Skin Care At Home - 4 Tips To Become Your Own Beautician
The first thing to do when you embark on a personal skin care regimen is to examine your skin type. You need to know whether your skin is normal, oily, dry or sensitive. And with that you need to choose the skin care product that suits your skin type. You might find it useful to test a number of products before you come to a final decision.If you have a normal skin type, the following personal skin care regimen is suggested:
1. Cleansing. A good personal skin care program always starts with cleansing. Part of this step is the selection of a good cleanser. The three core cleanser ingredients of a cleanser are water, surfactants (also known as wetting agents) and oil. Surfactants and oil extract oil and dirt from the skin and the water flushes it out, thereby cleansing your skin. Again, you may have to try several cleansers first before picking your best choice.
Important considerations in cleansing include the use of non-soap or soap-free cleansers, the use of lukewarm water for cleansers to open up the skin pores, and the right amount of cleansers to apply. Note that overcleansing can damage your skin.
2. Exfoliation. Cleansing is usually followed by exfoliation. The skin has a natural maintenance and replacement process where it sheds dead skin cells off to be replaced by new ones. Dead skin cells tend to block the pores and the underlying skin layers. Aside from attracting bacterial infection, dead skin cells absorb skin care products but prevent the products from creating their desired effects. What exfoliation does then is facilitate the removal of these dead skin cells.
Ideally, exfoliation should be done 4 to 5 times a week for oily and normal skin and 1 to 2 times a week for dry and sensitive skin. The frequency needs to be increased further during hot and humid weather conditions and reduced during cooler times. The key to effective exfoliation is knowing just how often you need it to get the best results.
3. Moisturizing. This process is basic in personal skin care. Everyone should moisturize, including those whose skin is already oily. Moisturizers not only induce the skin cells to remain moist but also attract moisture from the air whenever needed. Be warned, however, that excessive amounts of moisturizers can clog the skin pores and end up harming your skin. Exactly how much moisturizing you need can be made manifest after a week or so of application, after which you can then start making adjustments. Remember further that moisturizers are best applied on damp skin.
4. Sunscreen. Good moisturizers are doubly beneficial because they come with UV protection. Nevertheless, you should always apply sunscreen irrespective of whether it is sunny or cloudy because sunlight contains UV rays, excessive exposure to which can be harmful to the skin.
Having said all of the above, there is not one best personal skin care regimen for all people. What works best will be for you to experiment on and decide. Just remember that for any sort of skin disorder, you need to consult a dermatologist as a basic step.