It can be tempting to think the more products you buy and regimens you follow the better your skin will be. You might want to blame any problems you’re having with your skin on the absence of something, whether it be a step in your process or a brand name in your collection. However, dermatologists have time and again recommended giving your skin what it needs without overloading it. The solution to your skin issues is not always an additional product or step, and many times can be the deletion of one. Simpler skin care can reduce your risk of irritating reactions and save you time. Here are some ways to simplify your skin care routine.
Choose Your Products Wisely
Your first inclination may be to purchase any skin product that is targeted at your skin type, resulting in an accumulation of product that only purports to suit your skin. Taking the extra time to instead find a product that appeals to you or meets your needs in one way the others don’t can be worth it. For instance, if you have oily skin you’d rightly opt for a water based moisturizer. However, if you also have sun-sensitive skin you could further benefit from a water based moisturizer that includes an SPF factor. Doubling up on product services in this way cuts the steps in your routine down, and reduces the number of chemical reactions you are subjecting your skin to.
3 Step Solution
While you may have numerous things that you do for your skin that have proven helpful, as a rule of thumb a daily three step routine can work for most skin types. What these three steps may depend fully on what skin type you have. For instance, if you have oilier skin you may want to use a gentle cleanser (to wash off excess dirt and oil), a toner (to close pores) and a oil-free sunscreen. If you have drier skin you might use a cleanser, sunscreen and moisturizer. Find a mix of products/steps that your skin can handle and benefit from.
Pain Doesn’t Guarantee Better Skin
Somewhere along the way we were wrongly made to believe that to get the skin we want we would first need to suffer. Chemical peels, pore strips and abrasive scrubs all subject our skin to some sort of preliminary discomfort that promises later results. Often times it’s difficult to distinguish the rewarding effects from just the actual recovery our skin had to undergo as a result of the products themselves. If you’re using a product that’s causing you any sort of irritation don’t hesitate to stop use immediately. This follows with using fewer products. The more products you regularly introduce to your routine, the harder it will be for you to isolate the source if you experience a negative reaction. Once you have found some combination of products that is working for you, introduce new products individually and slowly. If you have sensitive skin and a past of allergic reactions, try the product first on a small section of the underside of your wrist. Respect the fragility of your skin, no matter the type. Beauty might be pain, but when it comes to skin care it’s just pain.
Dr. Scott Darling of the Skin and Vein Center, believes in the importance of regularly seeing a dermatologist to supplement a simple skin routine.