Skincare Basics – Breaking down Skincare Routines

Glowing for the Holidays; all about Skincare routines

Skincare has reached a new era, different skincare routines and prescription treatments constantly flood my FYP with recommendations all over socials. But what do you need? What do all these products do? 

There are a couple of skincare categories, but skincare should be tailored to YOUR skin.

If you are the lucky person who washes their face with dish soap and looks poreless, no need to throw in a bunch of actives and ruin your skin. 

Starting basic, face cleanser and moisturizer. If you have zero routines, and zero ideas on how to start, this is all you should begin with. Use moisturizing washes for normal or dry skin. Use acid-based for acne prone. Mix and match! Moisturizers can be adjusted as well, light oil control, or heavier barrier creams. 

Let’s discuss the harsher treatment-specific acids! 

There are alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) and beta hydroxy acids (BHAs).

Acids will make or break your skin. You should not be using multiple unless you are told to by your dermatologist, or have checked their interactions. For example, if you wash your face with salicylic acid and add a glycolic toner and retinol, you will probably (definitely) chemically burn your face! Also, actives increase sun sensitivity, so you must be using sunscreen in conjunction with them.

BHA’s are designed for acne-prone skin. They can be used to minimize pores, control oil and sebum plugs (blackheads) treat acne sd well as kill the bacteremia that causes acne.

AHA’s are less irritating for those with dry skin! They fade dark spots, and even texture, tend to moisturize, and can also increase a faster skin cell turnover. 

Retinols!

They increase skin cell turnover, they are anti-aging, and they will burn your skin if u go in the sun. Use with caution, do not overuse and let your skin adjust. If the side effects are too much to handle begin with once a week and gradually incorporate it in more. You can also receive a lower dose or you can moisturize first, to allow for less irritation. 

With using these products, interactions and side effects such as irritation or retinol burn may occur! However, check to make sure you are not making it worse by overlapping interacting ingredients. Retinols mixed with AHAs/BHAs can cause extreme dryness and irritation. Glycolic acids and Vitamin C can cause an over-exfoliation effect. 

There are a variety of barrier creams, or moisturizers meant to improve your irritated or dehydrated skin barrier.

Serums, specifically Corsx creates multiple gentle products to do this. There are Ampoule serums, hyaluronic acid serums, moisturizers, sleeping masks, and night creams, along with hydrating eye creams. Products using ceramides with hyaluronic acid tend to be the perfect combo for everyone for the night, and those with dry skin can easily use it both night and day. 

Layering your skincare is a simple task. Begin with a cleanser, toner, serum, moisturizer, eye creams, and retinol last. If your skin tolerates retinol well, you can layer before your moisturizer, but I recommend never using these products on skin that is still wet (Only HA). 

Within Prescription grade beauty.

Your dermatologist can provide a wonderful variety of skincare. IF given the opportunity, use the dermatologist before trying to create an acid-heavy routine yourself. Most dermatologists use medical insurance and most policies cover any treatment related to acne. 

Retin-A, Trentionon, and adapalene gel are your prescription-strength retinol. While OTC retinol may be anti-aging, prescription strength is where you will see those results due to the higher concentration. With these, redness irritation, and peeling may occur, but buffering and other methods allow you to gradually incorporate them into your routine. These products are botox-in-a-bottle topicals. They have been shown to literally reduce aging, texture, acne, hyperpigmentation, etc. They work by increasing skin cell turnover and allow your body to produce collagen at speeds it would not be able to without. 

For those who enjoy collagen supplements, there is very little evidence they are effective at all. Most studies claim they do not do anything. If you are looking for collagen production at a high speed, you need to get a prescription strength retinol. 

There is also MedGrade skincare routines

Which I trust a little less than dermatology-based care. As your facialist and cosmetologists are lovely, they go through two years of schooling while dermatologists go to med school. So, listen to dermatology before cosmetology. That being said, I live laugh love MedSpas. There are excellent facials, treatments, and skincare available at them. Light therapy, peels, hydrafacials, and laser facials are a perfect addition to a skincare routine and allow for increased skin cell turnover- reduced sebum, and age or sun spots. There are many different facials and treatments available, so talk to the staff, but also do research ahead of time to understand the implications of each. Some will require downtime, as your skin will peel for a few days and look horrific before it looks amazing. 

To hear more about proper skincare routines and product inspiration, check out our Pinterest at UATwitch! https://pin.it/3iYDcdR