What are the essential parts of a skincare routine and what do you use?
“What I use” and “what is essential” are two very, very different things, because I have a brain disease and put a million things on my face in a misguided attempt to become immortal.
But: there are three main components to a skincare routine that everybody needs, no matter their skin type. They are: a low ph face wash, a hydrating moisturizer, and sunscreen.Â
#1: Face Wash
Self explanatory, I think. You have to wash your dang face. Stuff gets on it.
One of the biggest changes I saw in my skin was when I started using a low ph cleanser. The natural ph of skin is slightly acidic, usually somewhere between 4.5 and 6.2, with the average being about 5.5. Using a face wash that matches this ph will help protect your skin’s moisture barrier (also known as the "acid mantle" if you wanna get fancy), which will do wonders for keeping your skin balanced. A lot of cleansers, especially anything super foamy that leaves your skin feeling “squeaky clean”, are too alkaline for the face. Using an alkaline cleanser can feel good, but ultimately it compromises your moisture barrier and can cause your skin to produce more oil in an attempt to hold onto what little moisture it has left. Also, if you’re acne prone, using an alkaline face wash is a bad idea because a slightly acidic environment inhibits the growth of bacteria that causes acne.
It can be hard to get used to using a low ph face wash if you’re used to that “squeaky clean”, “tight” feeling, because we associate those feelings with cleanliness. But it’s not cleanliness! It’s your skin's moisture barrier crying out for help! Don’t do it!!!
I’m not saying you need to go out and buy ph testing strips and be a psycho about this stuff like I am. You can usually google “(name of cleanser)+ph” and get info on it from the internet. There are a couple really good low ph cleansers at the drug store - my two favorites are from cerave, I use the cerave hydrating cleanser, but if you’re someone who needs that foamy feeling to feel clean, the cerave foaming cleanser; works as well. I recommend these two to pretty much everyone, but as long as you’re using something low ph (anything below an 8, but ideally something between 4 and 6 ) that gets dirt off your face, you’re probably fine.
#2: Moisturizer
A lot of people with oily skin think they don’t need to moisturize. THEY ARE WRONG. OMG. So wrong. Some people are just generally a bit greasy (I’ve inherited this gene from my italian ancestors), but a lot of times “oily” skin is actually dehydrated skin, and all that oil is just a compromised moisture barrier trying to hold in water (oil is what’s called an “occlusive” - it holds stuff in and keeps other stuff out) We often think of skin as just dry vs oily, but there’s a hydration component to it too. Generally speaking, the better hydrated your skin, the more balanced it will be. Ingredients to look for in a moisturizer are called humectants, ie, ingredients that draw and hold in moisture. There are lots of different humectants, but some of the common ones you should look for on the ingredients list of your moisturizer are: hyaluronic acid, glycerin, aloe vera, butylene glycol, and/or urea. (yeah, urea! It’s a pee chemical! Turns out it’s good for your skin! Good news for all you perverts.) No need for your moisturizer to include all of them, but the more and the higher up they are on the ingredients list the better. Honey is also a great humectant. If your skin is feeling dry, smearing honey all over your face and doing a quick face mask before you shower will make it baby soft.
Again, there are lots of good moisturizers at the drugstore, and again, I like the cerave line. I used this one from cerave for a long time before I got into all my fancy Korean bullshit (perhaps I'll do a post on that later) because it’s light and absorbs quickly. If you have dry skin, you might prefer something a little heavier and more occlusive, since your skin isn't producing the oil that's going to hold the moisture in, and if you’re really, truly oily, you might prefer a gel moisturizer like this Korean one I like.
#3: Sunscreen
Sunscreen is so boring. It’s not a sexy skincare product. But it’s the cheapest wrinkle cream money can buy. There’s no use spending lots of money on expensive treatments for your face if you’re not protecting the results with sunscreen. I talked about sunscreen, why it should be a separate skincare step, and why non Western sunscreen tends to be better and cheaper, a bit in my last post. I linked to the Japanese one I use in my last post, but there are a lot of options out there. A number of people contacted me after my last post to tell me how much they like this one from Nivea also for Asian markets.There is a lot to learn about sunscreens and how they work - chemical vs physical, SPF vs PA rating, UVA vs UVB, but I'm dumb and not super interested in it so I say just try to find one you'll actually use every day with a decent SPF rating and don't worry too much about the other stuff. Actually using it, and using a full 1/4 teaspoon of it, is the most important thing. Here's a more in depth post if you're interested.
Now there’s a whole bunch of other stuff you COULD add into your skincare routine, based on how obsessed you want to get and what your skin needs - double cleansing, vitamin c, exfoliating acids, brightening serums, peptides, retinol, masks, occlusives.. but start slow. I don’t need to transmit my illness to you.
