How to Care For The Skin In The Morning And At Night

In my last blog, I roughly touched on the importance of our skincare routine at night, which made me want to dive deeper into why it is so extremely important.

Our skin is exposed to so many different elements throughout the day. Pollutants, dirt, UV rays, stress, and build up of dirt and oil on our skins surface. What we put on our face in the morning and at night need to be different. During the day, we want to use products that focus on protecting our skin from all the damage like sun, wind, toxins, stress, and debris, that can occur throughout the day. The product you put on your face in the morning, will help protect against these elements penetrating your epidermal layer. At night, you want to focus on products that will help aid your body in repairing your skin. Repairing products before bedtime are important because at night, not only does our skin produce less oil (hence, why night moisturizers are heavier than day ones), our skin is hard at work repairing itself from all the damaged caused to it throughout the day. No wonder everyone calls it “beauty sleep”.

You want to give your skin its best shot at repairing itself while you sleep. To do so, removing your makeup and cleansing should be the first thing you do in your nightly routine. You want a cleanser that will be strong enough to remove dirt and grime, yet gentle enough to avoid any skin irritations. If you don’t have a cleanser that will remove all the impurities from your pores, you risk causing acne breakouts. That’s something no one wants, no matter what your age. A toner will also help in removing any dirt or oil that your cleanser left behind. Vitamins A and C are two powerful ingredients to add in your skincare routine, that help promote cell regeneration. Vitamin C, applied in the evening, can help reduce the appearance of wrinkles (it smells good, too!). You want to let your moisturizer absorb into your skin for at least 10-20 mins before you hit the sack, or you risk most of it rubbing off onto your pillow. Sleeping on a silk pillowcase can help combat wrinkles as well, especially if you are a stomach sleeper; Bonus, it helps eliminate frizz in your hair, too!

I mentioned earlier that our skin doesn’t produce as much oil at night, so that’s why it is especially important to put the right products on our skin before we hit the hay. Hyaluronic acid is a crucial product to keep in your arsenal. It helps hydrate and lock moisture into your skin, which would be smart to apply before bed, so that we aren’t losing any more moisture. Moisturizing is important for every skin type, including oily skin. Yup, you heard me right. I know people who have oily skin and hair, and they do not like to add moisture to their hair or skin. This is not a good thing and I like to inform them, that it will actually help the issue instead of making it worse like they assume it will. If you have oily, sensitive, or acne-prone skin, you may consider using moisturizers that are aloe vera based, since it provides grease-free hydration coupled with anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effects.

Hydration is key to everything! On that note, make sure you are drinking plenty of water throughout the day. On average, we should consume half of our body weight in ounces of filtered water. For example, someone weighs 160 lbs., they would drink 80 ounces of water in one day. That is roughly 4-5 average sized water bottles a day. That sounds easy enough. I have a 40-ounce Hydro Flask that I fill up roughly 2.5 times a day. I know, I just gave my weight away, oh well. Drinking plenty of water throughout the day, cleansing and hydrating your skin properly will help aid in more supple and firm skin.

It may seem like just washing your face at night is enough, but it isn’t. it is important to have your morning routine as well. Remember, we have to help protect our skin from all the damaging elements out in the world. So, make sure you are using the proper products in the A.M. to do this. Don’t forget about that sunscreen, too. Not just any old sunscreen either. Make sure you are getting one that is specifically for your face. There are some facial moisturizers and foundations that have sunscreen in them if you want a 2 for 1 kind of a deal. The morning is when you can exfoliate your skin; this will aid in getting rid of any dead skin cells that acquired while repairing itself when we were sleeping. It’s good to do this once or twice a week. It all depends on what kind of exfoliating you are doing, more gentle or more abrasive.

A.M. Cleansing Steps:

1) Cleanse face with gentle cleanser. You can use a cream cleanser or an oil cleanser. Once or twice a week you can exfoliate before cleansing.

2) Apply a toner to your dry, clean face.

3) Apply any serums, oils, and eye cream. These will be specific to each individual and to each section of your face and what a certain area may need or not need.

4) Apply your moisturizer and sunscreen (if separate from moisturizer/foundation).

P.M. Cleansing Steps:

1) Remove any makeup with makeup remover.

2) Cleanse your face and neck, making sure to be thorough. We want to remove all those pollutants!

3) Apply your toner to a cotton pad and wipe your face.

4) If you want to do a mask, you can do that at this point. I like to do a mask 2-3 times a week.

5) Apply your hydrating mist (if you have one) and give it time to soak in.

6) Apply any serums, oils, and eye cream, giving each step time to soak into your skin.

7) Apply your night moisturizer, also giving it time to absorb into your skin.

Hot tip: It’s a good rule of thumb to not be too rough when applying any step, especially around your eyes, as the skin is very delicate. Light tapping motions or small circles when applying anything to your face is best practice.

Remember, consistency always pays off. So, keep up the good work taking care of your skin, and it will take care of you! Good luck on your new skincare routine adventure and have fun creating your routine and finding products that work for you!