Best night time skincare routine for youthful skin

Whether you have had a typical day at the office, clicking away on your desktop, occasionally picking and making phone calls on the dusty landline that sits by your desk, or you had a busy day running errands, from the muddy market to the dusty supermarket, your skin takes a beating from external forces on a daily basis.

Like all treasured things, it is only fitting that at the end of a long day that you take care of your skin and repair damages caused by dirt and pollution, the sun, and daily stress. A good night time skincare routine allows your skin to breathe and recuperate from the tension of the day. Here are some of the tips to help you with your night time skincare:

Identify a good makeup remover for your skin type. Apply the makeup remover generously and let it sit for a good amount of time, say about 15 minutes.

While it sits, it softens the harder to break components of your makeup, like mascara, eye shadow and liner. This makes the make-up removing task easier do and more thorough.

Wash your face with a gentle soap or cleanser and lukewarm water. The makeup is not completely cleaned off until you have had a thorough cleaning with soap and water. This removes all the residual makeup and dirt.

Retinoids are a common active ingredient in most anti-aging products, and are derived from Vitamin A. Retinoid products are used for treatment of lines, wrinkles and acne. They are easily accessible over the counter, identified as containing retinol or retinaldehyde.

After cleansing and drying your face, apply a small amount of retinoid all over your face, leaving the areas around your eyes, corners of mouth and creases of the nose.

Most retinoid products dry the skin out, so naturally you should moisturize afterwards.

Using facial toner is an in-between skincare step, after washing your face but before using moisturizer. Toners have been historically used to balance out the PH of your skin after using an alkaline soap. Since most cleansers already play multiple roles, balancing out the pH as well, toners are used for different benefits, such as tackling dryness, acne and aging.

Soak a cotton pad with toner and swipe it all over your face and neck. You may use your hands if you do not have a cotton pad, by sprinkling a few drops onto your palms and pressing them into your face.

While identifying the right toner, look out for ingredients that resolve any of your problem areas. i.e. rosewater for hydration, chamomile for soothing, aloe vera for inflammation and redness and plant stem cells for anti-aging properties.

Night-time moisturizers work to make the skin soft and subtle by retaining moisture and providing a heavy dose of hydration. Apply a generous amount of moisturizer all over your face and neck before you go to bed.