KNOW THESE BEFORE COMMENCING YOUR SKINCARE JOURNEY

Towards the end of the last decade, skincare had become so viral, thanks to the large skin influencer communities on social media. However, a handful of people diagnose their skin conditions based on what they see online without visiting the esthetician or dermatologist. This therefore worsens the skin concerns and everything gets escalated. Here i am with tips on what you should keep in mind before you begin your skincare journey based on my personal experience.

· SKINCARE IS PERSONAL: Each person has a different skin type from the other; hence before anything else, know your skin type. There are different skin types including Oily, Dry, Normal, Dehydrated and Combo Skin respectfully. These skin types are self-explanatory; However, Dehydrated skin is a skin type that lacks moisture/hydration. Combo skin on the other hand is a combination of oily and dry skin. You could have a part of the skin that is oilier and another part is dry, and you could have a skin that is more dry than oily. In essence, skincare products are mostly formulated for specific skin types which you must take note of, to avoid escalation. What works for me might not work for you!

· TAKE CARE OF YOUR HYGIENE: Personal hygiene is very important in skin care. It is necessary to avoid the little things we don’t realize are the causes of our skin problems. We should avoid touching our faces after pressing our phones, sleeping with the same pillow case for more than a week, combing & oiling hair to our faces, pressing pimples and just touching our faces generally. It would do a lot of good.

· EMRACE RETINOID: When I started skincare, I was scared of using retinoid because of the many reviews about how it could cause irritation or purging in the first month. I avoided it for a long time until I found cerave retinol with reviews of no irritation. I’ve loved retinol since then and you should love it too. You can start with an encapsulated retinol or retinaldehyde with little or no risk of irritation. You should also further your research on retinoid to know more as I am not a professional.

· KEEP IT SIMPLE: It is essential to keep your routine very simple with 5 products at most! I would recommend you start with a good cleanser, moisturizer and sunscreen. You can then add a retinol to your night routine and a vitamin C or vitamin B3 (niacinamide) to your morning routine. I would advise you use niacinamide instead, because most vitamin Cs are unstable and the stable ones are expensive.

· SUNSCREEN SHOULD BE YOUR BESTFRIEND: This cannot be emphasized enough. Without a sunscreen, your skincare is same as wasted. The sunscreen prevents sun rays from causing damage to your skin, hence you should wear it at least after every 2 hours daily. Make sunscreen your best friend. However, use sunscreens that go well with your skin type. If you have an oily skin you should lean towards lightweight sunscreens, and if you have a dry skin you should lean more towards moisturizing sunscreens.

This is all i have for you today, based on skincare for beginners. I would appreciate comments, critics, or questions about my experience. Remember, skincare is personal! Ma’assalam.

Love as always,

Benazir.