Three things come to mind when you hear the phrase essential skin care: skin cancer, dry skin, and aisles of beauty products. But it’s more than just a surface issue. A skin care routine may seem high maintenance, but the steps for healthy skin are not only necessary, but easy to implement as well. By investing early in your skin’s health, you will not only keep it healthy and protected throughout the winter, but will also look and feel your best,” says Northwestern Medicine dermatologist Steven Nwe, DO. In order to achieve skin resilience, it’s important to know your skin type and treat it well. Although your skin may get drier or oilier with the season, it should generally be relatively consistent most of the time. The primary skin types are dry, oily, and combination.
What Should Be in Your Essential Skin Care Cabinet
To keep your skin healthy and clean, you should know what makes up a healthy skin routine. In other words, what types of products do you really need?
The cleanser
It is important to wash your face with a cleanser made specifically for your face – not just any bar or body wash you have lying around. Use gentle pressure when washing your face, and avoid scrubbing as much as possible. Finally, use warm water to rinse, since hot water makes your skin dehydrated and removes natural oils. Knowing what cleanser works best for you will require some trial and error. Dry skin requires a cleanser without alcohol or fragrances. Oily skin requires a cleanser without oil.
Use sunscreen.
If your moisturizer has an SPF under 30, double up on sunscreen as well. By now, you should know the lines well: Apply sunscreen every day, even when it’s gray or cold. When you’re exposed, reapply every two hours. It is also the number one cause of wrinkles, uneven skin tone, loss of firmness and aging signs. Make sure your sunscreen protects against both UVA and UVB rays. If cancer and sun damage aren’t enough to convince you, UV exposure is also the number one cause of wrinkles, uneven skin tone, loss of firmness and aging signs.
Using exfoliants
The reason for the exfoliation is to remove flaky skin by increasing skin cell turnover. If you have dry skin, including winter-air-induced dry skin, you may exfoliate more than usual, but keep it to once or twice a week it may be ok to exfoliate more than once or twice a week. Exfoliation can be used after cleanser but before moisturizer as it helps to remove flaky skin by increasing skin cell turnover. It’s true that exfoliants remove dead skin and buildup, making your skin smoother and pores less clogged – however, dermatologists recommend chemical exfoliants over scrubs so as to protect your skin’s protective barrier.
What Should You Use When Essential Skin Care
When it comes to skin care, you can think of it like this: Morning skin care should focus on prevention and protection during the day and nighttime skin care should focus on cleansing and repairing at night.
Generally, most people need to wash their face just once a day. In the morning, rinsing with warm water before applying moisturizer and sunscreen is all that is needed. At night, however, after a full day of exposure and damage, you will need to wash your face with cleansers, exfoliants, and serums to remove the dirt, oils, and dead skin cells. Making sure to moisturize afterward is also important.
After working out or sweating, wash your face immediately, as sweat can clog pores and worsen acne. Remember to take your makeup off before bed and avoid picking at your skin, whatever the time of day.
The weather, what about it?
Seasonal changes can cause adjustments to skin care and perhaps the products you use, but they shouldn’t require a major overhaul of your routine. In winter, it’s all about moisturizing. There is no doubt that the cold weather contributes to dryness (as does heat from radiators) and wind can chap your skin as well. You may want to supplement your daily moisturizer with a moisturizing cleanser. In the summer, your skin may be oilier, so you might want to switch to a non-oily cleanser. Sunscreen is important to have for all seasons, though you can use a lighter type of sunscreen during the summer months – just make sure you keep the heavy-duty stuff for concentrated sun exposure. Additionally, you don’t have to wait for the leaves to fall or the snow to melt to switch up your skin care routine. If your skin changes – due to the environment, hormones, or any other reason – you should adjust your routine accordingly. A dermatologist is an excellent resource if you are having trouble managing your skin care routine. They can suggest drugstore products, prescribe more serious treatments, and provide lifestyle advice to help address other factors affecting your skin.
