It’s that time of year. Making resolutions, commitments and declarations to being a healthier, more productive version of yourself! We all know that consistent action = quickest and “best” results. This holds true if those actions are the right actions! To support you with achieving the goal of healthier skin, I’m sharing a couple of guidelines with you.
Professional skin care treatments/facials DO make a difference in achieving healthier, vibrant skin. We have access to active ingredients at higher strengths, technological modalities and wisdom gained from experience working with various conditions that you don’t have at home. Each treatment we do is designed for YOUR skin THAT day. Secondly, what you put on your skin at home every day is even more important. Every home-care regimen should consist of four core elements.
1. Cleanse
Proper cleansing is the important first step in caring for your skin. They wash away dirt, sweat and pollutant, which when left on the skin will contribute to clogging, breakouts and build-up. Soaps will strip your skin of too much moisture and leave a residue. Cleansers that are too harsh, leaving your skin feeling tight and dry, are compromising your skin’s natural barrier (which we’ll get into in the “nourish” step). Sometimes people consider a toner to be a second step of the cleansing process, but it’s really not. Toners can serve many useful functions, such as: hydrating, absorbing oil, mildly exfoliating, brightening and/or fighting bacteria.
2. Exfoliate
Exfoliation comes in many forms: physical, enzymatic and chemical. Your skin may benefit from one or all of these methods, which take the form of scrubs, masks, retinoids or alpha and beta hydroxy acids. The function of an exfoliant is to slough off dead skin. Why? It reduces build-up of dead skin and oil, which can lead to blackheads/clogged follicles, worsening the chances of breakouts. It brightens your skin. How? Hyperpigmented skin cells (dark spots) left to sit and cement keep those dark areas dark; keep them moving up to the surface and off the skin and your skin will appear brighter. Exfoliated skin is more receptive to other nutrients and moisture you introduce into your skin.
3. Treatment Serum (solution)
Treatment Serums may seem superfluous, however they are essential to retaining and maintaining healthy skin. This is where you are getting active ingredients in potent doses to repair and regenerate the skin, improving numerous skin conditions. A serum may contain peptides, vitamins or plant stem cells to stimulate production of new collagen, repair damaged cells and lessen hyperpigmentation for “aging” skin. If you are healing acne the ingredients may be antibacterial, reparative and anti-inflammatory. If you don’t have major skin concerns perhaps you just need some extra hydration or antioxidant support to maintain healthy skin. Not all serums are created equal. Much of what you get over-the-counter in drug and department stores isn’t using the best quality or quantity of ingredient to be effective. Skin City selects products for their high quality and efficacy.
4. Nourish/Protect
After doing all these good things to your skin, you want to finish by nourishing and protecting your skin’s barrier. Our skin has a barrier, which protects it from being compromised by outside elements (this includes products not best suited for YOUR skin, sun and other environmental exposure/pollutants). A compromised barrier puts your skin’s immune system at risk as well as depletes it of essential water and oil moisture. The right moisturizer will give you the proper balance of moisture along with calming, replenishing, and rejuvenating benefits.
Sunscreen will protect your skin from a myriad of damaging effects, such as free radicals, inflammation and hyperpigmentation. A sunscreen containing zinc is preferable due to its healing properties as well as its method of deflecting the sun. Chemical sunscreens absorb UV rays and disperse it in the skin; side effect is that it retains some heat. Physical sunscreens (zinc and titanium) sit on the outside of skin and deflect the sun (skin not absorbing UV rays / NOT retaining heat). So if you have any inflammatory skin conditions: acne, rosacea, hyperpigmentation, a PHYSICAL sunscreen is going to offer you the best protection.
The types of products used for each step will vary depending upon the needs and condition of your skin. Here are a couple of examples a core skin care regimen:
Dry, Mature skin:
- Cleansing Oil (cleanse)
- Triple C&E (a.m. treatment serum)
- Refiner (p.m. doubles as exfoliant and treatment serum)
- Redensifier (doubles as active serum and deeply hydrating nourishment)
- Solar Shield spf30 (nourish/protection)
Acne-prone, oily:
- Pore Clearing Cleanser (cleanse)
- AHA/BHA Exfoliating Cleanser (exfoliant)
- Balancing Lotion and/or Clarifying Treatment (doubles as exfoliant and anti-bacterial treatment serums)
- Soothe & Defend Hydragel (doubles as treatment serum and moisturizer)
- Solar Shield spf30 (nourish/protect)
These are a couple examples of a core regimen. The beauty of skin care is that it’s an art AND a science. We are all unique individuals and with our own unique skin. Two people with an acne condition may have different skin types and have other conditions to be addressed. For example, not every acne-prone client is oily; they may need a more nourishing cleanser (Antioxidant Cleansing Mousse) and the additional support of an antioxidant/anti-aging product (triple C&E serum) and/or anti-bacterial, de-clogging mask (Cooling Sulfur Mask) to achieve the best results.
We, at Skin City, are the alchemists. Let us do the job we LOVE to do! You don’t have to figure it all out on your own. We are here to support you in putting your best face forward and feeling good in your skin.
Skin City has some great cost-saving ways to jumpstart your New Year’s commitment to healthy skin, with a deeply discounted series of Signature Plus Facials and purchases on multiple products. These discounts allow you to stock up on your core products or add new specialty products to boost and accelerate results, while feeling like you’re giving yourself a treat.
As you start 2016 with great intentions of being consistent, making healthy choices and taking daily steps to reach your life goals I invite you to pause every now and then and celebrate the accomplishment of waking every day as the perfectly beautiful YOU!
Wishing you a vibrant 2016!