Creating a Skincare Routine: The Basics

Happy Friday everyone so today I’m going to be talking about skin care again. This time I’m talking about how one can come up with their own skincare routine. I get asked by my friends all the time how I know which products to choose and what works best for my skin and even why something works for my skin.

Most of finding out, which products work best, is to simply experiment. I’ve pretty much had acne since I was 13 and have experimented with many face washes and moisturizers since. None of my advice is new whatsoever, but it doesn’t hurt to get back to the basics every once in awhile.

So, first and foremost, you have to figure out what type of skin you have. Are you oily, dry, sensitive, normal, or combination (oily + dry?) Keep in mind that you can have oily skin that’s also sensitive and dry skin that’s sensitive. Personally, I have combination skin that is sensitive and honestly, it sucks! Once you figure this part out you can pretty much shop for products that cater to your skin type.

After figuring out your skin type, shopping for products is probably going to be overwhelming yet addictive. So, try shopping for kits and asking salespeople for samples. I like going the sample route simply because skincare can be pretty expensive and you don’t want to waste your money on something that didn’t work or you didn’t like. Always save your receipts if you can’t get a sample!

Now for the fun part, narrow your products down to a cleanser, toner, and moisturizer. We’ll talk about serums, acids, and oils in a later post. All of those kits and samples you tried…well its time to buy the full size of the ones that worked best for you. So basically you’re going to be looking for your holy grail skincare products that you know you can always fall back on. Of course, these products will probably change because of the seasons, aging or even formula changes.

My routine includes a stick charcoal cleanser, a balancing toner and niacinamide serum and then a probiotic moisturizer. Most days I tend to go without the serum unless I’m breaking out. These products work great for my temperamental skin and are basically my skin care saviors.

I do have some extra tips that have helped me so much since I’ve gotten really serious about ridding of my acne:

• You may not need a cleanser in the morning if your skin isn’t crazy oily or dirty.
• Always try to remove ALL of your makeup and then cleanse and do not forget to tone
• Be as gentle as possible with your skin – sensitive or not
• Be consistent. Try not to change up your products too often or else you won’t know what’s truly working. Also, always wash your face at night and get that makeup off before bed.

That’s my post for today. I hope this was helpful for some of you all out there. I’ll be posting a part two (and maybe three) that includes acids, serums, oils, and masks. Thanks for reading

ChelsiKay