Is your bathroom medicine cabinet so full of skin care products you don’t even know what to use anymore?
If you’re like most busy moms, you’re searching for that magic serum or moisturizer to finally clear up or slow down aging skin. Unfortunately, most of us are still searching.
How to Simplify Your Daily Skin Care Routine
To all the busy and new moms out there, you’re in luck! Today you’re going to learn how to simplify your skin care routine so it fits into YOUR schedule and how to make smarter skin care purchases.
As an experienced esthetician of 15 years, when I opened my own business in 2010, I wanted to do something for my clients that no other spa was doing. In my studies, I learned a great deal about how our skin is a major organ, connected to our own internal organs. This, in turn, taught me (by clearing up my own skin) how important our diet plays a role in how our skin responds and reacts.
Here are some of the vital things I learned.
Does Influencer equal expert?
If you’re like most women, you’re all over YouTube and Instagram seeking out different products and educating yourself on which ingredients are good, which ones to avoid and finding the most natural and organic products you can find.
Unfortunately, that process is like running on a hamster wheel. When it comes to skin care products, you must find something that works for you. Going online and buying what a so-called “beauty expert” recommended might not be your best option because your skin and theirs are completely different, and your regions of the world, climate, seasons, etc will affect the way your skin responds.
More on that later, but first we need to understand how to simplify your routine and make it fit into your busy schedule. If I can do it as a working single mom of three, you definitely can too!
If you were to open up your bathroom cabinet, you may have products in there you probably haven’t touched or used in over a year. Let’s start by getting rid of those. Harness your inner Marie Kondo if you needed.
Using products that have been in your bathroom for more than one year can potentially harm your skin. Even though skin care products contain preservatives for your safety, those preservatives are broken down because of the heat and moisture in your bathroom. Please make sure to toss those. If you’re unsure of how long it’s been in there, it’s best to toss it. Better safe than sorry!
Steps to Simple Skin Care Solutions
Once you have gone through that process of cleaning out your bathroom products, you’ll feel so much better about having a clean cabinet in you’ll be ready for the next step: Time to simplify.
Skincare SHOULD be simple. Too many of these “beauty experts” state that we need so many various products to achieve clear skin.
As a licensed professional I’m here to say, they are wrong! I can tell you from experience that using the RIGHT products morning and night will give you the best results overall.
Products to get you started
Honestly, that’s it! Now that you have your products simplified, it’s time to fit skin care into your busy schedule.
Timesaving skin care tips for the busy mom
When my kids were really little, I kept my products in their bathroom. I’d give them a bath and do my nighttime routine while they were playing in the tub. This way it was done for the night and I didn’t have to get up and wash my face when I was totally exhausted later.
If you don’t want to keep your expensive beauty products in their bathroom you can always put them in a convenient caddy to take from your bathroom to theirs like this one here and here.
Just because you are supposed to wash your face at night doesn’t mean it HAS to be right before bed. Start your nighttime routine after the kids are in bed or right before you sit down to watch TV at the end of the night. If you work late, wash your face as part of changing out of your work clothes. Make it fit into your lifestyle because then you are more likely to do it consistently and not skip this crucial step at night.
Now that you have an understanding of how easy it is to fit skin care into your life, let’s select the right products for your skin.
Finding products that work for your skin
In this day and age of social media experts and influencers, it’s not always easy to wade through fact from fiction. Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation online via ‘experts’ which may increase the likelihood that you’ll purchase products that a) don’t actually work for your skin and b) can further irritate, sensitize, or cause acne.
Finding products that make your skin feel good AND clear up your skin is the ultimate goal. Unfortunately, it’s hard to find those products over the counter because MOST of those products are filled with fillers or ingredients that don’t help the skin at all.
Even natural or organic products aren’t always the best choice, because most of them are filled with essential oils that do very little to help treat the actual skin. Some natural products cause more skin irritation than regular products do.
Selecting the right products
Let’s use acne as an example in this part since most women suffer from some form of acne or another.
When your skin is breaking out, it makes sense to purchase an acne product line to clear up the skin, right? Not necessarily.
Acne products are designed for oily-skinned teenagers, not adult women who may have dry skin. Using these kinds of products can cause skin dehydration which means that the skin is stripped of all oil and moisture and can become sensitized or irritated, making it worse. Some acne products CAUSE more acne breakouts!
When your skin is breaking out, it might be your diet or it might be your products. You do need some form of treatment to help fight the acne. Salicylic acid is a good option. Avoid Benzoyl peroxide, as it can cause damage to the skin, stain your towels and sheets and cause skin sensitivity.
Ingredients are Key
To start, select a cleanser that works for your skin. If your skin is dry, opt for a creamy cleanser to maintain the moisture barrier. If your skin is a combination, a foaming or gel-based cleanser works best. If you’re oily, a gel cleanser is recommended. The goal of a cleanser is to clean the skin, not strip it. If your skin feels tight and “squeaky-clean”, your cleanser is too strong or contains irritating ingredients. The skin should feel clean, not tight.
Next, we have the exfoliant. This I recommend doing 1-2 times a week, that’s it! Our skin is a smart organ and naturally exfoliates on its own. The goal of an exfoliant is to assist the skin in cell removal, not in the removal of the skin’s barrier like most scrubs or at-home peels do.
I prefer enzymes, which are gentle and work for your skin. You apply them like a mask, let it sit for 5-10 minutes and that’s it. I even keep mine in my shower so I can save time at night and exfoliate while I’m showering.
Then there are serums, which you can use both morning and night. Serums are your worker bees and target specific skin concerns, such as aging, dark spots, redness and/or acne. I like to customize serums for my clients and will recommend different ones for morning and night.
Serums contain active ingredients, such as Vitamin A, C, or Peptides that repair the skin at the dermal level.
Lastly are moisturizers and you will need two different moisturizers: SPF moisturizer for morning and a regular moisturizer for night. Your night moisturizer can be heavier because your skin repairs itself while you sleep. Most daily moisturizers already contain SPF in them; this is awesome because you don’t need two moisturizers in the morning.
In a morning moisturizer, look for Zinc oxide or Titanium dioxide over the chemical sunscreens because these are less irritating to the skin.
Healthy skin for a healthy outlook
To summarize, your skin care must be simple in order to achieve healthy skin. Consistency is key because the more regular and diligent you are and stick to your routine, the better your results. Finding products that work for your skin is also important because then your skin will thank you by clearing up and feeling good. You deserve to look and feel beautiful every day, using the right products will help you achieve that goal!
Check out Samantha Dench’s bio below to follow her on social media or book an appointment at her spa if you’re in the Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois area.
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AKA The ‘skin disrupter’ as a single mom of three young children, Samantha has been a licensed esthetician for 15 years and is also an accomplished author and speaker. Being hands-on in a treatment room has taught her more about skin than any class, video or textbook ever did. She loves sharing her passion for skin with women who are serious about changing their skin for good. Book an appointment with Samantha at her beautiful spa ‘Skin Deep’ located at 1909 Meyers Rd Suite 124 Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181
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