We live in a time where the makeup and skin care industries are dominated by the rapid trends on social media. Nearly every week there is a new viral product that will remove your dark circles or instantly clear up your acne. I’ve been struggling with acne and other skincare issues for nearly 8 years now and feel like I have tried every lotion, cream, or salve. I’ve met with countless dermatologists and estheticians only to be told wildly different advice each time. Finally, I worked out a skin care routine along with lifestyle changes that completely altered my skin for the better.
AM ROUTINE
The key to both my AM and PM routines is simplicity. Influencers tend to push the idea that you need a 32 step skincare routine in order to have clear skin, but I have found that sticking to a few good products is more effective than overloading your skin. Right off the bat I rinse my face with lukewarm water. I have combination skin, oil in my t-zone and dry everywhere else, and have noticed a huge difference in how dry my skin is since I stopped cleansing in the morning. If my skin dries out before I start applying my products, I will re-wet it with either sink water or a can of spray water (I love the Avene one). The first product I use is a vitamin C serum. Vitamin C is not a necessity in any routine, but it helps me with brightening my skin and fading dark spots. My personal favorites are the La Roche Posay and Naturium ones! After letting it sink into my skin for a moment I apply either the CeraVe or Good Moleuces eye creams. I follow this up with an acne spot treatment on any active acne. I have found that the Clinique salicylic acid treatment works best for me. Next I apply a small dot of La Roche Posay Cicaplast Baum to any really dry spots or healing acne spots. To finish it all off I apply a layer of either the La Roche Posay Double Repair Moisturizer or the SkinCeuticals Triple Lipid Moisturizer. In the winter, I don’t use sunscreen even though I probably should. In the coming weeks I will start working sunscreen into my routine. At the moment I don’t have a sunscreen to recommend, but it’s something I plan to find this spring.
PM ROUTINE
My PM routine is definitely a bit more complicated, but overall it is still pretty simple. If I have any makeup on, or my skin feels particularly oily, I will start with an oil cleanse. To oil cleanse you apply the cleanser to dry skin first and massage it in, then wet your hands and mix in the water. After rinsing it off, you follow up with your regular water based cleaner. Dermalogica, Clinique, and Byoma make great oil based cleansers, and I use La Roche Posay Purifying Foaming Cleanser as my water based cleanser. Same as in the morning, if my skin dries out I will re-wet it. Once my skin is damp I apply the Byoma Balancing Facial mists then immediately go in with a few drops of the Good Molecules Hyaluronic Acid. This combination really helps to hydrate my dry skin. I then follow up with eye cream and a small amount of Differin Gel to my whole face. I have used nearly every topical skin treatment, both over the counter and prescribed, and absolutely adore Differin. It is effective at treating and preventing acne, but isn’t too harsh on my dry skin. After letting this work into my skin for a moment I once again apply Cicaplast and moisturizer.
HABITS
I believe that all acne/skin issues have 3 different causes: genetics, routine, and habits. We can’t change our genetics and we’ve already discussed routine, so habits are the last thing to cover. By habits I mean the things we do outside of our skin care routine that affect our skin. One example of this is something I still struggle with. If you are finding small breakouts around your mouth try brushing your teeth first, then washing your face. The fluoride and other ingredients in toothpaste can cause clogging and irritation on your skin. This simple switch of order can help prevent this. The same thing happens with hair care products, so make sure you wash your face after you wash and condition your hair. Another key habit is cleaning after you work out or get oily from the day. Sweaty skin is a breeding ground for acne causing bacteria, so the sooner you wash your face, the less time bacteria has to grow. An alternative to this is a Hypochlorous Acid Spray. This product is like hand sanitizer for your face and kills all the acne causing bacteria. I also recommend washing your hair once it starts to get greasy. People forget that your hair and the products you put in it have a huge impact on your skin. 2 smaller habits I recommend are trying to drink a lot of water (hydrated skin is happy skin) and applying your skincare a decent amount of time before you go to bed (we want our faces to soak up the products, not our pillows). I have also noticed that certain supplements can better or worsen my skin. B12 (and many other B Vitamins) are found to worsen acne as the bacteria that causes acne uses B12 to grow and function. Biotin (the supplement in hair/nail gummies and in celsius) is also known to worsen break outs. I have personally dealt with this one as one of my favorite seltzer waters has biotin in it and it caused me to break out like crazy. Vitamin D on the other hand is found to help acne and decrease inflammation. If you find that the hours spent in the sun during the summer clear up your skin I would highly recommend vitamin d since that is what the sun gives us. Cranberry, a strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, has also been a miracle supplement for my skin.