The first step to a beautiful you: Skin Care!

Hey everyone! Since the goal of this blog is to help you be the most beautiful you, I think that it is important to start with the foundation of your beauty regiment, YOUR SKIN! It does not matter how much makeup you try and pile on your face, if your skin is not healthy you will be able to tell! I am going to share with you the basic routine needed to keep your skin healthy, primarily that on your face.

SKIN TYPES
To begin with you need to know what type of skin you have. The basic categories break down into dry, oily, normal and combination. Now a days skin care products are designed to specifically fit different skin types. Skin care is NOT one size fits all! Most cosmetic brands carry skin care products and will carry the full line of products you will need for your skin care routine. Although all your products do not have to be from the same brand, most brands have developed their line to work together to give you maximum results.

STEP ONE: MAKE UP REMOVAL
For the first step of your skin care routine, I would recommend using a makeup remover. I know what you are thinking, won't my cleanser remove my makeup? The answer generally would be yes but sometimes cleansers leave things behind. You will also get a deeper clean if there is not a layer of make up on your face. Another bonus, avoiding the "raccoon eyes" you get from trying to wash off eye make up! Most makeup removers today come in a convenient wipe, if not you will need to apply the remover to a cotton ball or round and rub the make up off with that. After you have finished this step you are free to move to step two.

STEP TWO: CLEANSE
The next step is to cleanse your face. For this step you want to wet your face with warm water. The warm water opens up your pores and loosens up all the dirt, germs and any debris left on your face. Next you want to apply a dime to nickel size amount of the cleansing product onto your finger tips. You will be able to tell just how much product to use after a time or two. Some products go farther with a smaller amount. Once you have your cleanser ready you want to warm it up in your finger tips and then apply it all over your face using small, circular, massaging motions. The goal is to get the cleanser deep into your pores to remove all the bad stuff in them. An exfoliating cleanser will help too get rid of dry dead skin as well. Once you have done this for about 30 seconds to a minute, you can rinse the product off with lukewarm or cool water. Now it's time to move on.

STEP THREE: TONE 
Cleansing the skin has opened up the pores of your face to remove the dirt in them. When you rinse off the cleanser, your pores start to close. It is the job of the toner to open those pores back up. It is also the job of the toner to tighten the muscle tissue in your face as well as removing any left over oils and chemicals from your cleanser as well as restoring the skins pH levels. Toners, also referred to as astringents, can help to clam skin irritations as well as prevent black heads and blemishes. To apply the toner you want to pour a small amount of the product onto a cotton round and rub it on your face focusing primarily on your "T zone" (your forehead nose and chin) where all skin types are most oily. It is best if you apply the toner in upward strokes so the product will get into the pores. Let the toner dry before moving onto the final step.

STEP FOUR: MOISTURIZE 
This is an important step that most people leave out of their skin care routine. No matter what skin type you have you should always moisturize after washing and toning your face. This is because all of the chemicals have removed the natural moisture from your skin and if you do not replace them your skin will become very dry, tight and even irritated. It is important however not to apply too much moisturizer. For most people you will only need a dime size amount, but as I said before this will also be determined by the product you are using. For this step all you will need to do is pour a dime sized amount of moisturizer onto your fingertips and then massage it into your skin. You should look for a moisturizer that has an SPF in it to add protection for everyday sun exposure. Once this step is complete you are done with your basic skin care routine!

I hope that you will find this step by step routine easy to do. Most people would recommend doing a skin care routine twice a day but once at bedtime is a good starting place. Also, if you have trouble with acne add an acne treatment into your routine at the end after your moisturize. And remember, you do not have to go out and buy fancy skin care products that are really expensive, you can find good brands of products at a drugstore. Now get out there, get these products and start your skin care routine today!

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