3 years go away after a week, you have to give it more time than that.
To find out your skin type
When you are going throughout the day with or without makeup on….
Does your skin feel greasy or look shiny? Then you probably have oily skin.
If it feels tight and looks flakey, you might have dry skin.
However, if your forehead, nose, and chin are greasy and your cheeks are dry, you most likely have combination skin.
Does your skin get red and irritated pretty easily with different products or climate change? You are sensitive.
Do you break out from products, food, stress, literally everything? You’ve got acne-prone skin.
If you don’t really have any issues, lucky you, you have normal skin.
No matter what your skin type is, there are skin care essentials out there to help and designed especially for you!
Now, what is your skin goal?
You might not have a major skin concern with your skin, which is great, but narrow down what you want to start and tackle first.
- Acne
- Discoloration/Dark Spots
- Loss of firmness/Wrinkles
- Sensitivity
- Dull/Dry Skin
- Maintain Healthy Skin
**If you don’t know, I would recommend starting with just maintaining healthy skin with a little anti-aging. It’s never too early to start preventing wrinkles.
Let’s Build Your Simple Skin Care Routine
Since we are starting out, let’s only get the skin care essentials. You might just start at night and work your way to morning and night but you need to start somewhere.
**Pro Tip: Write it on a sticky note and keep it on the mirror or somewhere where you will see it.
Make Up Remover
This will obviously only be at night and only if you wear makeup. You can use makeup wipes, but they aren’t the best for your skin if they aren’t wet enough. They also aren’t good for the environment. I use the makeup eraser. It’s reusable and washable so it saves you money and is good for the environment. Win, win!
You can also get a balm, makeup melt, or cleansing oil to remove your makeup.
Cleanser
Cleansing is SO important to remove toxins, oil, and bacteria from touching your face, and sunscreen from the morning.
How to: Wet the face, apply a pea-sized amount of wash to the hands and rub on the face in circular motions for 30 seconds. Rinse and pat face dry.
Simple Skin Care Cleanser Recommendations:
- Neutrogena Hydro Gel Cleanser (Dry Skin)
- Vanicream Gentle Facial Cleanser (Super Dry and Sensitive Skin)
- R+F Soothe Face Wash (Sensitive, dry skin)
- Simple Micellar Gel Wash (Combo)
- Youth To The People Kale + Green Tea Superfood Face Cleanser (combo)
- CeraVe Renewing Salicylic Acid Cleanser (Oil and acne-prone)
- CeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser (Oily)
- R+F Unblemish Wash (Oily and acne-prone, use also as a shaving cream to prevent razor burn)
Toner
Amazing, and necessary, for everyone because it helps balance the skin’s pH levels and gets the leftover impurities off the skin before applying the rest of your skincare.
How to: Apply toner to a gauze pad, NOT A COTTON BALL. Wipe the gauze pad across your face and neck.
**Pro Tip: If you have sensitive skin, skip the toner, they can irritate already irritated skin.
For acne, look for a toner with lactic or salicylic acid in combination with soothing ingredients link aloe or chamomile
For dark spots and aging, look for AHA’s, BHS’s, or glycolic acid.
Simple Skin Care Toners Recommendations:
- Mario Badescu Glycolic Acid Toner (Dark Spots)
- Simple Kind to Skin Facial Toner (Sensitive Skin)
- Paula’s Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant (acne/dark spots)
- Pixi Glow Tonic (Acne)
- R+F Unblemish Clarifying Toner (Acne)
- R+F Redefine Pore Minimizing Toner (Enlarged Pores)
Serum/Treatments
You might have asked yourself, what do face serums do? This NEEDS to be one of your skin care essentials! Serums can soak into the skin deeper and contain active ingredients to treat a skin care problem.
Serums can help with skin problems like wrinkles, acne, redness, or dryness. There is literally a serum for every skin concern. You can use a serum for a treatment or have a serum and a treatment.
How to: Get a nickel size amount in the palm of your hands and press it into your skin. Let it dry before you add the rest of your skin care. You can do this morning and night. Sometimes depending on the serum, I prefer to just do it at night
**RECOMMENDATION: I always recommend that everyone uses a hyaluronic acid serum AND an additional serum for other skin concerns. I have an entire blog post about why you need hydration!
Skin Concerns
Aging
When trying to reverse or prevent aging look for a serum that has retinoids (retinal, retin-A, vitamin A) and peptides (stimulate collagen production). This one from The Ordinary is affordable a great option.
