Yes, Skin Care 101 right here.  This article an outline a basic, simple guide to taking care of your skin.  I know sometimes as full-time mothers or even working mothers, we neglect basic skin care because there simply is no time or there are way too many other priorities on top of our already busy schedules.  Just a few things to remember and try and make routine.  It’ll make you feel better about yourself, get your skin to a good start towards aging (because it will happen) and keep it healthy and supple. 

The minimal supplies to maintaining healthy skin:

• A good cleanser
• A good eye make-up remover
• A good moisturizer
• An exfoliant

The optional stuff:

• Toner
• Masques

 1. Remove the Eye Make-up

I know so many people that do half-ass jobs of removing eye make-up.  It’s critical to clean it off because overtime, it can potentially cause problems (like milias around the eyes, infections, stys etc..).  The eye is the one area on the face with the thinnest skin, so take care of it.  Find a strong, solid eye make-up remover and use a soft cotton bud, ball or pad to remove eye make-up.   The remover should also be good at removing the oils generated over a long day’s wear of mascara, liner and powders.  Be thorough.  From experience, I find ones that remove waterproof stuff is pretty good.  Don’t use baby oil - it will give you milias (especially around the inner/lower eye area) for sure.

 2. Clean Your Skin

You need a good balanced cleanser that is made for your skin.  Don’t use soap.  Some basics - our skin has a pH balance of 5.5 and most soaps are more basic (that means they have a pH > 5.5) and will dry our your skin.  Find a cleanser that is made for your skin type (dry, oily, combination, sensitive).  On a more advanced note, you can consider different cleansers depending on the season.  Make it a habit to clean your skin once in the morning and definitely once in the evening.  It’s ideal to clean is twice, once to remove surface dirt, debris and make-up and the second time to really deep clean.

3.  Keep it Moist

A good moisturizer is also key and it has to be made for your skin type.  As we get older, finding a richer one is important as more oily skin tends to age better than dry skin.  Use a toner before applying moisturizer if you wish.  Toners help give additional moisture and even out the pH of the skin after a wash (optional).  Apply the moisturizer in an upwards motion.  I know, it sounds like it’s not a natural thing to do, but if you make it a habit, you’ll do it automatically.  After repetitive applications, pulling your skin downwards is helping gravity (something we’re working against as we age).  I’m not a big fan of firming creams, but you can consider the products for your daily routine.  Also, you may want to consider an SPF cream during the day.  Sun protection is so critical these days - but you still need that little bit of Vitamin D.

4.  Exfoliate Once in a While

The best time to exfoliate is in the shower.  You don’t need a complicated one, just one that will do the job.  The most practical of exfoliants are the physical exfoliants (they contain little grits or balls that physically remove dead skin cells).  You only need to exfoliant 2-3 times a week and don’t scrub until you’re red.  Our skin contains 3 major layers (around 7 different layers if broken down) and is continually producing new skin cells.  By removing the dead layers, we’re promotion new skin growth and enabling our moisturizer to work more effectively. 

5.  Optional Masques

Masques are optional because well, it’s an additional step that’s nice, but I’d say we aren’t also privvy to the luxuries of masques.  If you have time, do one once a week - but truthfully, even now I do one probably once a month (?!).  Masques are ideally done after cleansing and exfoliating for highest effectiveness.  There are masques for everything - moisturizing, hydrating, rejuvenating, whitening, tightening, lifting, blah blah blah - so find one that is truly useful for you.  The easy version of masques these days are the ones that come out of packages and you just plop on your face - although not as convenient to walk around and do things, they are use once kind of deals and you don’t need to worry about not using your whole jar of masque. 

6.  The Rest

So skin care can also extend to eye creams, lip creams, spot creams, highly advanced exfoliants and rubber masques and activators and boosters - but use what you’re comfortable with.  Truthfully, you don’t need a whole line to be successful at having beautiful skin - you just need to do it regularly.  While doing your face, don’t forget your neck and decolletage (shoulder/chest area).  Your neck afterall, is attached to your face and might as well take care of that properly too. 

I’m not going to go any further beyond the basics here.  If you’re wondering why I’m talking about this, it’s because I’ve just started to build a really regular routine again.  Prior to this, I was sloppy and half-hearted in my approach because of the birth of my kids, but I’ve realized (since going to a spa for body massages, they scrutinize my face to promote facials) that I don’t need to pay lots of money to have someone else maintain my skin.  I’m actually a fully certified esthetician (yes I can also do full body waxing), so I make use of my skills at home.  But anyone can spend a bit of money and time and maintain healthy skin - forever.