Your night-time skin care routine shouldn't be too different from your morning routine. As always you can add or take away things depending on your skins specific needs.
The steps and products in this post are the general steps that you can take to get better skin. You want to remember that these things aren't magical products that will work immediately. You have to get your skin into a routine and let the products work over time.
Step One: Removing Makeup
If you tend to wear makeup on an everyday basis, this is a step that you don't want to forget. Removing your makeup will kick start the cleansing process by getting rid of the majority of the stuff on your face before you go in with a cleanser. If you don't remove your makeup prior to cleansing, you will end up having to wash your face 2-3 times to get it really clean. This isn't always the best because some cleansers can really dry out your skin. This could make your skin produce more oil and be prone to breakouts.
Removing your face and eye makeup with wipes is the easiest and quickest way to get most of that makeup off. I really love the Neutrogena Makeup Remover Cleansing Towelettes. These wipes are super gentle and they work great to get through face makeup and waterproof mascara.
Step Two: Cleansing
When you cleanse you want to make sure that you are getting the last traces of makeup off and also making sure your skin is really clean. If you use a gentle cleanser, you can cleanse twice, it depends how your face is feeling and what it needs. You can use your hands or if you have a cleansing brush you can also use that. There are so many of these brushes on the market. They are designed to give your skin a super deep clean. It goes much deeper into your skin than just using your hands. An electric face brush is a great investment in your skin care.
Step Three: Exfoliating
Exfoliating is when you use an abrasive type cream to remove the dead skin cells off your skin. This is not something you want to do every day, since it can cause redness and sensitivity. You should exfoliate 2-3 times a week or as your skin needs it. Exfoliating helps with flaky or dry skin. There are many different kinds of exfoliants, there are more gentle are mild exfoliants that are made for sensitive skin, and there are also very abrasive exfoliants that are made for people with tougher skin that can take it, and many more in between. Depending on your skin type is the product that you want to choose.
Step Four: Toning
Toning is very important, as I talked about in my last post. Toning balances the pH levels of your skin returning it to a slightly acidic level instead of a slightly alkaline level. This is important to keep harmful bacteria and fungi away from your skin. This also helps close up your pores to minimize oil production and in turn minimize breakouts.
Step Five: Correcting/Acne Treatments
This step depends on what kind of skin you have. For acne prone skin this step is where you want to use spot treatments. If you don't have active acne, this step can be used to prevent any breakouts from occurring. Using a serum or beauty oil is ideal in this step. You want to make sure that your skin is hydrated so it can repair itself as you sleep.
There are many different beauty oils and serums. The one you choose depends on what kind of skin you have and what your needs are.
Step Six: Moisturizing
After the serum or beauty oil or any treatment has soaked into your skin, this is when you want to apply your moisturizer/night cream. Again this is going to help your skin look and feel softer and younger. It will return that moisture to your skin that toning usually gets rid of. The more moisturized your skin is the healthier it will look.
There are many different types of moisturizers. This like everything else is based on your preference and what your skin really needs. I love using an anti-aging cream, because these sort of creams have a ton of beneficial properties. You can never be to early to prevent wrinkles. The key is finding the cream that will work best for your skin.
You also what to use an eye cream to hydrate your eye area. The under eyes and lids are the thinnest skin on your face, and you want to make sure that you are taking extra care of this area.
These are the general steps for a night time skin care routine. As always you can customize and switch things up as you needed. Don't be afraid to try new things, it is a great way to get your skin to start working for you.
What are your favorite skin care products to use in the evening?
Check out the previous posts in the Skin Care mini series:
All images are from Google.com
