YOUR SKIN CARE HOME ROUTINE

1| SKIN TYPES SIMPLIFIED I will start this by explaining in very simple terms what are the indicators that directly influence our skin’s primer type. It all comes down to 2 big components that in a normal type of skin have their levels perfectly balanced. These two are WATER and OIL. Given that and according to the proportions of either of these we can define the following types of skins:

Normal - Perfect balance between water and oil. This is were all of us would love to be at all time and what we try to achieve by using the correct care products and routines.

Oily - The skin is primarily producing a lot of oil and reduced water ( Hydration). Normally it has very open pores, most of the times comedones or even acne. It is also characterised by having a thicker texture.

Dry - Skin that produces reduced amount of oil or otherwise called nutrition. On this type of skin you rarely can observe the pores since they are so dry and closed. This type of skin does normally tend to be thin textured.

Dehydrated - Skin that is balanced when it comes to producing oil but has a big lack of water (hydration). It can be confused a lot of times with the dry skin.The main difference though is, that a skin that is dehydrated, normally fl uctuates. It comes and goes and it is localised most of the times. As for the dry skin it is general and normally genetic. Also a great way to identify the dehydrated skin is: if some areas of your face are oily with open pores and maybe even some comedones or acne but, at the same time it feels like it is flaky and dry.

2 | SKIN CARE PRODUCTS Cleansing Products

Regular skin cleansing is critical to maintaining healthy looking and feeling skin. The purpose of facial cleansing is the removal of dirt, oil, and other unwanted debris. Throughout the day the skin on your face is continually covered with bacteria, pollutants, viruses, dirt, and old (dead) skin cells as well as makeup. Daily facial washing removes these impurities to give the skin a fresh look. Without washing, your skin would be covered with a thick layer of dirt which make it difficult for other products to penetrate the skin properly. It is crucial to clean al the transpiration and pollution that our bodies put out through the night too. If we don’t do it we will jus keep building up, clogging our pores and not letting our skin breath properly. For a proper skin cleanse we should always use a detergent (professional term for any cleanse products). So let's talk about the main textures you will find on the market.

Oil formula - best to be used for dry to extremely dry skin. Sometimes recommended for mature skins in order to contribute to the extra nutrition needed.

Milk or lotion - recommended for dry and normal skin sometimes dehydrated skin in case the manufacturer recommends it for that propose.

How to use: Spread on skin without warming it up on our hands. Why? Because normally this type of detergent cleanses by attaching itself to dead skin cells as swell as dirt in general so if you massage it into your hands first then you will lose a lot of its properties by spreading it into your hands. After applying it all over your face wet your finger tips and massage it with gentle circular movements. About 3 times in each area. The water will transform the oil into a soft foam. Don’t over massage it just because we don’t want to stimulate to the point were we activate the blood circulation and start the absorption process. We want to massage it just enough to help the detergent attach itself to all the dirt and dead cells. When it feels like the whole oil is now a turned into foam rinse it properly with water.

How to use: Warm up the product in the palm of your hands then spread it gently all over your face. With the tip of your fingers massage all facial area with circular upward going movements. (about 3-4 circular movements in each area). Don’t over massage, it is important to remember that we're only stimulating enough to detach the dead cells and dirt from skin surface. Rinse throughly with cold water.

Gel - mainly used to deeply cleanse oil, recommend for acne prone and oily skin in general.

Mousse - I would say this type of cleansing product can be very versatile, depending on the manufacturer in can be used on most skin types. So to be most correct look out for the individual indication. From my experience it is not the best for dry skin, and generally suitable for an oily dehydrated skin. It has a strong capacity of cleanse but it is not as harsh on your skin as a gel for instance.

Toner - It is normally a water formula or very rarely a thin gel texture. It is meant to be used after the detergents mentioned before with the purpose to remove any leftover of it in case you missed any while rinsing swell as balancing the pH of the skin, purifying pores and calming. A lot of the times this product has as main ingredient Micellar water.

How to use: Spread the product gently all over your face. Humidify the tip of your fingers in order to activate the foaming process. Massage all facial area with circular upward going movements, you can wet your finger tips as much as necessary in order to keep the gel humid and foamy. Don’t over massage, it is important to remember that we're only stimulating enough to detach the dead cells and dirt from skin surface. Rinse throughly with cold water.

