It’s easy to understand where cleansers, toners, moisturisers and eye creams fit within a skin care routine but for skincare novices, it can all start to unravel when facial oils, serums and items such as Vitamin C, antioxidants, SPF and retinol are forced into the equation, especially if you are e a skin-care novice.
While each of these is applied after the basic steps of your skin-care routine, they are completely different products and not interchangeable as each one offers different benefits to the skin.
Here are the few Skin Care Routine Secrets You Need to Know to Stay Beautiful & Young:
Serums for skin care regime:
Serums are targeted to address specific concerns with the appearance of your skin. In general, a serum has water as its base so it absorbs quickly and is used for actives such as vitamin C, hyaluronic acid or glycolic acid in high concentrations – ingredients that address concerns such as skin brightness, discolouration or first signs of ageing.
The higher concentration of active ingredients ensures greater penetration into the top layers of the skin, which in turn leads to visible benefits.
Oils for skin care routine:
In the case of oils, they are less about the deliverance of ingredients and more about moisturizing and calming and so they are great for locking in that hydration.
If you want to incorporate both serums and oils in your skincare regimen apply your serums during the first few steps of your routine — as in after cleansing and toning — and your facial oil at the end to lock in moisture. As a rule, oils can penetrate moisturizers, but not vice versa so always put facial oils on last.
Vitamin C:
Aside from serums and oils, it is a good idea to add an antioxidant such as vitamin C (if your serum does not already take care of this) into your AM routine. Vitamin C is one ingredient every skin type needs as it brightens, protects against sun damage, and promotes collagen production.
Of course, every morning routine should end with SPF as this will ensure your skin is protected from the sun’s ageing and dangerous rays.
At night, after moisturising, you can end your routine with retinol. Retinol is not for daytime use (it breaks down in the sun) and shouldn’t be paired with some ingredients, including vitamin C and salicylic acid. With retinol, just cleanse, add a basic moisturizer on top, and skip exfoliating for the next two mornings.
As an added bonus, allow each step of your routine to absorb for one full minute as this will increase penetration and make the whole routine more efficient, keeping your skin radiant and youthful!