How to make your skincare routine more effective

With all the beauty products available, it can be difficult to decide what you really need. Today, there are serums, moisturisers, cleansers, toners, masks, peels, scrubs, oils, treatments, and many variations of these products. All the information on ingredients and products can leave you wondering what to use, when to use it, and how often you should apply it.

How can we make our skincare routine more effective?

• Cleansers

I noticed that I have at least three different cleansers. One for those days when my skin feels oily and greasy, one for the dry skin days, and one with micro-beads for deep cleansing and exfoliating. Do we really need all these different cleansers?

Choose a good facial wash or cleansing oil, that’s gentle, suitable for your skin type, and removes make-up. If you clean your face well at night, you may not need to use a cleanser in the morning. Depending on your skin type, you may just use water to freshen your face.

• Toners

Do we really need toners? Toners were created to freshen your face, balance the skin, remove the last traces of makeup, and minimise pore size. These days most cleansers are pH balanced, therefore a toner may not necessary.

• Skin treatments

Skincare has advanced in the last 20 years resulting in products that can treat varying skin issues from uneven skin tone to acne, blackheads, large pores, sagging skin, dry skin, and wrinkles. These specialised products should be applied before your moisturiser. This will allow maximum penetration thereby benefiting your skin. If you need to apply more that one specialised product, apply the lighter or thinner one before the thicker one.

Serums: Although serums are not necessary, they are nourishing and help your skin to retain moisture.

Eye creams: You do not need to use a separate eye cream as your usual moisturiser will work just as well around the eye area.

• Moisturisers

For daytime, always use a moisturiser with SPF 15 or higher or apply a separate layer of sunscreen. At night, use a hydrating night cream that will allow your skin to repair itself.

• Masks and scrubs

Exfoliation eliminates the buildup of dead skin cells and oil which would otherwise lead to clogged pores and dull skin. Use an exfoliating scrub twice a week and a mask for deep cleansing once a week. Always ensure that the products are suitable for your skin type.