All The Steps You Need to Know For Your Skin Care Routine

May 26, 2019

Honestly, I feel like I’m always searching for the next best skin care product or miracle serum that’s magically going to give me perfectly poreless glass skin. It’s an unrealistic expectation to have for any product, BUT some things get you closer than others. 

I’m constantly trying new products and testing to see which ones are better than others, and I’ve discovered a few things along the way that I really want to share with you, my friend.

I’m going to talk about steps in your routine that will give you constantly better skin, if you’re consistent with it. 

All right, let’s get to it. Here’s is everything you need to know about the daily steps in your skin care routine.

I. Know Your Skin Care Routine & Stick to it 

 When trying new things or even trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t, we often forget to actually follow a solid routine EVERY. DAY. 

You might use a toner some mornings and a moisturizer some nights, but forget to do it at the same time every single day. This way, you’ll never be able to figure out what’s working for you and what’s not.  

So how do you figure out your routine? Well, I’ll give you the basic steps here, with some tips to figure out which types of products you should use, hopefully from what you’ve already got. 

 If you’ve already got some products that you know work really well for you, then that’s awesome! Stick to using those regularly. 

I even made a printable guide for you just in case it’s hard to remember what steps to do when, you can download it here:

https://www.lifebeautyandmomming.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-getting-the-best-skin-of-your-life/

I actually gave one to my mom and she just taped it to her bathroom mirror. Looking at it every day made it way easier to actually do the steps, and before long she saw a huge difference in her skin and actually had the routine down to a habit so she didn’t even have to look at it anymore!

*Cue applause for mom*. 

Every Morning:  

Step 1) Gentle Cleanser

By gentle, I mean try to use one that is gel based, or a light cream cleanser. You want to be as gentle with your skin as possible, and save some of the stronger and deeper cleaning products for the evening time, when your skin actually needs it from all the buildup acquired throughout the day. 

Gentle cleansers are less likely to strip your skin of its natural oils, so they won’t leave you with that dry and tight feeling afterwards. If you don’t want to go with a cleanser that you have to wash off, you could even use micellar water on a cotton pad and just wipe your skin in the mornings as your cleansing step.

Why do you need it? 

Gently cleansing your skin in the morning wipes away any products you applied the night before, and any oil or debris your skin picked up overnight. It’s important to have a clean base before applying anything to your skin so your products work better. 

Step 2) Gentle Toner.

Same as your morning cleanser, you want your toner to be gentle as well. Preferably hydrating and alcohol free. You actually want to try and make sure none of the products that you’re regularly applying to your skin have any ingredients that aren’t actually good for you. I’ll talk more about that later. 

Why do you need it? 

Toning is a necessary step because it balances out your skin after cleansing. Some toners target specific concerns, so you may try to choose one to target a certain problem. 

My recommendation is to keep your toner simple and gentle, so it does its main job: to balance your skin. I always chose toners with all these extra beneficial ingredients and acids to target certain issues, but then I realized that doing that clashed with my next step, and you just don’t want to overdo it. 

Sometimes simple is better. 

Step 3) Serum. 

If you have any specific concerns that you want to address, your serum is your savior. 

This is the step I was talking about earlier and why I said to choose a simple toner. Certain problems have their own special ingredient to address that problem, and that’s where your serum comes in. Make sure that the serum you use has ingredients that cater to YOUR needs, and that it doesn’t have ingredients that will make your problem worse. 

I’ll talk more about ingredients in a bit, don’t worry   

Why do you need it? 

Using a serum that’s right for you is basically the main thing that makes your routine personalized to you and no one else. The issues you have, whether it’s acne, texture, dark spots, or fine lines and wrinkles, will be attacked by your serum, and will speed up the process of getting the skin that you ultimately want. 

P.S. The Ordinary is a brand that has some BOMB serums that are super budget friendly, and I prefer their serums over many high end ones. Because they actually truly work. I went ahead and linked some of my favorite ones wherever I’ve mentioned the word “serum“.  

Step 4) Eye Cream. 

Use an eye cream every morning AND night for effectiveness. You can use a lighter eye cream in the morning, there are some that are specifically meant to color correct and brighten, so you could try one of those for your morning routine. Or you could use the same one that you use at night time, either way is okay, as long as you’re using it twice a day. 

Why do you need it? 

It doesn’t matter your age, prevention really is the best cure. If you start using at a younger age, it will be a long time before you start seeing lines and wrinkles under your eyes.  

