Beauty for beginners: skincare simplified
Hey Blushtone babes,
Welcome to the "Beauty for Beginners" series, your ultimate guide to beauty tips, tricks, and hacks. Whether you're just starting or looking to revamp your beauty regimen, this guide is your go-to resource for advice from BLUSHTONE’s team of professionals.
We're constantly bombarded with an avalanche of new beauty hacks and trends every single day. Let's face it, it can be seriously overwhelming! From dry brushing to ice rollers to the latest craze, it's like navigating a maze of products and advice. That's precisely why we're kicking off this series – to cut through the noise and bring it back to basics. We're here to be your guiding light in the often confusing world of wellness & self-care, helping you find your starting point with confidence and clarity. Let's dive in with our first topic - SKINCARE!
With a literal plethora of products saturating the market, it sometimes feels hard to keep your skincare routine to a reasonable number of steps! We get it. It's crucial to keep things simple and practical to stay consistent. After all, consistency is key when it comes to achieving that glowing complexion we all crave. So let's strip it back, simplify, and make skincare a doable and enjoyable part of our daily routine.
Your morning routine
Step 1: Cleanser
By using a cleanser that is not suited for your skin type, you can do more harm than good. Whether stripping your skin of its natural oil or not cleansing your pores deeply enough.
Our favorites based on skin type:
For oily & acne-prone skin: La Roche-Posay - Effaclar
For normal to oily skin with occasional blemishes or clogged pores: Youth to the People - Superfood cleanser
For normal & non-problematic skin: Fresh - Soy cleanser
For dry & dehydrated skin (or dryness due to acne medication): First Aid Beauty - Pure skin face cleanser
For sensitive or reactive skin: Cetaphil - Gentle Skin Cleanser
Step 2: Exfoliator
This step is to be done twice a week only! Ideally, once before the weekend so your makeup can go on smoothly without any texture or dead skin hiding underneath, and once after the weekend so your skincare routine can penetrate into a fresh canvas all week long.
Our favorites suitable for any skin type:
Peter Thomas Roth - FirmX peeling gel
First Aid Beauty - Facial radiance pads
*Insider tip: If you often forget to exfoliate, Dermalogica is here to save the day! Their daily microfoliant (for normal skin types), daily milkfoliant (for sensitive skin), or daily superfoliant (for mature or texture skin) can replace your cleanser in the morning. #smoothestskinever
Step 3: Toner
Toners can be beauty betrayers if you’re not choosing the right one. Most toners contain a high content of alcohol which will actually have negative effects on the skin. Korean skincare believes in a 7-step toner routine, which we find excessive and quite literally unreasonable. However, the right toner can prepare the skin to absorb your next skincare steps much better.
Our favorites based on skin type:
For dry skin: Laneige - Cream skin toner
For sensitive skin: ANNUA - Heartleaf 77% soothing toner
For acne-prone or textured skin: Paula’s Choice - 2% BHA liquid exfoliant (not to be used with retinol, or other exfoliators)
Step 4: Serum
Not everyone needs a serum; Think of serums like treatments. If you have a specific skin concern like dryness, dark spots, wrinkles, then you’d use a serum to treat those concerns. If you don’t have a specific skin concern or feel like your skin is congested, skip this step! Sometimes the simplest routines can give the best results.
Our favorites based on skin type:
For dry skin and/or fine lines: PCA skin - Hyaluronic acid
For dark spots and/or hyperpigmentation: Caudalie - vinoperfect serum
For acne-prone skin: Caudalie - vinopure or Glossier - Super Pure serum
Step 5: Moisturizer
Forget moisturizers that claim to treat concerns while offering hydration -- Keep it simple and get a moisturizer that just promises to hydrate!
Moisturizers are incredibly personal, and it can take a long time to find your soulmate. It all depends on your preference texture, fragrance, dry-down times, etc. The guide to follow is “non-comedogenic” ingredients, which means non-acne causing; This information is pretty easily found on Google if it’s not mentioned on the product already. One thing to keep in mind is that gel textures are meant for oily skin and creamy textures for all the rest.
Our favorites based on skin type:
- For normal to dry skin types with some discoloration: COSRX - Advanced Snail Mucin
- For dry & dehydrated skin: First Aid Beauty - Ultra repair cream
- For normal to dry skin prone to texture or breakouts: I’M FROM Rice Cream
- For textured or aging skin: Drunk Elephant - Protini moisturizer
- For oily skin: Youth to the People - Superfood Air-Whip Lightweight Face Moisturizer
Step 6: SPF
Never. Ever. Skip SPF. You may not see the effects now, but you will in 5-10 years, whether from deep-set wrinkles, or hyperpigmentation and dark spots.
If you religiously apply makeup on a daily basis, get a foundation or tinted moisturizer with SPF. But if you sometimes skip makeup, you need another solution! Our ride or die SPF is the Elta MD UV Clear (tinted or untinted). This product contains hyaluronic acid and niacinamide which will treat your skin and perfect it with every passing day. The tinted formula has a no-makeup and untextured look, simply canceling out any redness (even men can wear it!).
If your preference is mineral sunscreen, the Elta MD UV Physical is another option. This mineral formula is simpler than UV Clear as it’s formulated without hyaluronic acid or niacinamide. It is also great for oily skin types as mineral sunscreens are usually slightly dryer on the skin.
Your night routine
Step 1: Makeup remover
THROW YOUR MAKEUP WIPES IN THE GARBAGE. They are abrasive, full of alcohol, and not the best way to remove your makeup. Instead, opt for oil cleansers and jump on the double cleansing wave!
Our favorites:
Dermalogica - Precleanse
PCA Skin - Daily cleansing oil
Step 2: Cleanser
Cleanse with the same cleanser as the morning.
Step 3: Treatment
Here is when you can use something with a little more kick, like retinol or Vitamin C. Retinol will blast any and all texture including acne, scars, textured skin, fine lines, and wrinkles. However, it can cause a lot of irritation so start using it once a week and then build up to every second evening.
*Insider tip: Once your skin builds up tolerance to retinol, use it consecutively from Sunday to Wednesday, and then take a break from Thursday to Saturday so that your skin gets a break from the drying effects and has a smoother base for makeup.
Best practice is to ask your dermatologist for a prescription to avoid wasting hundreds of dollars at Sephora for products that aren’t even medical grade. If your evening skin treatment isn’t medical grade, then you don’t want it! The same goes for Vitamin C, which is great for giving your skin a boost of radiance. You probably won’t get from your doctor, but look for medical brands like PCA Skin, SkinCeuticals, or SkinMedica. These products can get expensive, so make sure you’re using your money wisely.
Vitamin C and retinol will make your skin very sensitive to the sun, so either skip these treatments completely in the summer months or be religious with wearing and reapplying sunscreen.
Step 4: Moisturizer
If you’re looking to achieve that juicy, bouncy skin (who isn’t!?), you might want to layer a facial oil to your day-time moisturizer to lock in that hydration while you sleep.
*Insider tip: Did you know that during the day, our skin acts as a protective barrier against environmental aggressors, but as night falls, our skin goes into repair mode, increasing the cell turnover rate, which makes our night skincare routine essential for rejuvenation.
Our favorites based on skin type:
For skin struggling with acne-scars or hyperpigmentation: Khiels - Midnight recovery concentrate
For aging skin: Estee Lauder - Advanced night repair
For normal to dry skin types: Youth to The People - Dream oil
For skin types that struggle with break-outs: Indie Lee - Squalane oil