Taking care of your skin is an indispensable act of self-care. As the largest organ in the human body, your skin may mirror the overall condition of your health. Paying attention to it can help enhance your complexion, improve its health, increase protection from outside elements, promote good mental health, and many more. 

The formula for excellent skin health and complexion is creating an effective skincare routine. Unfortunately, many people try out new products as soon as they hit the shelves without even finding solace with their current regimen. To witness actual results from skincare products, one must be consistent in their daytime and nighttime routines.

The Basics Of A Daytime and Nighttime Skincare Routine 

After a long and tiring day, your skin has undergone environmental stress brought by sun exposure, air pollution, sweat, mechanical stress, and the like. Also, oil and dirt have accumulated on the skin’s surface. To give your skin a break from these elements, your nighttime routine should focus on repairing and healing. 

Upon waking up in the morning, your skin needs preparation and protection before going outdoors and being exposed to the sun. You can achieve this by using hydrating dry skin products that offer protection. 

Essential Skincare Items For Your Morning Routine 

Using the right skincare products can kickstart your day. Having a skincare routine can become a crucial part of your mornings and help you build confidence before stepping out of your home. Here are five essential skincare items worth adding to your daytime routine:

1.Cleanser

Humans shed around one pound’s worth of dead skin cells during sleep. Using a mild cleanser in the morning can eliminate unwanted dirt sitting on your face without stripping your skin of its natural lubricant called sebum.

However, a cleanser isn’t always necessary to start your morning, especially for people with dry skin types. The natural oils accumulated in your skin during sleep protect your skin from external stress and dehydration for the entire day. If you feel the need to cleanse your dry skin, cleansing with water or using cream cleansers are best for your skin type. 

On another end, if you have oily skin, using a cleanser is crucial to remove excess oil, bacteria, and skincare product buildup from the previous night. 

2.Hydrators 

After cleansing your skin, it can quickly lose hydration if you won’t follow it up with hydrating and moisturizing products. The loss of water from your skin through evaporation or diffusion is known as transepidermal water loss (TEWL), which you can combat with the help of hydrators, including toners, essences, serums, and ampoules. 

Along with fighting off dehydration and dryness, using hydrators is also beneficial in prepping your skin’s texture to allow sunscreen and cosmetic products to sit well on your skin. Some people don’t realize this, but you can opt out of hydrators in your routine if you don’t need their additional benefits. If you have limited time to do your daytime skincare regimen, the hydrator step is the best step to skip unless your skin strictly requires daytime hydration.

3.Actives And Treatments

Some people jump into skincare because they’re not satisfied with their appearance. For instance, hyperpigmentation left by acne can be easily solved using appropriate skincare products. In addition, people who want to improve their skin’s texture also resort to skincare to achieve a smooth and supple complexion. 

To address these issues, adding actives and treatments into your morning routine can be an added boost to your skin’s health. Some of these products can even supercharge the effects of other products in your routine. 

Products under the actives and treatments category have concentrated ingredients for heightened potency. Antioxidants are often added to skincare products and treatments as active ingredients to fight free radicals brought by sun exposure and metabolism. Some of the most popular antioxidant ingredients are the following:

  • Vitamin C
  • Vitamin E 
  • Vitamin A
  • Resveratrol 
  • Coenzyme Q10
  • Polyphenols 

Actives and treatments are perhaps the most expensive step in your routine, but it’s worthwhile to splurge on these products if they offer positive effects on your skin.

4.Moisturizer 

Moisturizers are among the foundations of an effective skincare routine. Compared to hydrators, moisturizers don’t only deliver hydration and moisture into the skin but also seals the skin’s surface to prevent water loss and act as a protective barrier to your skin. 

Oily-skinned individuals may avoid using moisturizers if they feel greasy during midday. However, if you find that your oily skin still needs some moisturization, you can resort to lighter moisturizers in the form of gel and water creams, which contain higher amounts of water than oil. 

It’s best to spread a pea-sized moisturizer as soon as you’ve finished applying your hydrators and treatments or while the skin is still damp from cleansing. This way, you can immediately lock in hydration into your skin and prepare it for the next steps.

5.Sunscreen 

Cleanser, moisturizer, and sun protection are originally the basics of a skincare routine. You can forget those fancy toners and serums in the morning, but never your protection against the harsh sun. By protecting your skin with the right sunscreen, you can achieve both long- and short-term benefits, such as: 

  • Slows down signs of aging, including wrinkles and fine lines 
  • Protects your skin from sunburn and tanning 
  • Minimizes your risks of skin cancer
  • Helps keep an even complexion 
  • Reduces blotchiness and redness 
  • Promotes overall healthy skin 

Finding the right sunscreen can be quite challenging as its effects and experience can vary significantly from person to person. When looking for the right sunscreen, here are two most important factors to prioritize: 

  • High Sun Protection Factor (SPF): SPF dictates how much UVB rays the sunscreen can block, which are responsible for sunburn. Ideally, SPF 30 or higher is recommended by dermatologists as it can already stop 97% of the UVB rays you’re exposed to. 
  • High PA Rating: Meanwhile, the PA rating of a sunscreen indicates your protection from UVA rays known to cause skin cancer. If a sunscreen is rated with PA+, it only offers some UVA protection. The highest possible PA rating you can get is PA++++ indicating extremely high UVA protection. 

Take-Home Message

There’s no right and wrong answer to which skincare products you’re using in the morning, given that they promote healthy and well-protected skin. However, if you’ve been seeing no improvements on your skin, or worse, suffering from skin conditions like acne, dryness, rosacea, and the like, it’s time to ditch skincare products harming your skin. 

The solution: have your skin consulted by a licensed dermatologist, search for the right skincare products, and use them correctly and consistently.

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