A daily skincare routine is essential for maintaining healthy and radiant skin. The key steps in a basic daily skincare routine include cleansing, toning, moisturizing, and sun protection.
Define Your Skin Care Routine
To help define your clear skin routine, we at Azurlis™ created the Absolutely Essential Daily Skin Care Gift Set, with a step-by-step guide that is simple and can be adapted to any Skin Type.
Start with a simple assessment whether you have dry, oily, combination, sensitive, or normal skin. This will help you choose the right products for your specific needs.
For instance, Dry Skin tends to feel “rough” to the touch and shows fine lines easily; Oily Skin on the other hand might feel oily to the touch, and sometimes is defined by large pores, break outs, white heads, and black heads (all often associated with acne). However, this oiliness might be confined to parts of the face, such as the forehead, nose and chin (T-zone), while the rest of the face could feel dry or normal. This is known as Combination Skin;
Then of course there is Sensitive Skin, that can be either Oily or Dry, and very sensitive to the elements, contact with skin products, food, and stress.
So, what is Normal Skin? It really refers to one that is problem-free, neither too oily nor dry, with even texture.
But, as we mature, and our sebaceous production decreases, our skin tends to become less hydrated, the skin thickness decreases and looks duller, its function as a barrier is compromised with increased moisture loss and lines and wrinkles become more pronounced. Occasionally, we can still have break outs, especially under stressful conditions, whether physical, psychological, or environmental.
A Good Skin Care Regimen Starts With:
Cleansing:
Start your day and end your day with a gentle cleanser to remove dirt, oil, and impurities from your skin. Cleanse your face with a gentle, natural cleanser. Chose products that are free of harsh chemicals, fragrances, and synthetic additives, such as a sulfate-free cleanser to remove dirt, oil, and makeup. Use lukewarm water, as hot water can be harsh on the skin.
Our Refreshing Facial Skin Cleanser is suitable for all skin types, whether it's dry, oily, combination, or sensitive. This product helps to unclog pores as well as to prepare your skin for other products.
Toning:
After cleansing, use a toner to balance your skin's pH levels and prepare it for the next steps. Toners can also help to provide additional hydration, sooth or have some astringent properties, remove any remaining traces of dirt while refreshing with a burst of moisture. Our Crystal Mist Herbal Toner is an ideal option, with the aroma of freshly cut cucumber.
But, for an Effective Daily Skin Care Routine you need:
Hydrating Serum:
Serum products can address specific skin concerns while improving a clear a clear skin routine. With a wide range of ingredients serum products might contain vitamin C for brightening, hyaluronic acid for hydration, and niacinamide for improving texture and pore size, or mixture of these.
Our Hydrating Face & Neck Gel is a super hydrator serum with hyaluronic acid, ideal to soften/plump fine lines, and provide a wonderful youthful glow. Apply before moisturising in the morning, or night if that is more suitable.
Moisturizing:
Use a moisturizer appropriate for your skin type to lock in moisture that keeps your skin soft. Also, contrary to urban myth, oily skin needs just as much moisturizing to maintain a healthy skin barrier. However, it is necessary to adjust the amount of moisturiser used. In fact, it is critical to apply small amounts at a time and test how quickly the product is absorbed. Only re-apply if the skin feels “dry”.
Our Intensive Daily Moisturising Day Cream is a rich source of nourishment suitable for all skin types, particularly mature skin, and has been designed to lock in hydration and keep your skin soft and supple. Even if you have oily skin, don't skip this step; just use less. We always recommend to start with grapeseed amounts of product.
And, to Enhance Your Clear Skin Routine Don’t Forget Sun Protection
Sunscreen:
In the morning, finish your routine with a broad-spectrum sunscreen with at least SPF 10 – SPF 30. Sunscreen is essential to protect your skin from the harmful effects of UV rays and prevent premature aging. But be aware that for effective protection, sunscreen needs to be applied throughout the day, especially if you're spending time outdoors. Besides, the difference between SPF 10 and SPF 30 is not in the number of hours that protection is afforded, but rather on the shielding from the UV ray intensity. This means that SPF 30 protects against more intense UV, BUT in order for this protection to be maintained, the sunscreen needs to be applied approximately every 2 hours.
At Azurlis™ we developed the Daily Moisturising Cream Gel, SPF-10, with zinc oxide, the only truly natural broad spectrum sunscreen agent. This product provides a low level protection for those that do not want the heavy feel of high % of zinc oxide, however we always advocate wearing a hat. Besides, regular application of the product (every 1 – 2 hours) is recommended.
Only a small amount will be required, since your skin will already be moisturised. If your skin is very fair, a higher SPF protection is always a must, with many other choices in the market. Sunscreen is crucial to protect your skin from the harmful effects of UV rays and prevent premature aging. Reapply sunscreen throughout the day, especially if you're spending time outdoors. And, remember… where possible wear a hat.
A word of caution on daily skin care routines
The effectiveness of such routines is not just dependent on the ingredients and/or delivery technology used in the product, but rather very importantly, on a myriad of factors associated with each of our genome-microbiome-exposome and how these affect the presentation of our physiology, immune system, and lifestyle, as well as our involvement with our external environment, all of which affect our health and how we mature/age.
Thus, the full suite of benefits from a skin care regimen is affected by our lifestyle and naturally there are huge benefits to an integrative model, from a holistic perspective.
Bibliography:
Ia Khmaladze , Michele Leonardi, Susanne Fabre, Cyril Messaraa, Alain Mavon. 2020. The Skin Interactome: A Holistic "Genome-Microbiome-Exposome" Approach to Understand and Modulate Skin Health and Aging. Clin. Cosmetic. Investig. Dermatol., 13: 1021-1040.
