Why YOU should start a skin care routine

Skincare is very important for any adolescent or young adult as they always want to look youthful and lively. But there are a lot of people who don’t bother much about their skin, especially on their face. There are myriad benefits that come from having a skincare routine. It helps to prevent many skin diseases and ailments that occur repetitively such as eczema and acne. A few reasons why it is important to have a skincare routine is that your skin cells die every minute of every day, so if one day your skin is glowing, the next day it could become dull and not as perfect. Besides that, the prevention of diseases is always better than finding a cure for it. This is why having a skincare routine is significant in preventing these types of diseases from happening. Skincare routines also help a person to inherit beautiful skin for decades to come. Developing a skincare routine very early can help tremendously in securing that perfect skin even in your 50’s. Skincare routines also help reduce money wasting as you do not have to deal with acne scars, deep wrinkles, skin discoloration, and other skin issues that come from lack of skincare.

I, as a guy, have only recently started investing in skincare products after a girl friend of mine introduced me to it. I had never even thought about it before that. But my skin had been prone to pimples and oil for my whole life. I just hadn’t done anything about it. After she showed me all these things, I immediately bought them for myself and started using them. A few days later, I saw the results immediately. There are a few things that I use in my skincare routine. These few things are the basics when it comes to skincare and should be in all skincare routines as I have seen them on countless websites and blogs. They are facial cleanser, toner, serum, moisturizer, exfoliator, and sunblock.

Knowing your skin type is also very important before buying any skincare products. There are five types of skin, which are; normal, dry, oily, combination and sensitive skin. Each product is suitable for a different skin type and it’s your job to find out which is your skin type. But for this post, I won’t be going into detail about these different skin types. I will only talk about the basis of how every skincare routine should start.

The first and most important thing everyone needs is a facial cleanser. Even before I started having my skincare routine, I always had a facial cleanser. That is the most important product you should have. Facial cleansers are used as the first step to a skincare routine. The reason for this is that it removes all the dirt, oil, and other impurities from your face. This is because, throughout the day, bacteria, pollutants, and other impurities are constantly barraging into your face. Cleansers also help other skincare products to properly penetrate your skin. Cleansers also help in removing excess oil on the face while also allowing some substance to be present on the skin surface to form a barrier that protects the face from harmful bacteria. Cleansers should be used twice a day, once in the morning and once at night.

Next, toner. In simple terms, toner is a type of liquid that is designed to cleanse the skin and shrink pores. It helps people with oily or acne-prone skin type or to just give an extra cleansing to the face. Toner helps balance the pH of the skin. pH levels are the measurement of acidity. Our skin is naturally acidic with a pH balance of around five to six. But that can be changed due to the alkaline nature of soap. To counter this, our skin normally releases more oil which leads to oily looking skin. However, by using a toner, prevention of the release of excess oils happens which allows less oil to be produced and return our skin to its natural acidity. Toners also detoxify the skin from industrial made pollutants. Pollutants such as smoke, smog, and other chemical residues are removed with the application of toners which helps make your skin look brighter and healthier. The long term benefits of toner are that it helps reduce acne, reduce acne scars and fewer wrinkles on the face. Toner is always applied after cleanser and should be applied before a moisturizer as it allows the moisturizer to be absorbed by the skin easily. Toners should also be used twice a day. Once in the morning and once in the night before bed. There a few ways to apply toner to the face, some ways more effective than the other. But it’s all up to the person, to be honest. The way I apply toner is by pouring a little bit of toner onto the palm of my hand and then tapping it all over my face. Be sure to get the toner all over your face. You can also just use a cotton swab to apply toner to the face.

After toner, a serum is used. A serum contains a myriad of useful nutrients for your skin. There are many types of serums to choose from, but it mostly depends on your skin’s needs. Most of the time, serums hydrate more than moisturizing as the serum molecules are able to penetrate the skin and hydrate the deepest levels of the skin. Serums are not meant to replace moisturizers, but to enhance the effects of moisturizers. Serums contain antioxidants which include vitamins A, C, and E. They also have properties that help lighten up the skin tone. It can also be used as a treatment for wrinkles on the face when used with moisturizers. Serums are also used twice a day, once in the morning and once in the night, before bed and always after toner.

Next, moisturizer. As the name states, the primary function of a moisturizer is to provide moisture to the face or to hydrate the face. Your face naturally secretes sebum, but when it doesn’t provide enough sebum, moisturizers can be very helpful in keeping the skin less dry. Moisturizers provide hydration to the skin cells on the tip of the skin. Moisturizers also help balance the proteins, lipids, and water on the skin. This product is necessary for all types of skin and should be used regularly. Furthermore, the weather in Malaysia is hot, which made more reason for us to use moisturizers. Moisturizers help to prevent dullness of the skin, helps the skin stay young, reduces wrinkles, and reduces skin problems. Moisturizers should be applied in the morning and night as well. Some moisturizers contain sunscreen which is even better as it provides an extra layer of protection against the sun.

Besides that, there is also the exfoliator. Exfoliators are used to remove dead skin from the face. There are different types of exfoliators such as chemicals or scrubs. Exfoliators reduce blackheads, minimizes the appearance of pores, improves your overall skin tone, and also controls excess oils. Personally, I do not use exfoliators a lot as I had a bad experience with using a certain exfoliator that caused my skin to have a severe breakout. When I looked it up online, the brand I was using had inflicted similar problems on other people. Exfoliators should not be used as often as other products I had mentioned. Maybe around 1-3 times per week, depending on your skin.

Lastly, sunscreen. Yes, sunscreen. This product is not only meant to be worn when you go to the beach, it is meant to be worn every day. You see, the Sun emits two different kinds of ultraviolet rays. UVA (Ultraviolet radiation) and UVB. Both are the rays that cause sunburns. UVA rays could penetrate deeper into the skin compared to UVB rays. It can cause skin cancer if your skin is overly exposed to it. This is why it is important to wear sunscreen before going out. It is even recommended to wear sunscreen at home as the UVA rays can penetrate through your window’s glass and reach you. The minimum SPF sunscreen you should be using is 30 as it has been scientifically proven to be the minimum requirement to protect yourself from the harmful rays. Sunscreen should be used twice a day as well. Although some people say that it should be reapplied every few hours.

Well, that’s all from me regarding this topic. I hope this post enlightened you to the point where you also start a new skincare routine.