Not everyone is blessed with clear and radiant skin. While some people are fortunate enough to have the good skin gene, others make up for it by keeping close ties with their dermatologists. And some try to achieve clear skin by braving their breakouts and creating their own skincare routines.
The last category is where most people fall under: building their own skincare regimens from scratch. Many individuals have taken this path and succeeded, so others are confident to try it out for themselves. If you consider yourself an amateur when it comes to skin care, then you’ve come to the right place.
However, before getting into the nitty-gritty of skin care, you must know that it’s not all about the hype. Achieving clear skin is a process, one that can only be done if you’re determined to commit to the regimen you’re going to create. Skin care is not magic; it’s a habit that you practice and embody.
That said, you must understand the basics of doing skin care so that you can do it with an open mind and have the right expectations. This means before you go ahead and build your skincare regimen, you need to be clear on a few things first:
Skin Care Is Not About the Number of Products Used
If you go online to look up what popular skincare routines people are using, you may be going to encounter some with as many as 10 steps. That kind of skincare routine will include a wash, toner, moisturizer, serum, sunscreen, exfoliant, and other products, but not necessarily in that order.
Trying to keep up with an elaborate skincare routine like that can feel like a chore, and it can demotivate you from doing skin care altogether. But you must understand that it’s not about the number of products you’re using on your face; rather, skin care is about using the products that are appropriate for your needs.
So before you go and shop for moisturizers online, you need to know your skin type first. Do you have dry, oily, or combination skin? Are you prone to developing acne, and are you sensitive to certain ingredients? These are the kinds of questions you need to answer before you create your skincare routine.
Skin Care Is Not About the Brands
Once you’ve settled what your skin needs, the next step would be finding the right skincare products. Most people tend to flock to popular skincare brands because that’s what they often see in advertisements and commercials, but that’s not always the correct approach to take.
This is because skin care is not about the brands of your products; rather, it’s about the ingredients that your skincare products contain. You can buy the most expensive serum available in the market, and it won’t make a difference in taking care of the problem you’re hoping to solve because it’s not the right one.
That’s why before you buy your products, you must learn about the list of ingredients used first. For instance, if you have acne-prone skin, then it’s best if you get products that contain niacinamide, which can lighten dark acne marks and reduce inflammation, or salicylic acid, which helps fight bacteria and cleans pores.
There are many skincare products with different ingredients in the market, and they all cater to the varying needs of people. A brand of skincare products that may work for one person may not work for you, even if you share the same skin problem. This is why it’s better to base your skincare routine on the list of ingredients rather than brands.
Skin Care Is About Being Consistent with Your Routine
Lastly, skin care is all about consistency. You can have the best and most expensive skincare products available on the market but often forget to maintain your routine. Of course, you won’t be able to see the difference in your skin because you’re inconsistent with using the products.
There’s a reason it’s called a skincare routine. You have to do it every day; otherwise, it won’t work. Also, you can’t be consistent for a week and then stop because you’re not seeing any changes, especially because you’ll need at least four to twelve weeks of consistent use before seeing any remarkable differences.
Achieving clear, glowing skin takes time, hard work, and determination. You can’t be discouraged by the lack of obvious changes because it takes a while before taking effect. Skin care is also a hit and a miss, which means you might need to go through the process of trial and error before finding the right skincare products for you.
You might think that having clear skin isn’t worth all the effort and money you’re going to spend to get it, but it could also be worthwhile. However, you won’t know that unless you try, so give it a whirl because you might surprise yourself with the results.
