How to maximize your at home skincare routine with what you already have:
You may already know the importance of regular facials in achieving your personal skin goals, be it for relaxing self care or an effective chemical peel. However, something we skin therapists are always talking about (for good reason!) is your at home routine.
Just like how seeing a personal trainer once a week and then eating junk food for dinner isn’t going to bring you results, getting a monthly facial then doing nothing at home won’t transform your skin either.
The key to effective, long term results, is maintenance of the skin between the time you have your treatment and the next time you’re in.
We understand that not everyone has the time, budget or interest in committing to a complicated product routine. So, we’ve written up this article to give you tips of ways you can make your products work smarter, not harder regardless of what you’re using!
Tip 1: Double cleansing for perfectly clean skin
The first step to any skincare routine is ensuring you have a clean slate to work with. If your skin is not cleaned and prepared to absorb your serums, moisturizers or masks then they will be going to waste! That’s why we recommend a double cleanse for at least 60 seconds.
So what is a double cleanse? Put simply, it is cleansing the face twice in a row. The first cleanse will remove makeup, waterproof sunscreen and other debris from the skin, and the second will be able to get deeper into the pores and deliver any beneficial ingredients in your cleanser to the skin.
If you’re wearing makeup or any waterproof sunscreen, we recommend a cleansing cream, balm or oil. As oil in makeup and a watery gel cleanser don't mix well, it helps to use an oil cleanser, such as Purity Solution Cleansing Oil, to break down the product first. Then you can follow with your prescribed cleanser that will make a positive change to the skin, be it another cream cleanser for dry skin, a gel cleanser for oily skin or exfoliating cleanser for resurfacing and clearing breakouts.
However, if you have a simple cleanser, such as one without exfoliants and doesn’t dry the skin, you can try using this twice for the same effect. Aspect’s Gentle Clean is a great example of a gentle, hydrating gel cleanser that can be used twice for a double cleanse.
Tip 2: Cleansing for long enough!
The key part to any cleanser is how long you are using it for, 60 seconds at least!
Just like we all learned over three years of COVID, slapping some soap on your hands then washing it off immediately will not clean them and the same is true of your facial cleansers. Cleansers should be massaged over the face for at least 60 seconds to ensure the active ingredients that actually clean your skin have time to work properly - otherwise they’re being wasted!
A tip we like to use is that usually the first verse and chorus of most songs is 60 seconds, so if you sing that in your head while you’re cleansing it gives you a good track of time.
Tip 3: Neck and Decolletage Care
We often see in magazines and hear from other professionals that the neck, decolletage (top of the chest) and hands are the way to truly guess someone’s age. This is often true! However, there’s no need to spend extra money on specialized products when there are some ways to take care of them using what you have already.
In general, the skin on the neck and chest is more delicate and more prone to becoming crepey and wrinkling so if we are wanting to make it firmer or address sunspots there are a few key considerations.
First being we need to be more gentle with these areas than the face, especially when using strong exfoliants and retinols. We recommend using your facial exfoliator or vitamin A product on the neck and chest as well but less frequently to avoid irritating the more delicate skin.
Any hydrating, antioxidant, peptide or soothing products can be carried down to the neck, chest and backs of hands easily with no problems for plump, soft skin.
Second tip is remembering to apply your sunscreen (as always!). The top of the chest and backs of hands are especially prone to sun damage as we will rarely protect them to the same degree as our faces with hats and sunscreen. So applying sunscreen religiously is a must!
If you find that your sunscreen that you use for your face is a bit too nice or too pricey to be using on somewhere like your hands, we recommend buying a cheaper alternative that you don’t mind using a lot of just for these areas and saving your nice one that doesn’t break you out or sits well under makeup just for your face.
For more information on products listed above or for questions about integrating these products into your skin routine, come ask our friendly skin therapists in the salon.