Personal skin care routine: back to basics

We all know the importance of 'personal skin care'.  The opinion on how-to (for personal skin care) differs from person to person. Some people believe that going to beauty parlours every other day is personal skin care. Others believe that personal skin care is just a matter of applying some cream or lotion on your skin, every now and then. Then there are people who think that personal skin care is an event that happens once a month or once a year. Still others busy themselves with 'personal skin care' all the time. However, personal skin care is not that complicated and neither is it that expensive (considering how beneficial it is). Personal skin care is following a routine or a procedure for attending to the needs of your skin.

Even before you start with a routine, you need to determine your skin-type (oily, dry, sensitive, normal etc.) and select the personal skin care products suitable for it (you might have to experiment with a few personal skin care products). Here is a routine that should work for most people with normal skin.

·      Cleansing

The first thing on personal skin care routine is 'Cleansing'. The three main ingredients of a cleanser are oil, water and surfactants (wetting agents).  Oil and surfactants extract dirt and oil from your skin and water then flushes it out, thus making your skin clean. You might have to try a couple of cleansers before you find the one that suits you the best. However, you should always use soap-free cleansers. Also, you should use Luke warm water for cleansing (hot and cold water, both, cause damage to your skin).  Take care that you don't over-cleanse your skin and end up damaging your skin in the process.

·      Exfoliation

 

The second thing on the personal skin care routine is exfoliation. Skin follows a natural maintenance process wherein it removes the dead cells and replaces them with new skin cells. Exfoliation is just a way to facilitate the skin in this process. Dead skin cells are not capable of responding to personal skin care products but still consume these products, hence preventing them from reaching the new skin cells. Thus removing dead skin cells is important in order to increase the effectiveness of all personal skin care products. Generally, exfoliation takes its place just after cleansing. As with any personal skin care procedure, it's important that you understand how much exfoliation you need. Exfoliate 4-5 times per week for oily/normal skin and 1-2 times per week for dry/sensitive skin. Exfoliate a couple of times more in hot and humid weather.

 

·      Moisturisers

Next thing on personal skin care routine is moisturizers.  This is one of the most important things in personal skin care. Even people with oily skin need moisturisers. Moisturisers not only seal the moisture in your skin cells, but also attract moisture (from air) whenever needed.  Use of too much moisturiser can however clog skin pores and end up harming your skin. The amount of moisturiser needed by your skin will become apparent to you within one week of you using the moisturiser.  Also, applying the moisturiser is best when your skin is still damp. The last thing on personal skin care routine is sunscreen. A lot of moisturizers (day-time creams/moisturisers) come with UV protection – so you can get double benefits from them. Such moisturisers are recommended for all days (irrespective of whether it is sunny or cloudy).

Again, experiment with various personal skin care products and also with the amount you need to apply. What gives you best results is the best personal skin care recipe for you. However, if you have some kind of skin dilemma, it is best to consult your dermatologist before you actually start using any personal skin care products.

  

7 BASIC TIPS FOR CHOOSING YOUR ANTI AGEING SKIN CARE PRODUCTS

Finding the right products for anti-aging skin care can be very complex. With the numerous products in the market offering all eye-catching benefits and including advanced ingredients, it becomes very difficult to determine which one is the right one for your skin. And then the marketers with all their super effective marketing strategies make it even more complex for you. Most of these advertisements are over-hyped and they try to dazzle you in order to encourage you to buy the product. So you never really know what results the products will actually bring.

To determine which products are right for you:

 You must first understand the features of aging skin. As you age, your skin starts to lose its elasticity and firmness because the collagen and elastin in your skin begins to lose their resiliency and cohesiveness. The collagen production slows down as well as you age. Skin cells die out frequently thus losing their ability to retain moisture. As a result, your skin becomes dull, rough and starts to sag and wrinkle.

In a situation like this, we all want to treat our skin in the right ways in order to get the best possible results. And it is not as complicated as it may seem. Skin care is always simple if you try to keep it simple. So here are some guidelines that will help you make the right skin care choices.

• Use an effective and mild cleanser: Cleansing daily is very important for your skin. Make sure that your cleanser goes deep into your skin and removes all the dirt and excess oil, leaving your skin feeling soft and fresh. Look for a product that delivers light exfoliation, conditions your skin and does not leave any dirt remaining.

         

• Watch your skin to check effectiveness of your skin care regime: The skin care routine that you are following must be able to hydrate, repair and renovate your skin. So you have to check if your skin care routine is actually doing all those to your skin. If it's an effective regime, then it must not take 30 or 60 days for your skin to show some signs of positive change. Just like how a plant perks up within a few hours after being watered, your skin should also respond to the products that way.

• Your skin care regime should not take more than 5 minutes: A proper skin care regime is always a short and quick one. There only three simple steps: cleanse, exfoliate and moisturize. So it must not take more than 5 minutes. It should be easy for you to pick up the products that are suited for your skin's current condition on each day.

• The product must blend with your skin: You will know that the products that you are applying on your skin are effective if they smoothly blend in with your skin. You must not be able to feel that you are wearing anything on your skin. The products that do not go deep in your skin cannot provide you with desired results.

• Protect yourself from the sun: Use a proper sunblock that protects yourself from the harsh UV rays. If you feel that your sunblock is not doing its job properly then it's not the right sunblock for you.

• Stay hydrated: Hydration is very important in order to maintain the healing mechanism of the skin. You must drink plenty of water every day to clear up the toxins and chemicals in your body that can harm your skin.

• You may want to limit your makeup usage: The right skin care regime will make you feel more confident about your skin so you may not want to wear much of makeup anymore. Moreover, less makeup is always good for your skin so if your skin care regime is effective then it's better to limit your makeup usage.

Wasn't that quite simple? Now you can choose the right anti-aging skin care products for your skin. Follow these guidelines and ignore the exaggerating advertisements and offers.

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Article Source: Quazi_Hameem_Mahmud