The Essential 4-Step Face Care Routine for Beautiful, Healthy Skin

There’s lots of information to learn when building the best beauty routine for your skin. Digesting it all can get overwhelming, even confusing, especially regarding what to use on your face and in what order. Fortunately, there’s a way to simplify all the noise so you can stay focused and develop the best face care routine without getting lost in the shuffle of products. And it all starts with getting to know yourself a bit.

Determine Your Skin Type, Determine Your Face Care Routine

Before you embark on the journey to achieving major skin goals, it’s important to determine your skin type first. But hold on, this isn’t step one. Think of this as a pre-step that will help you hone in on the best products within each step.

You probably already have an idea of what kind of skin type you have. If not, one way to figure it out is to observe what your skin does throughout the day. At the end of an average day, how does your skin perform?

• Oily skin – Lots of shine; a heavy, oily feeling.
• Combination skin – Some parts get shiny, especially along the forehead and nose. Other parts remain neutral.
• Normal skin – Not much going on either way. Lucky you.
• Dry skin – Skin feels and looks dry and may get flaky or tight.
• Sensitive skin – This can encompass any of the above types; skin is easily irritated and itchy, whether dry to oily.

Remember that life comes at you fast, so changes like pregnancy or new medications can alter your skin type. Re-evaluate your skin if it’s been a while, especially if your current face care routine isn’t working the way you intend. Once you’ve made the distinction, it’s time to take action.

Step 1 – Cleanse Gently

Whether it’s first thing in the morning, after a good sweat, or at night before bed, let’s start with a clean slate. First, put the bar soap down. It may be tempting to remove oil, sweat, and makeup with the sudsy stuff, but unless it’s specifically formulated for the face, you may risk increased dryness, irritation, or an unwanted increase in oil production.

A good cleanser will address your skin type’s typical issues and balance its natural pH and oil production while giving you that fresh, clean feeling. All skin types can take advantage of adding iS Clinical Cleansing Complex to their face care routine.

This award-winning cleanser has the ideal blend of ingredients that clean out pores, supply nutrients, and protective antioxidants, and leave skin feeling refreshed. It combines science and nature with botanicals like chamomile, sugarcane, and white willow bark. Even sensitive skin types can give this a try.

If you’re a combination or oily skin type looking for acne-fighting power, go with the PCA Skin Facial Wash Oily/Problem. Oily skin is prone to acne breakouts due to clogged pores, and this cleanser aims to free your pores without stripping all of that fountain of youth moisture.

Its superpower comes partly from lactic acid, an alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) that gently exfoliates and keeps skin hydrated to maintain the harmony of your skin’s natural oil production. Whichever cleanser you choose, gently pat your face with a towel after rinsing, then move on to the next step.

Step 2 – Treat Your Concerns

With clean skin, now you can work serums that treat common concerns into your face care routine. We all have something we’d like to improve or prevent, so everyone can benefit from a high-quality, multi-tasking serum like iS Clinical’s Active Serum.

Their plant-derived ingredients are multi-taskers, allowing you to address concerns like acne, fine lines, wrinkles, and uneven tone. And Active Serum has been praised for offering both fast results and continued improvement in appearance with long-term use. A few drops of this brilliantly simple, cooling formula will do your skin justice.

Step 3 – Moisturize

The next step in the face care routine order is to lock in serums from Step 2 with a moisturizer that hydrates while letting your skin breathe. Look for formulas that draw moisture into the skin with humectants like hyaluronic acid and sodium hyaluronate. Also, look for restorative ceramides, which are fatty components that protect skin and seal in moisture.

Having those two ingredients in your face care routine is beneficial because they’re balancing and non-comedogenic, meaning they won’t clog pores. One of our favorites that fit the bill is Peter Thomas Roth’s Water Drench Hyaluronic Cloud Cream Hydrating Moisturizer. It’s lightweight yet packs in hydration with its 30% Hyaluronic Acid Complex, and it’s just the right consistency for each skin care type to adapt to their multi-step skincare regimen.

Step 4 – Sunscreen Before Exposure

All dermatologists agree that everyone should wear sunscreen, which is why it’s our last step to achieving fabulous, healthy skin. While it’s not a necessary step for nighttime, it’s a must for daylight hours.

The AAD recommends sunscreens that protect against UVA and UVB rays that age and burn skin, respectively. They should also be water-resistant and have a minimum SPF of 30. After that, it’s up to you if you want sunscreen with additional moisturizers or treatments before sitting near a sunny window.

IMAGE Skincare’s Prevention Plus Daily Hydrating SPF 30 Moisturizer is great for dry skin that needs additional moisture or if you have oily skin and want to minimize the number of products on your face. Its clean, mineral formula also has antioxidants to prevent free radical damage and several emollients to keep skin soft.

For additional protection, we love Colorescience’s Total Protection Face Shield SPF 50 Bronze for sun security and the added boost of glow. Don’t let the gorgeous bronze tint fool you; this broad-spectrum sunscreen seriously protects against the sun, pollution, blue light, and infrared radiation. All this while being free of harmful and allergenic ingredients. Your dermatologist will be proud.

Optional Steps

While it’s a personal preference to use optional toners and eye creams, it’s essential to know when to incorporate them into your face care routine for maximum benefits. Toners are used after cleansing and before serums to remove trace debris and balance skin. Eye creams are used as part of the moisturizing step. Make sure to be gentle!

Lastly, the step you shouldn’t skip is heading to our Beauty Resource Center. There you’ll get in-depth info about the best face care routine and the top affordable beauty buys for your skin care. If you want even more information, check out this article from WebMD on the Perfect Skin Care Routine. Now go forth with confidence!