Your Basic Guide to Essential Skincare
No one likes waking up on a cool fall morning, looking in the mirror, and seeing a big, oozing zit in the middle of his or her forehead. Although this is something that happens to all of us, we rarely do anything to combat the emergence of more pimples and blackheads. The stresses of college life overwhelm all of us, but sometimes it’s important to examine our skin type and develop an essential routine that holds those pimples at bay, and keeps our mornings running smoothly!
Dry Skin
Common characteristics of dry skin include dry patches and general skin tightness, so moisturizing skin should be a top priority. Products with hyaluronic acid and lactic acid are particularly good at moisturizing dry skin and keeping it hydrated for extended periods of time. Both ingredients are common in moisturizers, serums, and sheet masks.
However, there are also some popular products that can be disastrous for dry skin.
Charcoal and salicylic acid are popular ingredients in skincare products, but they can dry and dehydrate skin that already doesn’t produce enough oil. Both ingredients can be beneficial to dry skin, but should only be used about once a week to avoid drying out the skin too much.
Over-exfoliating is also risky for those of us with dry skin. Exfoliating can clear dead skin and excess oil from the face, but it can produce extra dry patches on dehydrated skin. Exfoliating should also be limited to about once a week, and it’s important to replenish the skin’s moisture with a serum or hydrating mask after the process. It is better to use gentle daily cleansers for dry skin, rather than harsh exfoliators.
Oily Skin
If you have this skin type, you know what it is like to have an “oily T-zone”, a strip of oil from the bridge of the nose to the forehead. Unlike dry skin, oily skin can produce too much oil all over the face, which can also be difficult to control. Like dry skin, it’s important not to over-exfoliate or dry out the skin too much, because then it may begin to produce excess oil that can cause blackheads and breakouts.
Salicylic acid is actually great for oily skin, because it penetrates deep into pores to clean out oil-producing gunk. Kaolin and bentonite are two types of clay that are commonly found in facial mud masks, and can successfully clean excess oil out of pores without removing too many nutrients. However, even for oily skin, mud masks should be limited to once or twice a week to prevent skin from adapting to the ingredients’ effects.
Combination Skin
Common characteristics of combination skin include an oily forehead and nose, combined with dry cheeks. Breakouts on combination skin can be hard to combat because they can be caused by excess oil or too much dryness. It is important to hydrate combination skin to combat the production of excess oil and control dehydration.
Different facial oils like jojoba oil and rosehip oil can be used to help keep the surface of the skin glowing and even toned.
No matter what skin type you may have, there are always products that can help complete your essential skincare routine. It’s time for everyone to put effort into taking care of their skin, and those pimples and dry patches will be gone in no time!
