How to Choose Facial Skin Care Products

There are countless of over-the-counter facial skin care products from which you can choose. This can be a nightmare if you don’t know what’s good and what’s bad for your skin. What’s good for one person may not be good for your skin type. Therefore, it’s essential that we start from learning the types of skin and how to identify them:

Dry Skin Type – The skin feels dry and itchy and has a dull appearance. Dry skin is caused by inactive oil glands which are responsible for producing sebum to protect the skin and keep it hydrated.

Normal Skin Type – Normal skin is the envy of everyone. It produces just the right amount of oil to keep the skin moist and vibrant. Though it’s blemish-free, people with normal skin should still follow the skin care routine to keep it healthy.

Oily Skin Type – Oily Skin can be easily identified by the presence of excessive oil on the face. During warmer months, it can get as serious as melting makeup and this requires some adjustment to the skin care routine to control the condition.

Sensitive Skin Type - Sensitive skin is easily irritated. Some of the common reactions of sensitive skin are itchiness, stinging, burning, redness and flaking. People with sensitive skins need to look for hypo-allergenic products (We’ll cover this later)

Combination Skin Type – Most people have more than one skin type at any given time. For example, the T-zone area which includes forehead, nose and chin is oily while the areas around the nose and mouth are normal or dry. To care for combination skin, use what’s needed where it’s needed.

Now that we know what skin types there are, it’s time to look at the right products for each skin type. Let’s start with cleansers.

There are tons of facials cleansers on the market, making choosing a cleanser an overwhelming task. Some cleansers claim to do wonders such as reducing brown spots and minimizing wrinkles. In reality, most of the ingredients used in cleansers are the same. The small difference in ingredients can cause a big price difference. So, always determine what you want out of a cleanser and know your budget

Depending on your skin type, you’ll want to get a cleanser with different ingredients.

For dry or sensitive skin, it’s best not to use cleansers with sodium lauryl/laureth sulphate. These ingredients can strip the skin of oil and are extremely irritating. Also pick unscented cleansers.

For oily skin, make sure the cleanser contains alcohol which helps remove excessive oil from the skin. Also look for ingredients such as menthol and peppermint which leave the skin cool and refreshing and salicylic acid which is an acne fighting ingredient.

We are going to look at how to choose other facial skin care products such as moisturizer and toner in the next post.

Facial Skin Care Routine

One can have the best skin care products in the world and yet have poor skin health if they don’t stick to proper skin care routine. Therefore, it’s important to understand the basics of facial skin care routine before moving on to advance topics.

What is a good routine? Below are the three most important steps in facial skin care.

Cleansing - Cleansing your face twice a day is the first step to good skin health. It’s advised that you cleanse once in the morning, before you put anything on your face and once in the evening, after a long day out. No matter how tired you are after a long day, do not forget to cleanse. It’s important to unclog the pores that have been filled with dirt and pollution throughout the day.

First, if you have long hair, pull your hair back and secure it so that it doesn’t get in the way. Squeeze some facial cleansing cream into the palm of one hand and massage it between your hands. Next, massage the cream into your face. You can even use your fingertips or knuckles to massage the cleanser in. You’ll see that the cleanser disappears into the skin. Now use a damp cloth to remove the cleanser.

Toning - Now it’s time for toning. Toning is important to remove any residue of cleanser. Soak cotton wool pads in toner and sweep them across your face. Don’t forget to do the neck as well. Always sweep them upwards instead of downwards because you don’t want to make your skin sag. Also remember to apply the toner to the crevices around the nose.

Moisturizing –Some people think they can use the same moisturizer for day and night. That’s not a good idea. During the day, you want to apply lighter and more easily absorbed moisturizer because it doesn’t make your makeup slide off. At night, you will want to use night time moisturizer which is heavier than the day time moisturizer because your skin won’t have other sources to keep it hydrated. So you want to make sure your night time moisturizer is heavy. Properly moisturized skin will have fewer fine lines and wrinkles.

On top of the two types of moisturizers, you’ll also want to get an eye cream. The skin under the eyes is really thin and fragile and eye cream will give it the protection that it needs.