So I think one of the most popular and frequent questions people ask me as an esthetician is “how can I make my skin look better?” I went over the basics you should start with in my post The 7 Deadly Skincare Sins, but I want to share with you some very simple, every day things you can actively do to improve the state of your skin. Whether it be immediate or long-term, there are almost always extra things we can do to create a more healthy, youthful appearance! Interested? Keep reading…
FIRST AND FOREMOST:
Let’s get the obvious ones out of the way; SPF and H20. Drink your water, wear your damn sunscreen. Water is important and the sun damages your skin. Pretty easy. Let’s move on.
1. Wash your face with lukewarm water
Washing your face in a boiling hot shower is detrimental to the health of your skin. Opt to wash your face separately with lukewarm water instead. Hot water can irritate your skin (especially those of you who are sensitive), dry out your face, and even rupture blood vessels (which will make your skin appear more red). Turn the knob to a lower temperature, or even better, wash it at your sink instead!
2. Pat dry, don’t wipe
Dragging a terry cloth towel against your face makes your skin angry. The material is too rough on your delicate facial skin! Pat dry your face instead. Even better, purchase facial towels that are separate than what you use to dry off your body. Bamboo towels are great for this purpose, and they’re inexpensive!
3. Take care of your eyes
One of the first places you see anyone age is the eye area. Someone can be relatively young, but if they don’t take care of their eyes they can appear older very easily. Most people fail to take care of their eye area properly! Rubbing the eyes excessively (and roughly) can damage the delicate skin that surrounds our eyes. Over time, it damages the elastin which keeps the skin from sagging, and you can cause blood vessels to rupture causing darkness and uneven tone. Be gentle when cleaning the skin, and wear an eye cream morning and night!
4. Exfoliate twice a week
Once if you’re more sensitive, three times (max) if you’re more oily. Exfoliating is so important to do! Your skin needs help shedding itself throughout the natural process of cell turnover. If your skin feels rough, looks dull, or you just can’t get it to stop flaking, chances are you’re probably not exfoliating enough. Be aware that over exfoliating is just as bad as not exfoliating at all, so pay attention to how often you do this.
5. Extend products to your neck and chest
Your face doesn’t end at your jawline! The chest and neck require love, care, and good products as well. You might not be able to see signs of aging on your neck and chest now, but you will in the coming years if you don’t include these in your daily skincare routine. Using products with peptides are great to stimulate collagen to keep these areas youthful.
6. Remove your makeup prior to cleansing
Not only will this decrease the time you spend trying to wash your face, this will help clean your face thoroughly. What happens often is people go to wash their face, and it will look clean, but there is a lot of leftover residue from makeup. You then proceed to put product over top of the leftover makeup, causing breakouts to form due to bacteria. Taking the time to use a (gentle) makeup wipe to remove the bulk of your makeup could save you from this mistake!
7. Wear sunglasses
Ever notice how much you’re squinting when you’re not wearing sunglasses? Over time, that squinting causes… yep, you guessed it, wrinkles! Keep your sunnies on (yes, even in overcast) to protect your peepers from premature crows feet and the 11’s you get between the eyes.
8. Stop touching your face
Seriously. Stop. You have no idea how many germs, oils, and debris you have on your hands at any given moment. Make a conscious effort to keep your hands away from your face unless you KNOW they are clean.
9. Wash your pillows
Sweating, drooling, oily hair, etc. All things that pollute our pillows when we sleep! When you press your (hopefully clean) face against your pillow at night, you’re smearing all of those things onto your skin without even realizing it. I suggest washing your pillow cases AT LEAST once or twice a week to keep them free and clean of unwanted debris!
10. Massage your face
Yes you can get regular facials, but massaging your own face is a great way to improve the look of your skin when you can’t get to the spa. When we massage the face, it increases circulation, aka blood flow. Our blood is what supplies nutrients to the skin, so it helps keep us looking young (what up collagen production). It’s also incredibly relaxing (yes, even if you do it yourself) and can help with stress relief, which is also essential to a good complexion! Also always make sure to massage upwards (against gravity, not with!)
Of course there are so many other things that you can do that will help your skin; from expensive serums to pricey spa visits. However, I think the simple every day things we do can make the biggest difference! I hope you guys can take these few little bits of advice and use them to keep your skin radiant and glowing for years to come 🙂
What are your favorite every day skincare regimen steps? Let me know in the comments below!
xoxo Shelby
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