Coreenna

Most people imagine that taking care of the skin is extremely time-consuming, involving complicated steps and pots and pots of creams. The truth is,  a good skin care routine can be completed within a few minutes and need not be at all time-consuming. However, the few minutes spent each day will be well worth it!

Step 1: Cleansing (Twice daily) Time required: 1 to 2 minutes

Cleansing ’sets the stage’ for the rest of your skin care regime. Regardless of your skin type, it is important to use a gentle cleanser that will not dry out your skin or leave behind greasy residues. As facial skin tend to be more delicate, it is best to avoid washing your face with soap. This is especially true if your skin is dry, sensitive or prone to breakouts.

If you wish to save time, you can cleanse your face while in the shower (after rinsing off the shampoo and shower gel). This process should take only a minute or 2.

Step 2: Toning (Twice daily) Time required: 1 minute

Besides refreshing and balancing your skin, a good facial toner will help to prepare your skin to receive the goodness of skin treatment serums and moisturizers.

Always use toners that do not contain any synthetic colors, fragrance or alcohol as these ingredients are bad for the skin.

Here’s a tip to applying toners: instead of cotton pads, pour a small amount onto your palms and pat it lightly onto your face and neck until it is completely absorbed by your skin. During the day, toner can be used to keep your skin fresh and rejuvenated.

Step 3: Exfoliating (2 to 3 times a week, at night only) Time required: 1 minute

To achieve smooth, clear skin, exfoliating your skin regularly is a must. While exfoliation is important, we do not recommend abrasive facial scrubs as the abrasive action of scrubbing your skin can lead to skin damage in the long term.

A gentler, more effective approach would be to use an exfoliator composed of fruit and flower acids as these have been shown to be effective in gently dissolving away dead skin cells while providing your skin with natural moisturizers and antioxidants.

I have listed exfoliation as Step 3 here because Vitasence’s exfoliating product, Cell Renewal Serum, is actually a leave-on serum that has been specially formulated to support your skin’s renewal process throughout the night as you are asleep.

Step 4: Treatment (Twice daily) Time required: 1 to 2 minutes

This is what we call the ‘flexi-step’ which can be adapted to suit your particular needs. E.g. if you have acne problem, this step should comprise of applying acne treatment products. Depending on your skin condition, this step may involve more than one product, e.g. if you have both acne and pigmentation, you may want to apply an acne treatment product together with a skin lightening product. Nevertheless, the application of each product should not take you more than a minute.

Step 5: Moisturize (Twice daily) Time Required: 1 minute

To ’seal-in’ the goodness of the treatment products, you can apply a moisturizer. This is not a must by the way. If you have naturally oily skin, the treatment products which you have applied earlier may be more than enough to keep your skin moisturized. However, if your skin is prone to dryness, applying an extra layer of moisturizer will be very useful to keep your skin well hydrated all day. Choose a moisturizer that is not to oily or heavy to avoid getting breakouts and clogged pores.

Step 6: Protection (Once daily, in the morning) Time required: 1 minute

Pigmentation, wrinkles and many other skin problems are the result of accumulated sun exposure. Hence, it is essential to use a good, broad spectrum sunblock that can double up as a light moisturizer during day time.

I hope from the guideline given above, you can see how in less than 10 minutes twice daily, a good skin care routine will give you healthy, beautiful skin for life.