We all pick up bad habits in our daily routine. We stay in bed that extra 10 or 15 minutes, not allowing enough time in the morning to pamper our skin or eat a healthy breakfast. So, getting up a little earlier can improve all of these things, it is important to allow enough time to give your skin the attention it needs and deserves, after all, we all want to look our best as we face our daily routine, don’t we? Its’ all about ‘Skin Management – Learning Good Habits.’
Washing your face:
The type of soap or cleansers you use on your face is so important for delicate facial skin, and this is where Skin Management is essential, everyone has a different skin type, and you have to find the product that is best suited to your skin. If you use soap that is too harsh you will remove essential oils from the skin that is going to lead to a lot of skin irritation!
Read – Alcohol and Skin Care Products – The Facts
When to wash your face:
This advice isn’t here to try to teach anyone how to suck eggs, but how many people do we know who do not follow the simple rules of facial hygiene? If we are honest, probably we all know someone!
Wash your face in the morning, when you wake up its so refreshing to gently cleanse your face, what better way to start your day, and it will leave your skin looking its best.
During the day you might have to do something very physical, causing you to sweat a lot or you may have a particularly dirty job to do. Even just walking around the city can you imagine how much dirt, grime, and smog cover your face, and the build-up of harmful facial bacteria would amaze you, so if you have a chance its always good to wash your face during the day.
Before going to bed, don’t just rely on having a shower being enough to remove all the pollutants that build up throughout the day. We need to wash our face separately using a facial soap/cleanser, do not just say “the shampoo will do it as it runs down my face” that’s not good enough! The use of hair shampoo is not suitable to be used as a face cleanser, this is where proper Skin Management comes into your daily routine, shampoo is much too harsh and as mentioned earlier will strip out all the essentials oils our face has and needs.
Also, never leave make-up or sunblock on overnight, this is a definite No! Your skin might forgive you doing it once but if you do this on a daily basis you risk the pores getting clogged up, which in turn will lead to skin problems and acne, also makeup will drain the skin of any oils and moisture it has and this in, turn will lead to dry skin and early aging! Do you want this?
How to wash your face – Be Kind To Your Skin:
Only use lukewarm water, never use hot water on your face, also keep this in mind when having a bath or shower as this will remove those essential oils from the face and body. Apply a mild face cleanser and using your fingertips to work the cleanser in a circular motion working from the forehead down across the bridge of the nose, cheeks, and chin.
Do not scrub your skin clean. If you have been sweating or working in a dusty environment you may feel the urge to give your face a good old scrub in the belief it is doing some good; it isn’t! DO NOT! Scrubbing the face will profoundly irritate your skin and if you do have any existing skin conditions will only make them worse.
Rinse your face thoroughly with lukewarm water to remove any cleanser and dry by gently patting/dabbing action with a clean towel, do not then drag the towel over your face, we want the skin to retain some moisture not leaving the skin feeling too dry or tight.
Shaving is something that is very severe on facial skin, again use lukewarm water to wet the area to be shaved, lubricate the surface using a suitable shaving foam, lotion or gel, I always use foams or gels for sensitive skin as they seem to irritate the skin less when shaving. A blade should only be used for 5 ‘shaves’ maximum, I know they are expensive but do not be inclined to overuse a razor as blunt blades will irritate the skin and can cause nasty ‘skin rash,’ and you do not get a close shave! Always shave in the direction that the hair grows so as not to razor burn or ingrown hair follicles.
Get that Peace, Quiet and Relaxation You Deserve
Pamper Yourself – Spabreaks.com
Exfoliate your face: 
Exfoliating is an extremely vast topic, and many people will have different views on when, why, with what or how to exfoliate your skin. It is something that we will be looking into in greater detail in due course, but we do feel it is a significant part of your Skin Management program.
To begin with I would not suggest exfoliating your face on a daily basis, most people to some degree have sensitive skin and if you do exfoliate daily it can lead to irritation and redness and if you do have a skin condition (acne or dry skin) this will lead to inflammation of the skin and the dreaded accelerated aging!
Making our skin angry is not what we want from our daily skin maintenance. I would suggest aim for exfoliating 2 or 3 times a week using a ‘mechanical scrub’ if you have what we call ‘normal’ skin or ‘combination’ skin type. If you have sensitive or hypersensitive maybe consider using ‘chemical peel’ as they are not so harsh on the skin, some of the milder solutions are okay to use on a daily basis.
What we are looking to achieve when exfoliating our face is to remove dead skin cells that can block the pores and remove the daily build up of pollutants that give the skin a dull, unhealthy appearance. Your daily wash program that we have been talking about will help to avoid this to a certain degree but when you exfoliate your face that you are giving it a thorough deep cleansing.
For a more in-depth look at Exfoliating your face, you may like to read:
Read – Best Way To Exfoliate Your Face
Skin Management – Its Important!
I hope this shows you why it is so important to get into a good daily face cleansing routine, once you have grasped each task they will fit seamlessly into your day, and as we say “practice makes perfect” and your skin will appreciate it! You will grow in confidence as your skin appearance improves you will face your daily tasks looking your best 🙂
What is your daily skin care routine? Please leave any comments or questions below, and I will be happy to discuss them with you.
jo@yourskincarehelp.com