A Daily Skincare Regimen And The 6 Trusted Benefits It Provides

Every part of our body needs care and attention to stay healthy, and the skin is definitely no exception. 

While it's tempting to merely use body soap on your face when you take a bath, this might harm your skin more than help it, which goes for both men and women. You will need a proper skincare regimen with the right products for the best results and to help your skin stay healthy.

But how does a basic skincare routine help you? Read on to learn more about the benefits of a skincare regimen and some tips on how to build one.

6 Benefits of a Skincare Regimen

1. Helps Keep the Skin Clean

A regular skincare routine helps clean our skin, freeing it of irritants and residue buildup that may form on it. 

The skin is our body's frontline defense when it comes to protecting us from environmental irritants and germs that exist everywhere. It blocks most of the harmful things that can get into our bodies. As such, dirt and other debris may stay on the skin and build up over time.

Along with dead skin cells that need to shed over time and excess oils, these can eventually cause pore blockages and skin irritation if left on the skin for a long time.

You can cleanse your skin regularly by having a regular skin care regimen. Cleansing ensures that your skin will always be free of these impurities. This minimizes skin damage, unwanted irritation, and infection on your skin.

2. Helps Provide Moisture and Hydration

Whether you've undergone acne treatment or have naturally dry skin, the skin needs hydration and moisture. Hydration helps your skin appear and feel smooth, giving it a flawless and supple appearance. 

Meanwhile, moisture helps reinforce the skin's natural protective barrier, and it also helps your skin repair itself when damaged. Both help slow down signs of aging. As such, having enough hydration and moisture on your skin is imperative to keeping it healthy.

A regular skincare routine puts much importance on restoring hydration and moisture. In modern regimens, while most of this comes from moisturizers, other products you use, such as cleansers, may include moisturizing and hydrating ingredients. Some of the more popular ingredients you may find are hyaluronic acid and shea butter, among many others. 

3. Helps Slow Down Skin Aging

As people age, the skin's ability to self-repair and hold moisture is reduced. Through time, this can become obvious regarding how the skin appears. Thankfully, there are many skincare products that you can add to your routine lineup which help with these skin functions and slow down skin aging.

Many skincare products contain humectants, which help the skin retain hydration and moisture, both of which are essential to the skin's ability to self-repair. There are also a wide array of products containing antioxidants like vitamin C, which both help promote collagen production and protect the skin from oxidative stress.

4. Helps Provide Skin With Nourishment

Whether you have a three-step routine or a 10-step South Korean-inspired regimen, a modern skincare routine provides the skin with many nutrients. Modern skincare products are now formulated to bring specific benefits and nutrients to your skin. 

Based on the nourishing ingredients in the products you use, such nutrients can bring many different benefits to the skin. The benefits of a wide array of ingredients you can choose from may range from helping fade hyperpigmentation to helping ease skin irritation. 

If you have a skin concern, you can customize your skincare routine to answer that concern by choosing items with specific ingredients. Whether you're building a skincare routine for clear skin or to slow down skin aging, you can choose from many skincare products that can help with them. 

5. Helps Protect You From Harmful UV Rays

UV rays are super harmful to your skin, and exposure to them for long periods can affect the skin negatively in many ways.

When you stay out under the sun unprotected, prolonged exposure to UV rays may cause photoaging, damage your skin cells, and even alter your skin's DNA. This may help increase your risk of developing different types of skin cancers. 

Many skincare routines, especially daytime ones, incorporate products with SPF to protect the skin from UV rays. Some skincare products and makeup products incorporate SPF, but many morning routines are dedicated to putting on sunscreen to keep the skin protected throughout the day. 

6. Helps With a Person's Emotional Well-Being

Did you know that a skincare routine's benefits go beyond having beautiful skin? Some psychological studies have shown that caring for your skin positively impacts your emotional well-being. 

