It is everyone’s desire to have a clear complexion. In this tech era, we have access to information at the click of a button. It seems every other social influencer, celebrity and anyone with relevance advertises and pedals an alluring skincare routine. Market shelves are flooded with varieties of skincare products and the confusion surrounding their products simply confounds one when one has so many options.
The process starts with knowing your skin type and choosing the right product for your skin.
Ask yourself a basic question; is your skin dry or oily or normal or a combination? If you are not sure, take a simple test at home to determine.
Wash your face with a gentle cleanser and wait for an hour. Take a thin blotting or tissue paper and dab it over your entire face. The blotchy and translucent paper suggests having oily skin, whereas if the paper doesn’t get blotched or translucent, you mostly have dry skin.
Those with combination skin will have blotched paper from the T zone (forehead, nose, and chin) and dry sheets from cheeks. Normal skin will have lightly blotched paper from all around the face.
Those with oily skin describe their skin is shiny an hour after face wash. Most people with dry skin feel tightness, mild irritation unless they apply moisturizing creams even after an hour or longer following face wash. People with normal skin types describe feelings of mild tightness that gradually weans over 5 to 10 minutes after face wash.
Knowing your skin type makes it easier to select the products that are best suited for one’s skin type.
These days, it is in trend to use alpha-hydroxy acids (AHA) such as glycolic acid, mandelic acid, lactic acid, and beta hydroxy acid (BHA) such as salicylic acid products. Salicylic acid is a BHA, is incorporated in face wash, toner, and light moisturizer that is designed for oily pimple-prone skin. Salicylic acid has an affinity for the oil and helps to cleanse the pores. Those with existing dry skin may refrain from using it to prevent the worsening of dryness. Dry skin can choose a micellar water cleanser or any mild pH-balanced cleanser.
Immediately after cleansing, you may layer with antioxidant vitamin serum. An antioxidant helps to fight the free radicals and slow down the sign of skin aging such as uneven pigmentation, fine lines, and dryness. Many kinds of antioxidant serum are available, such as CEFerulic acid, COQ10, niacinamide, resveratrol, etc. One can layer these serums for better results or just apply alone according to preference.
The next step is moisturizer. Finding a good moisturizer is a matter of trial and error. The lotion has a higher water content than cream. Hence, lotion or gel-based moisturizers are advised for oily skin and cream for dry skin.
Finish the routine with broad-spectrum sunscreen with a minimum of 30 SPF. Swap the sunscreen with peptides and retinol if you are in your twenties or above at the evening for collagen and elastin boost up.
Contact Details:
Dr Prativa Shrestha: Aesthetic Dermatologist at Clinic One
Location: Jawalakhel, Lalitpur
Email: [email protected]
Contact No.: 9828219840
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