How to use: Spread the product gently all over your face. Humidify the tip of your fingers in order to activate the foaming process. Massage all facial area with circular upward going movements, you can wet your finger tips as much as necessary in order to keep the gel humid and foamy. Don’t over massage, it is important to remember that we're only stimulating enough to detach the dead cells and dirt from skin surface. Rinse throughly with cold water.

Treatment Products Serums - It is a skincare product that has the capacity of delivering powerful ingredients directly into the skin because it is made up of smaller molecules that can penetrate deeply into the skin and deliver a very high concentration of active ingredients. This makes them a great tool for targeting specific skincare concerns, like wrinkles, acne, pigmentation, dehydration and etc.

Creams - It is the main treatment product that should be essential in our routine. There are so many variations of creams on the market that it can drive you insane when it comes down to what to pick. So just to simplify it the things you want to pay the most attention to is if it is a night cream or a day cream or both. You might not wanna believe it but they are all different. The day creams normally would come with an SPF in their composition, which is meant to give you a light sun screen protection along the day, the night creams normally are an even richer texture and most of the times contain one or more active ingredients that are classifi ed are peeling ingredients, that makes them very dangerous to use during the day or even to use and not properly wash it off in the morning to make sure you don’t get sun light exposure on your skin and cause pigmentation or sensitivity. Given that the creams that have no exclusivity for night or day are normally generic treatments with no SPF of exfoliation capacity that makes them the safest but not necessarily the best.

Face lotions - The purpose of these is exactly the same as the creams, the only thing that changes is the texture. Normally they have a lighter more liquid texture due to the fact that their base is water mainly and barely any oil. Normally if you have oily type of skin this would be the correct product to choose for your routine. If you have an oily dehydrated condition then you might wanna use a face lotion for during the day and maybe a cream for the night routine in order to make sure your skin gets some extra nourishment at least at night.

Acid peelings - a very trendy topic in our days. As much as they are fantastic they could be just as dangerous. So be very cautious on how you use them. This is a very specifi c and broad topic that I could make a whole document just about it. (Which I may :)) but for now will keep it simple and just say that the home use ones can generally be classifi ed in acids that you use daily and the once that you use weekly. So lets say you have thick skin with no acne but a lot of oil production than you are totally the type that needs extra refreshment and you could easily go for a daily type of acid product with a low percentage of active ingredient meant to exfoliate and renew (you can check that with manufacturer). If you have acne prone skin then I would recommend avoiding the over usage of acids, I would go for the weekly plan and use a formula specifically made for acne or just the salicylic acid on it’s own. If you

How to use: Apply in small quantities to your skin after cleansing but before moisturising. If it is a serum meant to treat a specific targeted area then apply it exclusively only on that portion of skin.

have pigmentation problems then be very careful with any acid you choose to use, only apply it on the targeted area and never on the areas that have no pigmentation.

Sun Screen - these should be our best friends! They are our protection shield agains most skin problems! And I do mean it, either it is acne, pigmentation, paging, dehydration. It is all aggravated or stimulated.

Camouflage products

BB creams - BB stands for 'blemish balm' or 'beauty balm', It is more than standard tinted face cream. BB creams are specially formulated to act as a 3-in-1 foundation consisting of foundation, primer, and moisturiser.

CC creams - Usually stands for colour correcting cream or complexion corrector cream. Similar to BB cream, CC creams typically serve multiple purposes—however, unlike BB cream, CC cream usually provides a little more coverage to disguise imperfections like dark spots or redness.

3| SKIN CARE ROUTINE Cleansing in the morning is as important as having caffeine :). It is the wakeup call for our skin. It refreshes and wakes up our cells making us look fresh and bright. Also it is crucial to clean al the transpiration and pollution that our bodies put out through the night. If we don’t do it we will jus keep gathering those and building them up this way clogging our pores and not letting our skin breath properly. This is my generic suggestion on your home skin care routine based of of the skin type in general.

Skin TypeMorning 🌞 Night 🌙

Cleaning Treatment Cleaning Treatment

Normal

Lotion Toner Hydrating Serum Cream

Lotion Toner

1st - Soft Acid *3 week

2nd - Hydrating Serum

3nd - Cream

Oily Gel

TonerOil Balancing

Serum Lotion

Gel Toner

1st - Soft Acid Lotion*5 week 2nd - Cream

DryMilk

Toner1st - Nourishing

Serum 2nd - Cream

Milk Toner

1st - Nourishing Serum

2nd - Cream

Dehydrated

Mousse Toner

Hydrating Serum Cream

Mousse Toner

1st - Soft Acid *3 week

2nd - Hydrating Serum

3nd - Cream