First things first, one of the most basic skincare tips and most the important thing you will probably need to achieve great skin is patience. And the second one that I will have to give credit to is dedication. To have great skin you might have to compromise and invest time and care into it.
Some people have fabulous skin, without having to take care of it, but unfortunately for the rest of us mortals, we have to work for what we want to achieve. I promise it is worth it though. And if you take care of your skin now, your skin will look way better in the future compared to those people who don't do it today, even if they are blessed naturally with beautiful skin.
Now that we got that out of the way, here are the basic skincare tips that you need to start following now to see improvements on your skin:
Beauty from within
Diet makes a HUGE difference in how your skin looks. You have to care for what you eat and with that, I don't mean to never eat chocolate or something thing "unhealthy" ever again. I personally LOVE to eat and I understand that some "junk" food here and there is a big pleasure, but I do recommend for you to keep it to a minimum if you are searching for longterm improvements on your skin and overall health.
Besides that, what is even more important, is for you to make sure that your skin is getting enough of the nutrients it needs. Which means eating a lot of fruits, vegetables, and foods with high content in omega 3. If you do so you will see the difference not only in your skin but the overall health of your body, hair, and nails as well. If you don't get enough of these nutrients you can always help with supplements. Supplements will help you achieve the needed levels, but they should NOT, be substitutes for a healthy diet or meals. If you eat burgers and fried foods every day and stuff yourself with supplements, you will not see any difference. One thing doesn´t cancel out the other and our bodies work best when properly balanced.
If you are searching for some supplements to improve your skin I will recommend you to start with vitamin C, E, Zinc and Omega 3. Another basic tip is to take normal dosages, taking more will not only not improve your skin but also make you waste money since the vitamins that the body can not absorb will be flushed out of your organism.
Water
I can not insist enough on the importance of water. It is incredible how many people don't drink enough water and this fact just like a bad diet, lacking proper hydration also influences into how your skin looks. All of your organs and your skin is your largest organ, need to be hydrated from within to work properly and stay healthy. Most people still have extremely dehydrated skin both from in an out without even knowing it. Especially those with oily skin.
Makeup Removal
I don't think I need to get into depth on this very basic skincare tip, but I must remind you that makeup removal is an absolute must. Especially if you have any skin condition. If you go to sleep with makeup on, you are not only sleeping with all those makeup products but also all the substances that have been accumulating on your skin during the whole day (dirt, pollution, germs..).
Your skin takes a break to regenerate and heal itself at night. That is how it repairs all the damage that took place during the day. If your skin is clogged and it is not allowed to breathe properly, skin restoration won´t be as effective. This means that your skin will already be weak against external conditions for the next day.
Cleansing
The fundamentals of cleansing are very similar to the ones for makeup removal, but with cleansing, you are not only removing makeup but also any remaining dirt and germs more in-depth. This is what will allow your skin to "breathe" and be ready to absorb all the products that you will be applying to treat it later on.
If your skin is not well cleansed when you apply a product, your skin will absorb both the product but also any remaining dirt. Which as you imagine is not the best recipe for your skin to look good. Cleansing is fundamental for nice skin but be careful with over-cleansing, since it can be as bad as no cleansing at all. The ph of your face needs to stay balanced, so you should choose adequate products that fit your skin type and needs.
Exfoliation
Exfoliation helps you get rid of the dead skin cells that are accumulating on your skin. And since you are taking out the top layer of your skin newer, healthier, and brighter layers will come out to the surface. This helps the products we use to work better on our skin. Exfoliation can also be tricky and like cleansing if you do it properly it will help your skin immensely, making it look much nicer, but if you do it wrongly it can potentially damage and irritate your skin.
Toner
Toner is an important and many times neglected step that makes a huge difference in your skincare. It not only helps remove any remaining dirt that could still be on your skin after cleansing, but it also balances out the ph of your skin (which many times gets messed up after cleansing), hydrates and preps your skin for later products like essences, serums, moisturizers, and oils.
Moisturizing and Hydrating
Keeping your skin moisturized and hydrated is extremely important to maintain healthy skin. If you don't moisturize, your skin will lose elasticity and get damaged over time. You might not see the effects if you are young, but dehydrated and dry skin lead to skin breakage and wrinkles in the future.
For those with oily or really oily skin I know what you are thinking, you don't want to go out and have a super oily face and when you moisturize it seems to have that effect, so you might have thought skipping moisturizer was a good solution. WRONG, when you don't moisturize your skin, it becomes dehydrated. Your organism then reacts as it feels that your skin needs moisture, producing more oil to protect your skin and balance out that moisture deficiency. And as a result of this self-defense mechanism your skin will get even more oily, but still remain dehydrated. What should you do then? Well, you should find good moisturizers and hydrators that keep up to your skin needs. But remember to ALWAYS moisturize and hydrate your skin.
Sunblock
Sun is extremely harmful to the skin, especially if you have acne or small injuries. Injuries like for example the ones from picking out pimples (which we both know that you shouldn't be doing, but we also both know that happens at times).
Why is the sun harmful? Well apart from serious skin injuries and other stuff like future wrinkles, if your skin is irritated or injured the sun will make scarring risks a lot higher and increase pigmentation issues, even if you don't see the immediate effects. Sun exposure is important to absorb vitamin D but to prevent all this troubles your best weapon is to wear sunblock on your face, especially upon direct sun exposure.
Extra basic skincare tips:
-Don´t incorporate more than one product at the time on your routine. If you do and something makes your skin react, you won't know which products are making a difference or which are giving you a bad reaction. Let each new product an adaptation period until your skin is used to it before introducing anything new.
-I recommend switching products every once in a while, find out your holy grail products and use them, but it is convenient to switch things up. Mainly because your skin is not always the same, nor does it have the same needs. So make sure you always cater its changing needs. Do not worry about not using your holy grails as you can always switch things back later on.
-Use products that cover your needs, if you put strong anti-aging products while being too young, you are at risk to damage and unbalance the production of certain things on your skin. You have to keep your skin fit, and it is never too early to start preventing and taking care of your skin. But just do it with the right products.
-Research about your skin, products and other methods that you could use. Knowledge is power and the more you know the better choices you will make to achieve what you want. Don't just blindly buy every product just because someone recommends it or you have seen it around.
-Learn that beauty and health are hand on hand and it is impossible to take care of one if you neglect the other. The healthier you are, the healthier your skin will look, so things like sport, good habits and a good diet will make a much bigger impact than you can ever think.
Well, this is something close to my beauty bible basics. I hope you find it helpful, I know there are a lot of things to take care of, but if you start to incorporate them into your life one by one you will realize how easy it is to follow them and how much of a difference it will make for you and your skin. I wish you a beautiful journey starting with these basic skincare tips.
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