Easy Skincare Routine Guide for Beginners
When it comes to creating a skincare routine that helps you with all of your skin concerns, you need to walk before you can run - and what I mean by that is you need to have all the basics down before taking your skin care routine from beginner to advanced.
If you’re a beauty novice, not to worry - here’s our full guide on how to create the best skincare routine for newbies. This daily skin care routine tutorial helps lay the foundation for healthy skin - no matter your skin type! This is the first post in our series that’ll help you understand the basics of a skincare routine for your skin.
What Are the Skin Care Routine Basics?
The simplest daily skin care routine only has two steps - cleansing, and moisturising. If you imagine your skincare routine like a sandwich, cleanser and moisturiser are like the two slices of bread while all the filling in the middle is made of skincare steps such as toner, essence, serum, and more.
Getting the basics down of cleansing and moisturising is crucial before moving on to adding the really good stuff to your routine! And I know what you’re thinking - you already know how to cleanse and moisturise your skin because you’ve got a single cleanser and moisturiser already. Well, it might not actually be enough!
The truth is, even these two aspects of a daily skin care routine can have multiple steps - for some, cleansing skin also requires makeup removal, and it’s critical to know how to do this properly. If you’ve only been using your facial cleanser to remove makeup this whole time, chances are you actually haven't been removing your makeup properly - leading to common issues like breakouts and irritated skin!
Clarins Gentle Foaming Cleanser (Normal/Combination Skin)
This gentle foaming cleanser whisks away impurities and prepares your skin for your moisturiser.
Why Is Cleansing Important in a Daily Skin Care Routine?
Using a facial cleanser morning and night is an important step in a daily skin care routine - no matter your skin type. It’s especially important as part of your nighttime routine, as that’s when you’re likely to remove makeup (if you wear any) and especially for removing any natural oils and trapped impurities on your skin.
A good cleanser sweeps away excess sebum (which can cause breakouts), pollution particles (which accelerate your skin’s ageing process) and leaves your skin ready for the next step in your beauty routine.
If you wear makeup, there’s an extra step you should consider before heading straight into using your cleanser - and that’s makeup removal. This is a well-known technique called double cleansing, and usually entails using something like micellar water or oil cleanser to break down makeup as a first cleansing step, before using a second cleanser to whisk away any lingering residue.
As part of a simple skin care routine, double cleansing is only necessary as part of your evening routine to thoroughly cleanse your skin of makeup and even pollution that’s accumulated throughout the day.
SK-II Facial Treatment Cleansing Oil
Try a sample for just $19.95!
This Pitera™ infuse cleansing oil from SK-II breaks down even stubborn, waterproof makeup for perfectly clean skin.
What About Toner - Isn’t That Essential for Cleansing?
Toner has come a long way from its original purpose, which was to restore skin’s pH balance after cleansing. In reality, this is actually pretty outdated information - these days, almost all facial cleansers are properly pH balanced, meaning there’s no need for a toner to specifically balance your skin’s pH anymore.
Before pH balanced facial cleansers were developed, bar soaps were as commonly used to cleanse skin - the problem with bar soaps is that their pH is much more alkaline than our skin’s more acidic 4.5 - 6 pH level. However, if you’re using a toner that you really love, don’t feel like you need to swap it out!
Why Is Moisturiser Important in a Daily Skin Care Routine?
The best skin care routine for all skin types always includes a moisturising step. Keeping skin healthy means keeping a proper balance of hydration and moisture in your skin. Moisturisers help by locking that hydration into your skin, as well as preventing it from evaporating away.
And making sure your skin is moisturised doesn’t always mean using a creamy moisturiser - they come in all kinds of different textures for different skin types, and those with dry or dehydrated skin can benefit from using facial oils as their moisturising step.
Clinique Moisture Surge Intense Skin Fortifying Hydrator
This lightweight gel-cream from Clinique packs a punch, lending intense hydration for all skin types.
Does Oily Skin Need Moisturiser?
This is a huge myth about oily skin - but even a daily skin care routine for this skin type should always have moisturiser. Not using moisturiser can actually make oily skin feel even more oily, since there’s an absence of skin-hydrating humectants to help keep skin feeling healthy.
Simple Skin Care Routine Order
Now that we’ve gone over these two pillars of a simple skin care routine, here’s a quick run-down on the exact order you’d use them in - and a helpful image guide to follow!
Daily Skin Care Routine (Morning):
- Cleanser
- Serum (Optional)
- Moisturiser
- Sunscreen
Daily Skin Care Routine (Evening):
- Micellar Water or Oil Cleanser
- Cleanser
- Treatment (Optional)
- Eye Cream
- Moisturiser
Adding to these basic steps are what creates the perfect routine for your skin type - but now that you know where to start with the basics, putting together the right products for your skin has never been easier.
If you decide it's time to step up your skincare routine with a serum or treatments such as a chemical exfoliator, retinoid, or face mask, you can add them to your simple skincare routine a few times a week after cleansing and before moisturising to help get your best skin ever!
However, I don’t blame you if you want a shortcut to creating your perfect beauty routine - if you’re looking for the quickest way to find out your skin types and create a beauty routine just for you, try our skin quiz!
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