The Perfect Skincare Routine for your Skin Type

With so many skin care routines out there, it’s hard to find the perfect one for your specific skin type. We’ve consulted several skin gurus and put together the perfect routine for you.

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Breaking down the Routine Steps

1. Cleanse

It’s recommended you clean your face with a cleanser at least once a day, in the PM. If your skin tends more toward dry or dehydrated, you can wash your face with water in the AM. If your skin is more oily, use a cleanser in the AM as well.

Please note that your skin isn’t supposed to feel dry or tight after cleansing. If that is the case, your cleanser is too harsh for your skin and it’s recommended you try a more gentle one.

2. Exfoliate (oily skin types)

You may think of exfoliation as harsh scrubs that physically remove dead skin. We prefer chemical exfoliation to physical exfoliation. Physical exfoliation is often overly harsh, does not remove dead skin evenly, and can actually encourage acne in the long run by damaging your moisture barrier.

Chemical exfoliation is great for evenly getting rid of dead skin and cleaning up dirty pores. It’s not a vital step in a routine, but it can be useful for improving skin tone, battling acne, and getting rid of closed comedones. AHAs such as glycolic acid or lactic acid work by loosening the bonds between dead skin so that it can shed more quickly and reveal brighter skin. BHAs, which mainly refer to salicylic acid, are lipid soluble and able to penetrate deeper to break up sebum.

If you are going to use a chemical exfoliant, start at around 2 times a week and slowly build up the frequency. If your skin starts to look dry or irritated, reduce the frequency again. Please note that if you’re going to use an AHA, you need to add sun protection into your routine first. Due to the way they encourage skin turnover, AHAs make your skin more sensitive to the sun, increasing risk of sunburn, wrinkles, and pigmentation spots.

If you are new at chemical exfoliation, start at a low percentage product and work your way up. Don’t mistake a higher percentage for automatic higher efficacy or faster results. You could damage your skin and cause more issues to deal with long term.

4. Moisturize

A vital step in a skin care routine. Preferably, moisturize any time you’ve cleansed your face. When you cleanse away grime or makeup you are also removing the moisture that your body naturally produces to maintain your skin, and it’s important to replace that. Skipping moisturizer, especially if you are using actives such as chemical exfoliants, benzoyl peroxide, or retinoids, can cause dry, dehydrated, sensitive, or dull looking skin. If your skin is oily, try a gel moisturizer to prevent shininess.

5. Sunscreen (optional, but highly recommended)

If you’re using an AHA, benzoyl peroxide or retinoids, you absolutely need sun protection in your routine (since these products make your skin much more sensitive to sun damage). There are also some oral prescription medications that will increase sun sensitivity; be sure to check the prescribing information / patient information leaflet of your medication.

However, even if you’re not using photosensitizing products, using sunscreen every day is still a good idea. Sun exposure causes long term damage, increases your risk of skin cancer, and is one of the chief factors that causes skin to age prematurely, even when you’re not getting a sunburn. Proper sun protection is the best anti-aging and anti-wrinkle treatment you can provide your skin in the long term. PIH (post inflammatory hyperpigmentation) can also be worsened by sun exposure. Make sure your products have a SPF rating of 30 or higher, and that they provide adequate UVA protection. Solscense provides an extra barrier of sun protection, and repairs existing sun damage.

Remember you need to use around 1/4 tsp (US size) for your face and neck to get the advertised protection. Sunscreen is tested for its SPF rating at 2 mg/cm2. Given the size of the average face, this comes out to about 1/4 tsp. If you’re also applying it to your neck, use an additional 1/4 tsp for that area. We highly recommend that you measure this out to get a feel for what it really looks like. Reapply after two hours of sun exposure, or after you’ve been in the water.