Back To Basics: Cleansing & Exfoliating
We live in it every day, look at it in the mirror, the reflection on our phone screens, and take selfies of it but how often do we take care of it? I am talking of course about our skin! It's time to go back to the fundamentals of skincare just to make sure we are all on the same page when it comes to the who, what, and how-to's of skincare. So let’s begin at the beginning!
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Before we talk about the products, here are the basics steps to an AM and PM Skincare Routine. Save this image so you know the right steps!
The Skincare Routine
A daily skincare routine is a once or twice-daily routine including anywhere from 3-10 (or more) products. It all depends on the skin type, the individual's goals, and time, but the last one doesn't determine how many products you use but when you use them, more on this later. Some simple notes to take:
Wash your face twice a day, in the morning and again at night before bed. Why?
- In the morning your rinse off the debris your body excreted during sleep and wake up the skin.
- At night, you are removing dirt and debris, makeup, and other environmental friends we pick up and prepping the skin to receive ingredients from your product and repair damage from throughout your day.
You don't want to take your day and all those environmental toxins to bed with you! Make sure you are at least giving your skin a good cleanse at night followed by a skin toner to help remove that debris and reset your skin's pH balance.
“If you wash your hair, your teeth and your body with different products, why wouldn’t you for your face?”
Once you start cleansing twice a day, you’ll notice some changes in your skin. The texture should improve and the dewy look we all want should start coming into focus. To keep it though will require facial serums, more on that in future blogs.
To make sure that you are getting the best results, and the most out of your cleanser, it is important to also use the right cleanser. Just because you have a pimple once a month or an oily shine does not mean you need an acne cleanser!
How do you know what type of cleanser your skin needs? If you're shopping here, I have the products broken down by Skin Type to make it easier for you! To know what kind of cleanser your skin needs, you need to know your Skin Type. Not sure what that is? Head over to my Instagram and take the Skin Type Quiz in my bio! Once you fill it out, I'll see your results and give you my breakdown of your skin and what products you might need to achieve your skincare goals.
Use this image as a guide (all images from this blog can also be found on my Pinterest). I typically keep two to three cleansers in rotation at any given time; one to take off my makeup that is creamier, a foamy one that I use in the morning and night, and one that is slightly exfoliating for the evening in lieu of my exfoliant or if my skin needs a little extra.
Now, that does not mean you need three cleansers! One is just fine! Just make sure that it is appropriate for your skin, targets your concern (i.e. oily, dry, premature aging), and that you use it regularly.
Take a look at the chart in that image, it lists the skin types and which cleanser type is appropriate. Knowing your skin type is important, it's determined by the time of day you notice an oily shine and visible pore size, or just skip to the easy part and take my Skin Type Quiz.
No matter what skincare company you choose, they all have these basic types of cleansers: foamy, creamy, and clay-based. Having a clear idea of which type of cleanser is for which skin type, you’ll know what to buy from any company!
The next step in your skincare routine is exfoliation. Please make note again, that not all exfoliants are to be used every day and you do not necessarily need to exfoliate every day. If you have an Esthetician, follow the instructions they gave you when you purchased your exfoliant, and/or read the directions on the package, it’s usually on the box and rarely on the actual product.
I can’t stress enough that over-exfoliation is not better than no exfoliation. Depending on your skin conditions present (sensitive, prone to breakout or dry patches) will determine what products you need.
So how do we know which one we need? There are several different varieties so I will go over general principles, but these are flexible and your own opinion and personal preference need to be taken into account.
From the top there are scrubs, which are great for a rough texture, just make sure it is gentle enough for the face skin and not meant for rough body skin, and definitely do not use a scrub with 'walnut shell' as an ingredient. Skin Script makes two facial scrubs, one safe for pregnancy/nursing that comes as a duo, and the other contains 2% Retinol and can double as an exfoliating mask.
Wipes are great, also found in a pad, and are typically going to be saturated in an exfoliating solution. This tends to fall more on the anti-aging, pigmentation, or oilier skin categories. I personally love Skin Scripts Glycolic Pads for a quick and efficient exfoliant. Arbonne also makes a pretty amazing one in their anti-aging line Re9. You wipe it over cleansed skin, leave on any residue left behind, and then apply serums followed by moisturizer.
This is similar to a makeup wipe, but don’t confuse them! A makeup wipe, or makeup remover, is not going to exfoliate your skin, it will however dry it out. Just use a double-cleanse (a creamy or oil-based cleanser followed by a foamy cleanser) process at night to remove all your makeup.
Enzymatic, or exfoliating masks, are similar to a regular facial mask in which you apply to cleansed skin for a couple of minutes and then remove with a warm towel/cloth. How long exfoliating masks stay on varies by mask so read the label. For more on enzymes visit this page.
Alana Mitchell Skincare has a lovely Pumpkin Brightening Mask that falls in this category. These are like a once-a-week exfoliant and I like to use them the day before a big event when I want to glow.
Acids, hopefully, you cannot purchase any esthetic or medical grade as you can seriously damage skin, but they do make quite a few OTC versions on the market to add in to your skincare routine. One company that comes to mind is The Ordinary, they have a whole bunch of acid mixtures that work kind of like a serum brightening or hydrating your skin.
Also, I want to make a note here that using harsh exfoliants like acids too much can thin your epidermis out, leaving you with a paper-thin skin later in life, so use with caution. The most common acids are:
Glycolic Acid (Anti-Aging)
Salicylic Acid (Acne/Oily)
Lactic Acid (Brightening, All Skin Types)
Last on my list, but definitely not the last option for exfoliation is peel off, gommage. This is the kind that you apply like a mask, let dry and it will have a rubbery or latex-like feel when you go to peel it off. I have used one of these professionally and one non-professionally so I will share both.
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These ones are probably not as easy to find, I have no recommendations for you either. There are some product lines that create masks that are meant to act similar to this. Think of the blackhead masks that you let dry on your skin and then you can like “pull” the blackhead out by removing the mask.
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I did get one once, it was a blackhead exfoliating mask that came in my Ipsy bag. I tried it on my T-zone where I have a collection of blackheads that typically come out pretty easy. However, this mask did not work. It left dark mask residue in my follicles, making it look like I had even more blackheads and did nothing to the ones that were there. As I said, I don’t have any good recommendations for this type of exfoliant…
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Remember, when it comes to skincare you are looking for quality, and nowadays it comes in all prices, not just expensive. Let these Back to Basics blogs be your guide to making the most educated skincare decisions. Ask questions, try new things but in moderation, and get excited about your self-care. Just don’t startle your skin by constantly shocking it with too many new products!
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Till next time, be good to your skin and even better to yourself,
xx eri