By Kendall Farr, Licensed Esthetician, SPADA Skincare
Let’s talk about your skincare routine: whether your issue is inconsistency (you frequently skip cleansing your skin) or zealotry (you are ‘all-in’ with nightly scrubs or peels -or both- in the pursuit of glowing skin) it’s smart to periodically reevaluate your care. Are you using essential formulations and active ingredients that support your skin at your stage of life? Our skin changes with every decade. Here’s a snapshot:
- In your 20s: collagen mass decreases by 1% per year, and the skin begins to thin.
- In your 30s: skin cell turnover slows down and can take 30 days or longer, resulting in uneven skin tone and a duller appearance.
- In your 40’s: with perimenopause we experience estrogen loss and less estrogen equals less natural skin moisture.
- By your 50s: More estrogen loss. In fact, you have about 50 percent less. Skin loses elasticity and firmness (especially on the face).
- Post 50/ Post menopause: Skin layers thin progressively, and the barrier decreases in thickness.
It’s not only what you use but how you use it that makes the difference in the tone and texture of your skin. If you’ve been using the same products for decades, it’s time to evolve your care to provide your skin with what it needs now. It’s always the right time to practice better skin care. In the spirit of Valentine’s Day why not love bomb your skin with a new routine that offers the right support?
6 Essentials for Healthy Skin
1. At Night – Double Cleanse Your Face And Neck
Did you know that your skin is busy repairing itself all night? As you sleep, your skin is producing fresh new cells that restore your skin. Double cleansing your skin is a highly effective way to aid the skin in that process.
You’ll use two different types of cleansers. For your first cleanse use a light, easily emulsified oil cleanser like G.M. Collin’s new Phytoderm Cleansing Oil. Here’s the benefit: oil attracts oil, which is why cleansing oils are great for all skin types – even for oily skin. They remove dirt, pour clogging pigment from makeup, tough-to-budge SPF, and excess sebum without stripping your barrier of its essential oils. An oil cleanse keeps the skin hydrated and balanced because it works as a solvent that gently dissolves ‘the day’ from your face.
Your second cleanse is your deep cleanse. This is what sweeps away any remaining dirt, impurities, and pollutants along with the 30,000 to 40,000 cells your skin sheds every day! This is also the step that really opens your pores readying your skin for a night of vital repair. Use a cleanser formula that’s best for your specific skin type whether a cleansing milk that addresses things like dehydration or sensitivity or a gel formula that’s best for oilier and acne prone skins.
2. Use SPF. Every Day
UV damage is the number one cause of skin aging. You may have landed on a great skin care routine but if you are casual about SPF—or skip it altogether—you are doing irreparable harm to your skin. Daily, consistent sunscreen application is critically important for ‘face preservation’. And this goes double for the thin and vulnerable skin on your neck and chest. It’s important to completely shield both areas with separate and adequate applications. Every day. The trick has always been finding a cosmetically elegant SPF that feels light on the skin but offers thorough protection. We love G.M. Collin’s SPF 45 Tinted Sunscreen a broad spectrum with 100% mineral filters and a unique texture that blends easily with the skin, thanks to its universal tint. Bonus points for the addition of tomato extract in apricot kernel oil that boosts hydration and gives the skin a dewy finish.
3. Use Vitamin C Serum
A potent antioxidant, vitamin C prevents or reduces cell damage by fighting off the highly reactive molecules known as free radicals. And its power isn’t limited to antioxidant protection. It also triggers the skin to strengthen itself through the production of collagen and elastin. Fun fact: the skin can’t produce collagen without the stimulation of Vitamin C. And there’s more. Vitamin C contains a property that inhibits the skin’s melanin production, the process that causes brown spots and hyperpigmentation. With regular use, it can help prevent dark spots from forming in the first place.
Choose a serum with L Ascorbic acid, the most stable form of vitamin C. Consistently proven to penetrate the skin at the deepest levels, its effectiveness increases with an assist from Ferulic Acid, a plant-based antioxidant. This power duo is found in G.M Collin’s Vital C15 Serum a light, silky formula that contains 15 percent L Ascorbic acid, Ferulic Acid, plus collagen boosting peptides. Read more about vitamin C here.
4.Exfoliate Your Skin a Few Times A Week
Using a chemical exfoliant, an alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) that gently dissolves the bonds between dead skin cells and lifts them off, offers numerous benefits including improving skin texture, reducing the appearance of fine lines and deeper wrinkles, brightening skin tone, minimizing the look of pores, promoting cell turnover, and fading brown spots from sun damage. And if all that sounds good – there’s more: AHA’s encourage cell renewal which can stimulate collagen production. Product penetration is improved – watch your serums and moisturizers seem turbo charged.
It’s important to start slowly – once a week to begin and work up to a few times a week at about 4 days apart. We recommend G.M. Collin’s Intensive Exfoliant – even for sensitive skin types. Its’ blend of the AHA glycolic acid along with brightening pomegranate enzyme is blended with essential amino acids Arginine and Proline that add balancing moisture. Chemical exfoliants can make your skin more sensitive to the sun, so always use sunscreen with SPF 30 or higher.
5. Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate
Simply put, drink water. Lots of it. Sugar, alcohol, and elevated stress levels impact the skin in a range of negative ways. One issue they all aggravate is chronic dehydration, a condition that leaves skin looking uneven and dull. You may also experience fine lines, itchiness, and flakiness. Drinking lots of water keeps all your organs well hydrated. For the largest organ of your body – your skin – increased water intake keeps skin cells well hydrated, reducing dryness and aiding skin elasticity. Drinking water also boosts blood circulation and helps to flush out toxins that can cause inflammation.
6. Prioritize Sleep
An irregular sleep routine is bad news for your skin. While we sleep our skin goes into repair mode, replacing damaged or dead cells with fresh new ones, and repairing any environmental damage. Good sleep increases blood flow to the skin and contributes to its essential structural work, like rebuilding collagen and elastin. Skimping on sleep (get eight hours, more if you can), prevents this vital maintenance work from happening and instead increases levels of inflammation. And inflammation is aging. A lack of sleep also aggravates conditions like acne, eczema, psoriasis, and allergies. Sleep is skin’s natural rescue remedy so allow your body the time it needs to restore itself for the next day.
Skin love equals incremental change. Adding simple steps to your routine each day (and night) will lead to lasting skin improvements. The right products plus consistency are the key.
Schedule a treatment and diagnostics with your esthetician here.