What product is good for what? A simple guide to taking care of your skin.

Just like cooking, skincare products build on one another to help one create their desired result. This nifty blogpost will help you figure out what does what, so that you can spend less time reading labels and moretime showing off your beautiful skin!

Cleaning your skin is the first and most basic step of your routine. You want to get dirt, makeup, bacteria, and other yucky stuff off your skin before you do anything else. Slash warm water on your face, apply cleanser and work in a circular motion, after about a minute remove with warm water and pat dry with a clean washcloth. Ta-da! You are now a professional skin-cleanser!

Now, the purpose of cleansing is not necessarily to remove oil. (I hear this misconception a lot!) Natural oil isn’t bad for your skin. Your skin produces it for a reason, and it’s only a problem when your pores become clogged with other gunk like bacteria and makeup. That’s when you break out!

So before you do anything else, you want to start with a clean slate. We love our cleansers because they don’t strip the skin of it’s natural oils and they actually ADD yummy goodness in addition to removing dirt and grime.

In my experience, this is the most misunderstood step in your skin care routine, and the most likely to be omitted after a long day. Before you pat yourself on the back for getting through the cleansing process, give your skin a fighting chance by re-balancing it with toner. Most people don’t understand what toner does, so here’s the quick and dirty explanation: toner balances your skin’s PH levels. What does that mean for you? Basically, overly alkaline skin will suffer from dryness and premature aging. Overly acidic skin will be more likely to suffer from breakouts. The purpose of toner is to goal BALANCE out the acid mantle to avoid angry breakouts on one end or premature aging on the other!

While exfoliation isn’t an everyday thing, it’s still a very important part of any skin care routine.

Exfoliation removes dead skin cells and other buildup from your skin, which can prevent acne and wrinkles. This also softens the skin and promotes a brighter, more youthful appearance.

There are a few different kinds of exfoliants: acid, enzyme, and physical. This might include scrubs, a serum or peel at home, or a professional facial. I recommend exfoliating once a week, and if your skin approves, experiment with twice a week.

Masks are amazing tools for targeting specific skin conditions such as brightening the skin or soothing the skin, and they’re lots of fun!

I recommend selecting a mask tailored to your skin goals and using it twice per week. I like to do this AFTER exfoliating, because you’ve just removed a lot of crud from your skin, which allows the mask to penetrate deeper and be even more effective.

Note: If you use a mask, I recommend toning AFTERWARD. This throws off the order of steps in your routine a little bit, so on exfoliating/mask days, simply cleanse, exfoliate, do your mask, THEN tone.
 
A mask can also serve as an exfoliant, so take that into account when selecting your products. The LAST thing you want to do is over-exfoliate and irritate your skin.

Serums are like super moisturizers!

They’re typically packed with yummy ingredients with fewer fillers than your average moisture cream. You want this to hit your skin first (before regular moisture cream) so that these powerful particles can penetrate and do their business, which ranges from brightening, acne prevention and anti-aging to name just a few!

These can typically be used AM and PM depending on the serum.

The first rule of skincare is this: hydrated skin = healthy skin.
 
A good moisture cream is a critical part of ANY skin care routine, whether you want to stick with the basics or go all out. Moisture cream prevents signs of aging and balances oil production, which prevents breakouts, so don’t skimp on the moisturizer!

Use moisturizer morning and night. In the morning, you can blend this with SPF or apply sunscreen on top. In the evening, go for a night cream or a more intense moisturizer to give your skin a chance to hydrate overnight.

Our MOST popular moisture cream is our Hella Hydration since it targets most skin types, but our Plant Power comes in a close 2nd and targets anti-aging and brightening.

Eye cream? Seriously? Isn’t that just for aging skin?
 
I’ve got news for you: All skin is aging skin. I recommend using eye cream starting in your mid-late 20s.

Sure, you could just use moisturizer around your eyes, but eye creams are specifically designed to target wrinkles, are packed with anti-aging ingredients, and are also more gentle on your delicate eye area.

Even if you have no wrinkles, you’ll want to use eye cream to make sure it stays that way as long as possible.

If you have a targeted skin care balm or oil, I recommend putting it on top of your moisture cream. It helps to seal in the benefits of everything that you put on before and provides a nice protective barrier.

I find myself doing this a lot more in the winter as the air is cooler, the wind is stronger, and forced heat more present.

If you haven’t tried a skin balm or oil before, give it a try! This is the skin care product you never knew you needed, trust me. I love having that extra layer of protection, especially when my environment isn’t conducive to healthy skin!

Again, these products aren’t all required for healthy skin! Each element of this skin care routine serves a different purpose, so pick and choose what you need based on your unique skin.

If you’re looking for a basic night and day routine that will leave your skin balanced and your budget intact, let our Beauty Oracle help you find your perfect cult classics skincare routine!