Acne
Acne is hard. You should have a serum AND a treatment, separately, with Salicylic Acid and/or Benzoyl Peroxide and/or sulfur. See what your skin does and doesn’t do well with. You can add niacinamide in serum as it helps with acne, aging, and discoloration.
**So niacinamide serum and acne-focused treatment for the entire face. Get The Ordinary one here.
**I also personally use the Paula’s Choice Liquid exfoliant to help with clogged pores.
Discoloration
You’ve heard it before, but Vitamin C is the best ingredient for helping prevent and clear hyperpigmentation. Essentially it inhibits the melanin production that causes dark spots. Check out this one from Youth to The People.
Dry/Dull Skin
If you have dry and dull skin that needs some moisture and life, look for ceramides (they effectively hold moisture in or keep irritants out) and hyaluronic acid to draw in moisture to the skin to give it that glow. Get this one from The Ordinary.
Moisturizer
Without moisturizing, your skin can feel tight and lack, well, moisture. DON’T SKIP THIS STEP! You will need one in the morning with SPF and one for the night that is hydrating with rich, nourishing ingredients that won’t clog your pores.
How to: get about a dime size amount and place a blob on each cheek, forehead, and chin. Then rub in until absorbed.
Simple Skin Care Moisturizer Recommendations:
- CeraVe Moisturizing Cream (Dry Skin)
- Elf Happy Hydration Cream (Dry Skin)
- CeraVe Moisturizing Lotion (Combo)
- Versed Dew Point Gel Cream (Oily Skin)
- R+F Triple Defense Treatment SPF 30 (Anti Aging)
- Neutrogena Oil Free Moisturizer (Oil Control)
- CeraVe SPF 30 Moisturizer
- R+F Triple Defense Treatment SPF 30 (Anti Aging)
- R+F Unblemish Matte SPF 30 (Oil control)
SPF
Sunscreen is needed for everyone, every day. Another skin care essentials you need. There are UVB and UVA rays that we need protection from no matter if you are laying out on the beach or staying in your house working on the computer.
Look for SPF 30, that’s all you need and you will be protected from 98% of the rays. SPF will help prevent dark spots and aging.
You can choose a mineral SPF that is formulated with Zinc Oxide aka sunblock and literally blocks and reflects the UVB and UVA rays. It can leave a white cast but usually goes away within like 20 mins.
You can choose a chemical SPF aka broad-spectrum sunscreen absorbs the UVB and UVA rays and releases them. This is usually better if you are going to sweat or get wet.
Super Goop is a great one that many people rave about. I have used it and it didn’t break me out. If you are sensitive, try to find a mineral sunscreen that is from a skincare brand. Please make it a skin care essentials for your everyday routine.
How to: Apply like you would the moisturizer and rub in until it’s absorbed.
**Only apply SPF in the AM. Your skin is repairing itself at night. Use a night cream/moisturizer that is a little thicker to help improve your skin while it’s doing its thing at night.
What I Use – If You Are Still Overwhelmed
I personally use Rodan + Fields skin care because sometimes even I get overwhelmed. You literally take a quiz designed by dermatologists and they recommend a regimen for your skin type and concerns. The steps are also numbered so you know exactly what to apply in what order. You can read my acne story here and how it seriously cured my severe acne. I 100% recommend it.
What is Clean Skin Care?
When something says clean or natural it’s just a marketing term and honestly doesn’t mean anything. There isn’t an agreed-upon definition and anyone can say they are clean products.
Even natural things are chemical compounds so keep that in mind. Clean doesn’t mean safe or effective. Focus on ingredients that we know are regulated and that work. Check out the ingredients listed in the serum/treatment part of this post.
Additives
There are many other things you can add to your skincare routine such as eye creams, exfoliants, lip serums, derma roller, masks, etc which I will go into depth in another post. But for now, just stick with the basics and get into a routine of taking care of your skin.
That should be able to start you off on the right foot for your simple skin care routine! Stick to those steps and try a few different products to see what works for you.
Remember
- Skincare is different for everyone and what works for one person might not work for you.
- You have to give it, usually, about 2 months to know if it is working. Now, if you have a reaction or are breaking out (not just purging) stop and try something else.
- Look to purchase products where they have a guarantee if you want to return it. Try samples if you can.
Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram @annierosette93 to get more daily skin care tips!
