So you’ve just left your facial appointment, your skin is glowing, you’ve got some new products…and you forgot everything your esthi said!
Layering your products correctly during your routine greatly affects how they perform. Understanding how to properly end your night and start your day with skincare is just as important of having a regime in the first place!
Here are two examples of how it should generally go down:
PM Routine
- Makeup Remover/Oil Cleanser
Removing your makeup before your actual cleanser helps guarantee all traces are gone. With 12 hour foundations, long-lasting lipsticks, and setting sprays it’s important to put in a little extra work or you risk cosmetics clogging your pores! May we suggest Eminence’s Stone Crop Cleansing Oil? ($52)
- Foam Cleanser
This is where the cleaning gets a bit deeper. After removing your makeup, using a slightly more emulsifying cleanser helps clear your pores and wash away excess oils and dead skin. Try iS Clinical’s Cleansing Complex ($42) or Eminence’s Clear Skin Cleanser ($42) if your skin leans towards problematic.
- Facial Scrub (2x-3x a week!)
By exfoliating a few times a week, you are allowing your skin to shed dead skin and help it renew itself. You will find less clogged pores and a brighter complexion over time. Check out Guinot’s Gommage Eclat Parfait ($40) for a creamy scrub with jojoba beads, or Eminence’s Strawberry Rhubarb Dermafoliant ($48) for a finer grit with lactic acid for added brightening.
- Toner
Toners help balance your skin’s PH, help drive the products deeper into your skin, as well as locking in added moisture. iS Clinical’s Copper Firming Mist ($32) is lightweight and packed with copper peptides to aid in anti-aging.
- Treatment Serums (AHA/BHA/Retinols etc)
Now for the potent stuff – treatments! Skin renewal products like iS Clinical’s Active Serum ($135) and Eminence’s Mango Resurfacing Treatment ($62) are best used at night due to the cell renewal properties; they treat your skin as you sleep, and should be used at night because they can cause extra sun sensitivity.
- Hydrating Serums/Oils
After letting your treatment sit for at least 30 seconds, you can apply additional serums like SkinCeuticals’ HA Intensifier ($100) or Uliv’s Golden Glow Serum ($35).
- Night Cream
Lock it all in with a hydrating night cream best suited for your skin type. SkinCeuticals Triple Lipid ($128) and Eminence’s Monoi Night Cream for Face and Neck ($64) are rich and packed with nutrients that nourish your skin overnight without leaving a greasy or slick finish.
- Eye Cream
Gently pat in an eye cream around the orbital bone. Eye creams are specially formulated for the gentle skin around the eye area, and can greatly improve fine lines, dark circles, and puffiness. Sente’s Illumine ($95) and iS Clinical’s Youth Eye Complex ($98) are client favorites here at Sanctuary!
AM Routine
- Oil OR Foam Cleanser
No need to double cleanse in the AM if you did it before bed!
- Toner
Use a toner as you would in the evening, just avoid anything with ingredients like salicylic acid which can cause increased sun sensitivity in the daytime.
- Vitamin C Serum
Your airbag to the sun and the damage it causes – Vitamin C. Serums like Skinceuticals’ CE Ferulic ($166) and Eminence’s Rosehip Triple C+E ($110) help prevent and reverse sun damage. They are known to increase skin’s resilience to hyper pigmentation as well as boost cell turnover.
- Hydrating Serums/Oils
Again, after your thinner serums, you may apply things like Eminence’s Facial Recovery Oil ($76) or iS Clinical’s Hydra Cool ($90).
- Daily Moisturizer
Locking in the previously applied products with a day cream is the second to last step. Uliv’s Facial Souffle ($42) and Guinot’s Hydra Beaute ($54) are great every day creams with almost cult-like followings.
- SPF
Arguably one of the most important steps (that so many forget!!!) is a strong daily sunscreen. Sun damage is more than dark spots and sun burns – it can eventually lead to skin cancer. Even on overcast days, or days where you don’t THINK you will be in the sun – wear it. Skinceuatical’s Physcial Fusion Tinted SPF 50 ($34) and Sente’s SPF 52 Tinted Sunscreen ($47) are both lightweight, high SPF, and will help protect your skin and all the hard work you put into it.
Always remember: if your routine has retinols, exfoliating acids, hydroquinone or anything that is deeply resurfacing – you are more likely to experience increased sensitivity to the sun. Avoid using these during the daytime to lower your risk of adverse effects!
If you are ever concerned about your home care, never hesitate to give us a call!
(562) 430-3027
