Daily Routines for All Skin Types

Skin is an organic, living thing that is constantly changing its nature in response to diet, hormones and the weather. Look at the pattern of your lifestyle to determine how best to care for your skin. I want to empower you to understand the fundamentals: what your skin is trying to say and how best to care for it.

If the weather is getting cold, and you’re going to be outside, use a more protective therapy, including a nourishing cream. If you are using central heating and staying mostly inside, drink plenty of water to keep your skin from drying out, and use a lighter moisturizer. Take control of your looks. Knowledge is power in your own hands.

When it comes to your daily facial-care routine, simplicity is imperative. If you attempt to follow some enormously complex routine with countless products to open and close, the truth is that you’re going to stop doing it after a few weeks. Instead, I’m going to give you a no-nonsense guide for caring for your skin, which makes sense, is easy to follow and works at a deeper level to maintain the quality of your skin.

Daytime skin-care is all about protection against dehydration and pollution. At night, your skin needs to rest, recuperate and regenerate.

How to Wash

1.) Massage the soap thoroughly all over your face and don’t forget your neck, under your chin, the sides of your nose, your eyebrows and your chin. Wash it away with plenty of water. If you have time, repeat the process, before using some cold water to close any open pores.

2.) If you have blackheads or congested skin on your nose, chin or forehead, wrap a flannel around your finger, wipe it across a bar of soap and use a moderate pressure to make small circular movements around the affected area. Rinse and repeat.

3.) If you are prone to dry or sensitive skin, you may find your face feels tight when you use soap, and you may be better off using a cleansing lotion with added moisturizer or a foaming cleanser without soap.

As a general rule, choose:

For dry/mature skin cream cleanser

Normal skin lotion cleanser

Oily skin foaming or gel-based cleanser

Alternatively, try my favored traditional method, which sounds unusual but actually makes perfect sense and is absolutely the best way to wash mature skin, skin prone to acne, or sensitive skin. Apply a light film of almond oil or unrefined vegetable oil, such as sunflower, all over your neck and face. Rub it in gently with the balls of your fingertips and leave for one minute. Then remove with a pad of dampened cotton wool. The oil will dissolve all the grime and build-up, without stripping the skin of its protective film.

Some people say you should only dab your face with a towel, but I think this is a lost opportunity. Rubbing your face very gently is an effective way to slough off any lingering dead skin cells. A sideways motion is better than rubbing up and down, as this can encourage the muscles to sag.

Read your own skin: If it looks taut and tight after washing, you need to try another approach.