For one, per a 2018 study published in the Journal Frontiers of Psychology, the planning and anticipation of pampering your skin can help send feel-good chemicals to your brain. As such, mapping out and religiously following a skincare regimen may help boost a person's confidence and improve overall mood.

On top of this, a 2019 study published in the same journal finds that self-care through a skincare routine may help a person practice mindfulness. As people become more self-aware, they become more mindful of caring about how they present themselves.

How to Build a Skincare Regimen

The best skincare regimen is one that's tailor fit to the person. As such, you must consider some factors when creating a routine that best suits you. Here are some tips for building a skincare regimen for you.

Know Your Skin Type

When it comes to skincare, knowing your skin type is imperative. You have to build your product lineup around this, as some items may fit your skin while others may only cause problems.

There are four main skin types that a person may have:

1. Normal Skin - This type is characterized by having the perfect moisture-dryness balance.
2. Dry Skin - This skin type usually lacks the moisture or hydration the skin needs.
3. Oily Skin - Unlike dry skin, this skin type is prone to excess sebum production.
4. Combination Skin - This is the skin type in which a person has an oily T-zone while the rest of the face is dry. 

Other than this, you also need to be aware if you have acne-prone skin or sensitive skin to avoid products that may aggravate your condition.

2. Know Your Skin Concerns

To choose the right products, you also need to pinpoint your skin concerns and choose products based on them. Think about the results you want to get from your skincare regimen.

Some skin concerns may range from slowing down signs of skin aging to fading hyperpigmentation and having even skin texture or calming down irritation. 

3. Follow the Basic Skincare Routine Structure

Now that you know your skin type and skin concerns, you will need to look for products you can use when following the basic skincare routine structure. 

A basic routine involves the following steps:

 

• Removing makeup 

If you have makeup on, always remove it before cleansing your face. You can use micellar water, a cleansing balm, or a cleansing oil. Some people swear by double cleansing, which means using one of these makeup removers and following it up with facial cleansing. 

Leaving makeup on the skin can result in clogged pores and bacteria build-up. This can then lead to acne breakouts or, worse, infections.

 

• Cleansing your skin

To cleanse the skin, use a facial wash or cleanser. If you have dry skin, avoid strong cleansers that can leave your skin dry and tight.

 

• Hydrating or moisturizing your skin

There are several products you can use to hydrate and moisturize the skin. You can use essence, serums, moisturizer, and face lotion. All of these works primarily to hydrate the skin but they can vary when it comes to consistency. 

Essences have a lighter texture than a moisturizer, while lotions are thicker than essences. Moisturizers are the thickest of them all because they usually have a cream formulation. However, nowadays, some moisturizers are gel-based or water-based that are formulated for people with oily skin.

Serums are more potent as they come with active ingredients. Serums are formulated for specific purposes, so pick one that focuses on hydrating the skin.

 

• Protecting your skin

The best protection to give the skin is SPF in the form of sunscreen. You can use sunscreen lotion, sprays, or sticks. The best sunscreens are those with high SPF, and go with ++ as much as possible.

 

• Treating your skin

From time to time, give your skin some TLC. You can use facial masks to give your skin an instant boost with potent formulations of collagen, vitamin C, cucumber, and others. Once or twice a week, you can also exfoliate to remove dead skin cells.

4. Don't Be Afraid to Ask for Help 

When it comes to skincare, products may have different effects on your skin compared to other people. Some may benefit from a product, while others get little out of using it.

If you're unsure what to do, don't hesitate to ask for an expert's help. Dermatologists can help narrow down your choices when building your skincare routine. 

Achieve Healthy, Glowing Skin with A Skincare Regimen

The skin protects us from many harmful stressors and impurities, and to keep it healthy, it also needs some tender love and care. To help keep your skin in excellent condition, coming up with a skincare regimen that's tailor-fitted to your needs brings numerous benefits to the table. 

Hopefully, this guide has helped convince you about starting your own routine. Build your skincare regimen, and see the difference it can make on your skin!