‘Facial skin care’ is more a matter of
discipline than anything else. A facial skin
care routine is what you need (and you need to
follow the facial skin care routine with
complete seriousness). So let’s check what
comprises an effective facial skin care routine.
Well, very simply, a facial skin care routine
can follow the following 4 steps:
* Cleansing
* Toning
* Exfoliating
* Moisturizing
Cleansing is the first thing in facial skin care
routine. Cleansing helps in removing dust,
pollutants, grease and extra oil from your skin,
thereby preventing damage to your skin. Just
spot your face and neck with a good cleansing
lotion or cream and gently massage it into your
skin using upward strokes. Use a soft face
tissue or cotton wool to wipe your face in a
gentle patting fashion (do not rub). Cleansing
should be done at least twice a day i.e. morning
(as part of complete facial skin care routine)
and evening (on a standalone basis). Water
soluble cleansers are the best for inclusion in
your facial skin care routine.
Toning is the next in a facial skin care
routine. However, this is the optional part of
the facial skin care routine. Mostly, proper
cleansing can compensate for toning. Toning
helps remove all traces of dirt, grease and
excess cleanser. Instead of making it part of
your daily facial skin care routine, you can
using toning occasionally i.e. when you have
been exposed to particularly harsh
environment/pollution.
Exfoliation is again, kind of, optional step in
everyday routine for facial skin care. However,
exfoliation is necessary at least once a week
(or twice, depending on the skin type and the
environmental conditions). Exfoliation finds its
place in facial skin care routine because of the
natural tendency of skin to replenish the skin
cells every 3 or 4 weeks. As a facial skin care
technique, exfoliation helps in removing the
dead skin cells that block the pores, thus
assisting the skin in the natural process.
However, excessive or harsh exfoliation can
cause damage to your skin; so you need to
balance it out.
The next thing in facial skin care is
moisturizing. In fact, moisturizing is the most
important part of facial skin care routine.
Moisturizers prevent your skin from getting dry.
Dry skin is really undesirable since it cause
the upper layer skin to break, leading to dead
skin cells. Again, use light upward strokes to
make the moisturizer more effective.
Moisturizers work the best when applied on warm
and damp skin. So do not try to remove all the
moisture in the previous steps of facial skin
care routine.
Besides the normal facial skin care routine, you
should also exercise the following for facial
skin care:
* Use proper make-up remover instead of just
washing it away
* Pay heed to your skin type and the
environment, when choosing facial skin care
products.
* Before you start using a new facial skin care
product, test it by applying it on a short patch
of skin e.g. ear lobes.
* Never rub your skin too hard.
* Use sunscreen lotions for protection against
sun. |
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