What does a skin care routine include?

In fact, judging from the consensus of skin care practitioners and most clinical dermatologists, the core is always the three basic items of cleansing, moisturizing, and sun protection. All the other steps are functional supplements that are superimposed on demand. There is no need to follow the trend and engage in a "standard process" that often involves seven or eight steps.

A while ago, I helped an oily-skinned girl who had just entered college adjust her skin care habits. She used to learn a "complete skin care ritual" from a beauty blogger. She never stopped removing makeup, cleansing, toner, serum, essence, eye cream, lotion, and facial cleansing in the morning and evening. After following the nine-step process of cream and sunscreen, my cheeks turned red and I developed a backlight rash within two months. Later, I simplified the routine during the day into gentle cleansing + refreshing moisturizing lotion + sunscreen, and only added an anti-acne serum at night. Within three weeks, my skin condition stabilized.

This does not mean that multi-step skin care is completely useless. It must match your skin condition and needs. For example, if you have mature dry skin with a healthy skin barrier and want to anti-aging and brighten, then in addition to the three basic steps, add an anti-aging essence, whitening essence, and eye cream. It is absolutely fine. If you have sensitive skin, you can even skip toner. Wash your face with warm water, apply a repair cream and hard sunscreen. It is more effective than applying a bunch of miscellaneous things.

There are now a lot of discussions about skin care procedures in the industry. For example, should we do separate procedures in the morning and at night? One group believes that the skin has to deal with external stimuli such as ultraviolet rays, dust, and car exhaust during the day. The focus is on protection. Don’t cleanse too hard to avoid damaging the barrier function of the stratum corneum. Follow-up products should mainly be light and moisturizing with sun protection to minimize the burden. ； The other group believes that no matter morning or evening, as long as there is no discomfort on the skin, there is no problem with the same procedure. For example, if you have dry skin and use a strong occlusive moisturizing cream morning and night in winter, your skin will not be stuffy or acne prone. My own experience after trying it is that there is no need to stick to the rule of "morning and evening must be different". For example, I have oily skin in the summer, so I only use amino acid cleanser, oil control gel and sunscreen in the morning. I will apply more repair essence at night. In winter, I have dry skin and use moisturizing cream in the morning and evening. I haven't had any problems after using it for more than half a year.

In fact, the skin care process is very much like cooking for the skin. The basic three steps are rice, which is the staple food to be eaten every day, and the functional step is the side dishes. What flavor you want to eat and how many vegetables you want to add all depend on your own appetite and digestion ability. Too much will only cause indigestion.

You can flexibly adjust it when encountering special situations. You don’t have to stick to a fixed routine. For example, after a day at the beach today, your cheeks are hot and red due to the sun. When you get home, you can first apply a soothing ice mask, and then apply a repair cream. All other products with functions such as whitening and anti-aging should be stopped, so as not to put extra burden on the skin.； If your face looks dark after staying up late this week, add a whitening essence at night for two or three days in a row. You can see a good brightening effect without applying it every day.

Oh yes, there are also special treatments that can be done once or twice a week, such as exfoliating and applying a cleansing mask. It all depends on your skin type. If you have oily skin, it’s okay to use a cleansing mask once a week. But if you have sensitive skin using exfoliating products, you may end up with redness and itchiness for several days. There is absolutely no need to toss your face just to “go through the process.”