Your Guide to a Simple Skincare Routine

Building a skincare routine is a lot easier than you imagine. I’m going to admit something which I will never reveal to my workmates, family, or my child, I am lazy. I mean seriously lazy. My parents used to say the only reason I was good at high jump as a kid was because of the allure of the mattress on the other side of the beam. So, if I say having a skincare routine is easy (and quick), trust me, it is.

The main parts of a routine you want to focus on are; cleanse, treatment (if you want/need it), moisturise, and finally the most important part protect!!

CLEANSE

Why do we cleanse our face? Well besides getting rid of the makeup and environmental pollutants that we are exposed to each day; it also helps prepare the skin for the other steps in the routine. Take polishing your floors as an example, you can’t polish your floors without cleaning them first, otherwise, you are making the dirt and pollutants ingrained into your skin.

So, cleanse each morning and evening with a gentle cleanser that won’t strip your natural skin barrier.

TREATMENT

This is where you would use a serum or other treatment product as it will be able to penetrate the skin better now that you have removed all the excess oil and dirt. You will use a different treatment product depending on your primary skin concern ie; pigmentation, lines & wrinkles, uneven skin tone, etc.

You don’t need to complete this step if you are strapped for time or don’t have a particular concern for your skin, however, you should be aware that if you do skip a treatment it will take longer for the clinical results of the treatment to take effect.

MOISTURISE

As we age, our skin produces less sebum meaning our skin gets drier. We are more prone to wrinkles because of the dryness and we have more of a need for moisturiser than ever before.

So, picking a moisturiser for your skin type is important. It can also mean your make up will sit on your skin better and your face will keep that gorgeous glow of youth.

When you have combination skin, it may mean that you need more moisture than you think as your skin may be compensating by overproducing sebum creating both oily yet dry effect. If you think this may be an issue for you, you can use a heavier moisturiser at night when your skin is in repair mode and that may assist with reducing the excess sebum production.

If you find you are breaking out, then you may be over moisturising and will need to cut back on heavy moisturisers.

PROTECT

If you only do 1 thing out of all these steps, I would say do this step. You need to protect your skin from UV rays and other environmental pollutants which age your skin prematurely. You need to make sure you put UV protection on during the day (even on cloudy days) and re-apply as per the instructions on your sunscreen. Wondering how to keep your eyes protected and avoid wrinkles on your eyes? Use sunglasses!! I have a pair of sunglasses which are rather large, but I am ok with that because everyone I speak to about wrinkles asks why I don’t have eye wrinkles!

I have put together a quick image of the products I use (and why) so you can see how easy a routine can be, especially to the lazy bones in all of us!