Preventing them from showing is far easier than trying to erase them once they are already there. If you are older, using an eye cream will help keep your under eye area plump and nourished, which will keep wrinkles from forming or getting deeper. 

There are even some creams that claim to reduce fine lines around your eyes and make them far less noticeable, but remember, whatever you try, only expect results if you are consistent with your routine. 

Step 5) Moisturizer/SPF 

I’ll be honest. The less steps I have to do, the easier it is for me to actually be consistent with my routine. In the mornings, I like to combine my moisturizer and SPF step into one. The easiest way to do that if my moisturizer already has SPF in it. 

If you don’t have a two-in-one, you can just do these two steps separately too. Remember to use a moisturizer for YOUR skin type. 

Why do you need it? 

Moisturizer is going to lock everything in and keep your skin hydrated. It doesn’t matter if you have oily skin, that just means you need to use a moisturizer that’s for your skin type, which usually means a gel based one. My dry skinned friends may want to use something a bit thicker. 

I personally have combination skin. Sometimes it’s drier than the Sahara, sometimes it looks like there was a massive oil spill that took place directly on my face. I’ve literally got the best of both worlds. 

But either way, I usually go for a gel based moisturizer, just because I feel like it sinks in better and I really don’t like feeling like I actually have something on my face.

SPF goes without saying, hopefully you know by now how important it is. If you don’t, let’s talk about it real quick.

SPF protects your skin from sun damage. Sun damage can create wrinkles, speed up aging, and deepen any dark spots or scarring you may have. Basically, flushing all the hard work you do put into your skin care routine down the toilet. 

 Use SPF. As Nike says, just do it.

Every Night:  

 Step 1) Pre Cleanse 

If you’ve ever heard of double cleansing, this is the time to do it. Especially if you had on any makeup or products throughout the day. You can use a balm, oil, cleansing milk, makeup wipe, micellar water, or whatever you have on deck.

Why do you need it? 

Your pre cleanse is going to start the breakup of the products you’ve had on your skin all day, so that the next steps can clean your skin deeper and better. The most important part of skin care is to make sure your face is completely clean before moving on to any other steps. 

 If you’ve ever noticed the faint color of foundation on your cotton pad after swiping it across your face, you know that sometimes even when you think you’re totally clean, you’re still not. You want to make sure you do the proper cleansing steps so that there’s nothing left behind because that’s what ultimately ends up clogging your pores, creating pimples, and preventing your skin care from working at its best. 

Step 2) Cleanser 

Now you can go in with your cleanser. 

If you do have an exfoliating cleanser on hand, night time is the best time to use it because your skin could use the deep cleaning. If not, you can just use the cleanser you use in the morning for this step and it’s fine, as long as you follow along to the next step.

Why do you need it? 

Your pre cleanse broke up any buildup on your face, your cleanser is actually going to wash the product away, so this is still a necessary step.  

Some people just like to pre cleanse and call it a night, which is still better than nothing if you’re too tired to do anything else. But, like I said, for clear skin you need clean skin, and these are the steps to get there. 

Step 3) Exfoliate  

Alright, so you’ve already cleaned your skin twice. You’d think you’d be done at this point, but alas, there’s one more step if you want to make sure you’ve got everything. 

Here’s where exfoliation comes in. 

You can use a physical exfoliator, like a scrub, (which I personally like to use on heavy makeup days). There are cleansing brushes and devices like the Clarisonic or the Foreo Luna, which are also physical exfoliators that you can just use with your cleanser. 

I’ve have both the Clarisonic and the Luna, (only because the only thing I really invest in is skin care…I’m kind of obsessed). I love both of them, but I would recommend the Clarisonic for those with acne, blackheads, and easily clogged pores. The Luna is perfect for everyday use for those with sensitive skin. I saw a huge difference with both, so it really depends on your skin type.  

But of course, not everyone is able to afford items like those, and scrubs from the drugstore work amazingly as well! 

If you’ve had a day where you really didn’t wear makeup and don’t have much buildup to attack, you could even use a chemical exfoliator. They are usually different types of acids in the form of serums, liquid peels, or toners and exfoliate your skin at a deeper cellular level, so you could opt in for something like that (basically just skip down to steps 4 & 5).

Why do you need it? 

Exfoliating really makes sure to get anything that’s left in your pores and sloughs off any dead skin cells, basically making your skin as baby soft as it can be.  

It’s basically like hitting the refresh button for your skin.  

