Cleansing is the first thing in facial skin care routine. Cleansing helps in removing dust, pollutants, grease and extra oil from your skin, thereby preventing damage to your skin. Just spot your face and neck with a good cleansing lotion or cream and gently massage it into your skin using upward strokes. Use a soft face tissue or cotton wool to wipe your face in a gentle patting fashion (do not rub). Cleansing should be done at least twice a day i.e. morning (as part of complete facial skin care routine) and evening (on a standalone basis). Water soluble cleansers are the best for inclusion in your facial skin care routine.
Toning
Toning is the next in a facial skin care routine. However, this is the optional part of the facial skin care routine. Mostly, proper cleansing can compensate for toning. Toning helps remove all traces of dirt, grease and excess cleanser. Instead of making it part of your daily facial skin care routine, you can using toning occasionally i.e. when you have been exposed to particularly harsh environment/pollution.
Exfoliation
Exfoliation is again, kind of, optional step in everyday routine for facial skin care. However, exfoliation is necessary at least once a week (or twice, depending on the skin type and the environmental conditions). Exfoliation finds its place in facial skin care routine because of the natural tendency of skin to replenish the skin cells every 3 or 4 weeks. As a facial skin care technique, exfoliation helps in removing the dead skin cells that block the pores, thus assisting the skin in the natural process. However, excessive or harsh exfoliation can cause damage to your skin; so you need to balance it out.
Our bodies naturally shed dead skin cells 24 hours a day, but
sometimes those dead cells stay on our skin instead of sloughing off
like they are supposed to and can cause a dull, dreary look. If you want
to refresh your face and body and get that healthy glow back, you can
start by exfoliating skin cells that are dead. While many commercial
products exist for this purpose, you can also use natural methods right
at home. Let’s take a look at a few.
Salt is a natural method of exfoliating skin that you can find right
in your own kitchen. It is rare to find a house that doesn’t have salt
in it! To start polishing your skin, take a couple pinches of salt in
the palm of your hand and moisten it with a little warm water. Then rub
over your skin. You may need more salt, depending on how much
exfoliating you are attempting to do. For exfoliating skin all over your
body, this method is recommended in the shower.
If you find that salt is just a little too harsh for exfoliating skin
in sensitive areas, such as the face, for example, you might prefer
using a softer natural method. The next step down is cornmeal. You will
need to heat about ½ cup of water to near boiling and add it to 1 cup of
cornmeal. Let this sit for about 10 minutes, or until all the water is
absorbed and the cornmeal is cool to the touch. This allows the grains
to plump up and become softer. As you rub this over your skin, you will
not only be exfoliating skin cells, but absorbing grease, perfect for
those with oily T-zones.
Yet another excellent facial scrub that is great for exfoliating skin
and absorbing excess oil is oatmeal. Just use slightly moistened quick
oats and massage them over your face to remove all dead skin and
brighten your look. Oat flakes are extremely absorbent and you might
find that you actually need a moisturizer after exfoliating skin in this
manner!
Exfoliating skin on the face and body is recommended at
least once a week to maintain a fresh, healthy skin and to prevent skin
problems such as acne and ingrown hairs. With the natural methods
mentioned above, you can easily do this at home without any expensive
products. It is also easy to do when the mood strikes you, since you
already have the ingredients in your kitchen!
The next thing in facial skin care is moisturising. In fact, moisturising is the most important part of facial skin care routine. Moisturisers prevent your skin from getting dry. Dry skin is really undesirable since it cause the upper layer skin to break, leading to dead skin cells. Again, use light upward strokes to make the moisturiser more effective. Moisturisers work the best when applied on warm and damp skin. So do not try to remove all the moisture in the previous steps of facial skin care routine.
