Skin Care Articles

Doctors recommend using the same skin care regimen everyday. These treatments don't need to be elaborate or costly, and can be used alone or along with a more severe skin care treatment.

Normal Regimens

The perfect day to day routine for skin care would require washing, toning, moisturizing, protection from the sun light.

Protection from ultraviolet light (both UVA and UVB) is important for any skin care regimen. A good UNA+UVB sun block should be applied on top of your moisturizer or other treatments as the last part of the routine whenever sun exposure is possible. It is always recommended to use a product made for protection from UV rays, however some people like to use cosmetics that contain sunscreen to save time.

For most people, executing the routine 2 times daily is best. Some patients with dry and/or sensitive skin may have better luck with once a day washing/cleansing while moisturizing 2 or more times a day. Most doctors think that the regimen should incorporate exfoliation, but not excessively. Exfoliation once or twice a week is usually sufficient. People with fast natural epidermal turnover may need less or none at all.

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The steps of the basic routine should be changed to fit your skin type. You should keep in mind that your skin type can change with the season, diet and age. In particular, the skin can be be oilier in the warm months and drier in the winter. Menopause can bring about a change from oily or normal to dry skin. Also, a shift from a low-fat diet to one rich in certain fats (particularly essential fatty acids) can turn dry skin to normal. people don't need to be as alert when in the sun.

Applying Advanced/Active Medicines

For most adults the general regimen will not work as well so it is best to add some type of secondary product after doing some research on well known products. For secondary products to work well with your routine you must use them properly. In particular, if you apply products to skin that has not been cleansed, the penetration of active ingredients is reduced. If you use the regimen then apply advanced products, the results of active ingredients can still be reduced because the moisturizer has blocked some the entryways.

A good time to use secondary products is soon after you washed/cleansed, rinsed and slightly patted your skin with a towel, i.e. when your skin is clean, warm and still moist. Since many of the active products have moisturizers, you can usually forego a separate moisturizer whenever you apply such a product. If you feel that you need extra moisturizing, wait a few minutes for the active product to absorb, and then apply any moisturizer over it.