There are many benefits to exfoliation, like unclogging your pores and increasing circulation in your face, which is just good stuff for your skin. But you don’t want to over-exfoliate either, so save exfoliation nights for the heavier make-up days, or just assign 3 nights of the week where you know you’ll exfoliate. 

Step 4) Toner  

Here’s the moment of truth. Go ahead and swipe your toner soaked cotton ball across your face. Is it there anything on it?

If you did the steps above and took your time with it, then chances are you passed the toner test! Now your toner can do its actual job of balancing out your skin (and not just wiping off more makeup).

Why do you need it? 

After deep cleaning your skin, it can tend to get a bit stripped of its natural oils. The purpose of a toner, as I mentioned earlier, is to balance your skin and return some nourishment to it. So you definitely still want to use it after you cleansed so well. (Plus you can feel satisfied when you see a clean cotton ball, now you know your face is as clean as possible!)

Step 5) Serum  

Now you can work on actually putting the good stuff on your face, and know that it’ll work better than ever. Just like in the morning, you want to use a serum with ingredients that are targeting a specific concern.

Earlier I was talking about how chemical exfoliators come in the form of toners and serums. If you have a chemical exfoliator like that, this would be the step where you use it, (after using your gentle toner).  

If you do get confused between two different types of toners, just remember:

The toner you use after cleansing should be basic and gentle because it’s meant to balance and restore your skin .

A toner with chemical exfoliators (like glycolic or lactic acids) will work to slough off dead skin cells and tackle other issues, and can be used as your “serum” step.  

Some people even like to layer different serums, and the general rule of thumb is to apply thinner consistencies before thicker ones.  

If you’re just starting out, I wouldn’t recommend layering different exfoliators and serums together, for a couple of reasons. 

Your skin needs time to get adjusted to new products and chemicals, so you don’t want to aggravate it by applying a lot of beneficial looking serums all at once. You’ll never be able to tell which one is actually working for you and which isn’t. 

If you do have a couple of different products you want to use, I would suggest introducing them each over a period of time, instead of all at once. (A mistake I made….more than once).

Another thing to remember is that some ingredients don’t react well with one another, so unless you know which ones to avoid using together, I would recommend sticking to one serum (even if it’s just an exfoliating toner) and being consistent with it for the best results. 

Why do you need it? 

Now that your skin is so clean and prepped, it’s literally the best time to apply your serum because it will penetrate your skin much deeper and work to be much more effective.

Remember, if you want to see results, be consistent and use your serum twice a day. 

P.S. (Hack):

On lazy nights (or even most nights), if it’s difficult to follow all the steps, you could consolidate steps 3, 4, and 5 into one step, and just use an exfoliating toner. (Exfoliation, toning, and serum all done one step!). 

Step 6) Eye Cream  

Don’t forget your eye cream! Some people like to use richer eye creams for night time and a lighter one for the day. Whatever you have is perfectly fine, the point is to take care of the delicate skin around your eyes and keep it hydrated and nourished. 

Why do you need it? 

Remember, consistency is key, and prevention is the best cure. Use your eye cream every morning AND night for best results and healthy under eyes.

Step 7) Moisturizer/Night Cream/Oil

It’s time to lock in all your hard work with a good moisturizer.  

I wouldn’t use the same one from the morning time if it has SPF, just because it’s not really going to do anything for you at night when there’s no sun in your room. 

If you do have a richer moisturizer, a specific night cream, or even a facial oil, that would work great. Any regular old facial moisturizer works too, just make sure it has at least a few beneficial ingredients, and avoid the ones that aren’t actually helping your skin. 

If you’re using an oil, make sure to gently press it into your skin instead of rubbing it, for the best results. And again, apply it after you’re done with all your other products!

You can use a lip balm to moisturize your lips at night as well, so you wake up with a hydrated face and lips!

 Why do you need it? 

Your moisturizer is going to seal in all the steps you did earlier, and absorb into your skin so you wake up with fresh, hydrated skin. This is the final step of your night routine, and really does make a difference, so you don’t want to skip it.

I know that was a lot of information, but let me tell you. Once you actually get in the habit of a routine, it’s going to start feeling like second nature and you won’t even have to think about it anymore. And when you actually start seeing results, it’s going to be sooooooo worth it.

Want to read more? You can read the rest of The Ultimate Guide to Getting the Best Skin of Your Life here: https://www.lifebeautyandmomming.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-getting-the-best-skin-of-your-life/

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