Keeping Your Face Clean and Clear!

It's a very basic topic indeed, but it's something worth thinking about and paying special attention. These basics form the foundation to a lasting, fresh skin. Let's see how many of us find ourselves slacking off on least one of these!

Remove All Makeup at Bedtime 

This is critical! Any layer of makeup blocks your pores, causing skin to break out, get black/whiteheads, and contribute to serious acne. Makeup, no matter powder or liquid, accumulates dust and surrounding pollution, making it an unhygienic pasty layer. Picture this layer adhered to your skin, all night, for an average of 6-8 hours; your skin cells breathing in more of the impurities from all day's makeup. Isn't that suffocating?




Use a good makeup remover that can remove regular as well as waterproof makeup effortlessly;
you don't want to rub too hard and aggravate the delicate facial skin. This can potentially cause wrinkles. One of the best, natural makeup removers is olive oil. It can easily remove majority of waterproof makeup.

On a side note, limit the use of makeup as far as possible, for example, using it 3-4 times a week instead of everyday. This way you won't lose your skin's natural glow.    


Wash Your Face!

I'm shocked to hear from people that they don't wash their face in the morning. It is a healthy practice. When you wake up, your face has a layer of natural oils accumulated overnight. Washing your face refreshes and resets your face for the day. It really doesn't make sense to apply moisturizer over an unwashed face, or even apply foundation over it, which would only create a mucky texture eventually.



Similarly, wash up at bedtime. Cleanse your pores of all impurities accumulated during the day. Make sure to remove your makeup thoroughly too because that is the key medium for dust, pollution, and bacteria to cling and invade the skin.

Wash your face, let your cells breathe so that you can be ready to absorb something more nourishing, like anti-aging creams, serums, or other moisturizers.  


Exfoliate

Exfoliation is important in any skincare routine because it sloughs off the dead skin layer, bringing out the newly formed cell layer under the dead cells and letting it shine, creating the effect of a naturally glowing and clearer skin. This is particularly important if you live in cold weather places because the skin tends to dry and get flaky more often. St. Ives Apricot scrub has been around for years but it's a great basic scrub. If you're new to scrubs and exfoliation, I highly recommend this as a starter.

I've used Suki scrub recently, the price point is high for me but it works amazing!  

In my teen years when I had often had breakouts and noticeable blackheads, I used the Clean & Clear Blackhead Clearing scrub, which worked very well, because of its salicylic acid content. Salicylic acid helps clear out acne or pus filled pimples by drying them out. For those with oily skin, it is a good practice to use a toner after washing your face and after exfoliation. It shrinks the pores and preventing recurring blackheads.

Exfoliate at least once a week. If your skin tends to get dry skin patches frequently, do it twice a week with adequate gaps of days in between. I recommend doing this at night because then you can moisturize and go to sleep, letting your fresh skin develop overnight, leaving you with rejuvenated skin in the morning. Check out this diagram and follow the arrows to massage the scrub onto your face/neck:

Massaging in these directions give you a mini face lift, as this
motion lifts and pulls back your facial skin, which reduces the sagging skin effect

Montagne Jeunesse masque

In addition to this, take some time out to treat your skin with a nourishing masque to address your skin concerns once a week. It can be a cucumber masque, mud pack, pomegranate masque, etc. I've been using the Montagne Jeunesse masque packets found at Ulta stores, and their results are long lasting!  


Moisturize

Whether you have dry skin, oily, or combination skin, it is important to moisturize.Use a rich, hydrating moisturizer if you have dry skin. In fact, to effectively allow your product to penetrate the skin, pat dry your face after cleansing, leaving it slightly damp. Then apply your moisturizer. Water has a thinner consistency than lotions or creams, so it will help transport the moisturizer deep into your pores. There isn't a rule of whether you should use creams or lotions; use whichever works the best for you.

If you have oily skin, use a moisturizer that is water based and isn't too greasy. I suggest using lotions over creams, because having oily skin myself, I find that my face becomes an oil slick during the day if I use moisturizers with a creamy consistency. For combination skin, apply moisturizer liberally on the dry patches, such as the cheek, and pat a light layer on your T-zone.

Whichever moisturizer you use, make sure that it is applied in the morning after washing your face, during the day after showering (if you do), and at night before bedtime. The skin becomes dry overnight, from air conditioning/heating, lack of water intake during the hours slept, and if the weather is dry overall.

Make sure that the daytime moisturizer has an SPF of at least 15-30 to protect the skin from damaging effects of ultraviolet rays. It is even better if the lotion/cream mentions protection from UVA/UVB rays too. Here's a diagram that shows how SPF protects us from the harmful rays emitted from the sun as photons (simply stated as tiny beads of energy that transmit light, UVA/UVB in this case):





The nightly moisturizer can be free of SPF, but high in nutritional value for the skin. For example, containing Vitamin C extracts that brighten the skin; vitamin E for healthy skin; retinol for those who are fighting aging signs; or intense hydration for dry skin. Oily skin people, do not hesitate to moisturize liberally at night, unless you find your face overwhelmingly oily in the morning.


Drink Water

Hydration is key in maintaining a supple, fresh skin. For those of us with oily skin, this is good hydration without any oiliness! Those with dry skin probably know how important it is to prevent dry, patchy areas, or uncomfortably tight skin. Healthy skin yields to a glowing skin, which makes makeup application a breeze. Those who suffer from acne or frequent breakouts, water is even more essential for you! The hydration will control the excess oil production since your skin will become naturally moisturized from drinking water (not to mention that you should still be moisturizing your face). Drink at least 8-10 glasses of water a day.

For me, it really helps to carry a water bottle so that way I don't forget to drink it. The bottle acts as a reminder.
If you want to challenge yourself, get a bottle with graduated labels (as seen in the above picture); for example, my water bottle can hold up to 32oz. It is marked to show if I'm at the 8oz level, 14oz level, etc. This helps me track the amount of water I've been drinking.



"Please note that I am not promoting or advertising on behalf of any products I mention or show pictures of in this blog. All opinions are solely based on my personal experiences. Thank you! "