[REQUEST] A good facial skincare routine? What are some must-haves?

A good skincare routine goes something like this:

• Cleanse once or twice daily, depending on your skin type. Generally, gentle is better. Something creamy and non-foaming should be appropriate for most skin types.

(Budget buy: Cetaphil. Splurge: Evan Healy)

• Exfoliate 2-3 times weekly with a chemical exfoliant. Even the most "gentle" physical exfoliant can irritate skin by causing micro-tearing. Something with fruit/milk enzyme is a great choice. Salicylic acid is also a chemical exfoliant, as are BHAs and AHAs. If you really want to physically exfoliate, try kaolin clay and/or a wet washcloth.

(Budget buy: a washcloth! Konjac sponges are also supposed to be great! Splurge: 100% Pure. One good physical exfoliant is this one from Pai. It has jojoba beads, which are round, so no micro-tearing, and are a natural wax, so no washing plastic beads down the drain into our waterways!)

• Mask: apply a mask once a week during a weekly at-home facial (following all these steps in order). Some great choices are a clay-based mask (suitable for all skin types), raw honey (moisturizing and healing), yogurt (hydrating), mashed papaya (exfoliating due to papain enzymes), mashed avocado (hydrating).

• Tone after cleansing/exfoliating/mask. This is a way to reset your skin's pH if you've applied something that was not pH-balanced. Simple hydrosols are great; they're a by-product of steam distillation for essential oils, so they still have some of the properties of essential oils, without the harshness that some EOs have. I like rose hydrosol, witch hazel hydrosol (just witch hazel, but without the alcohol that drug store WH usually has), and helichrysum.

(Budget buy: Thayers. Splurge: Evan Healy Immortelle)

• Treat at night with a serum for your skin type/concern. I use CO2-extracted rosehip seed oil since it's good for scars and pigmentation. Sometimes, if I'm having a breakout, I use a treatment oil I made at home with tamanu oil and a couple of drops of tea tree oil and thyme essential oil.

(Budget buy: rosehip seed oil above [a little goes a LONG way!]. Splurge: Tata Harper)

• Moisturize after cleansing with a simple moisturizer that's made for your skin type. Simple oils won't act as a very good moisturizer since they have no humectant properties. I like to mix a tiny bit of shea butter with a drop of glycerin and use that as a moisturizer. It can be very rich but is tolerated well by my blemish-prone, dehydrated skin. The glycerin pulls moisture to your skin in a way oils/butters alone can't do.

(Budget buy: Desert Essence. Splurge: Pai)

• Protect with a sunscreen every morning regardless of whether you cleanse.

(Budget buy: Nature's Gate. Splurge: Vive Sana or 100% Pure)

I can offer some more DIY suggestions if folks are interested!

P.S. Be sure to check out r/SkincareAddiction and r/NaturalBeauty for more skincare goodness!

*Edit: included product suggestions

*Another edit: Follow the bold steps above, in that order, for a weekly at-home facial!

I recently came home from studying abroad, and I found my face to be a total wreck. Since I didn't have any toiletries when I arrived back at home, I decided to start from the ground up and build a whole new skin care system based on simplicity and raw natural ingredients. This isn't for everyone, but I've been doing this for a month now and my oily-acne-prone skin has NEVER been better!

Morning

• raw honey for cleansing, sometimes add a dash of baking soda for exfoliation

• Just a few drops of oil as moisturizer (I like to use 4-5 drops). Yes, I put straight up oil right onto my oily skin. Any essential oil can work (except coconut, because it's comodogenic), but I usually mix sweet almond oil with lavender oil. It feels thick at first, but absorbs well and leaves you feeling soft all throughout the day.

Night

• raw honey for cleansing

• wet a cotton pad or washcloth with water before adding a few drops of apple cider vinegar. This makes for an amazing but simple toner that is great for removing all traces of makeup not taken off by the honey. Repeat if deserved.

• to remove eye makeup (even waterproof, which I always use) wet a cotton pad with water and add 3-4 drops of oil. This should take off your eye makeup easily.

• to moisturize you can use 7-8 drops of the same oil as before, or a different combination if you prefer. You can be more liberal with amounts of oil at night because your skin can absorb it all while you sleep.

I cannot stress to you how much this regimen has improved my skin. Everything from my uneven skin tone, my redness, acne, and sensitivity have all disappeared.

Just cover yourself in pancake batter and nature will take care of the rest.

I've been doing the oil cleansing method for over a year now with a mixture of jojoba oil, castor oil, and tea tree oil. I have naturally oily skin and everyone is amazed that I use oil to wash my face! Also, I have minimal breakouts usually around that time of the month. To begin with I just googled "oil cleansing method" and got plenty of resources that help you pick out different types of oils and cater it to your skin type.

[deleted]

It all depends on your skin type, obviously, but I'm putting up mine for oily/combo skin:

Wash night and morning with a cleanser containing acetacylic acid.

Moisturize daily with an oil-free moisturizer. For summer, one containing acetacylic acid. For winter, regular oil-free moisturizer or one containing extra vitamin E.

Exfoliate twice per week with an anti-blackhead exfoliant.

I regularly take vitamin E, omegas, vitamin c and vitamin d as well. About once every two weeks, I'll do a mask of some sort, depending on what's going on with my skin lately.

FYI, you probably want to add sunscreen under your BB cream if you're in the sun a lot. The amount that you'd need to slather on to get the full sun protection is more than most people actually apply. Also be aware that avobenzone degrades when exposed to titanium dioxide, but z-cote is ok with titanium dioxide.

And don't forget your neck, back of hand, and tops of feet (basically commonly exposed areas).

Don't be afraid of products that have oil! I have been using olive oil as my primary moisturizer for years and my face has loved it. My other guideline: the closer to natural (the product), likely the better.

I went from using 3 cleansers every time i washed my face (twice a day, so 6 cleansers a day) to using Noxzema twice a day. My skin has turned completely around, no more dryness and limited oil, as long as i keep up twice a day, no break outs either!!

Once a week i dip a washcloth in boiling water and lay it over my face then use a blackhead removal mask on my nose specifically. End result: i have to use less makeup, and my skin looks tons better.

Give at least the Noxzema a shot. it's good stuff.

I love love love Aveene products!

Certain ingredients, even natural ones can be skin sensitizers/irritants. Stay away from lavender oil, menthol, mint, citrus oils. Your skin might look temporarily better from using these because your skin looks pink and glowy...well, that's actually irritation. Alcohol is never good for skin.

My mum always tell me to take care of my décolletage, the skin is delicate and can age badly so protect it from the sun with spf 15+ in the mornings if you live in a sunny place.

One tip for moisturizers, never use a moisturizer that has either sunscreen or foundation type effects. You should be using separate products.

My routine is:

Morning:

1. Toner
2. Moisturizer (you can use a daily moisturizer)
3. Sunblock

Evening:

1. Cleanse

2. Toner

3. Moisturizer (I use a night time moisturizer)

Once a week in the evening after cleansing, and before toning I exfoliate and then use a resurfacing mask.

The products I currently use are:

Cleanser

Toner

Sunblock

Daily moisturizer

Night moisturizer

Exfoliator

Resurfacing mask