3 Skincare rules for Busy woman & men!

In today’s busy lifestyle, the last thing that we seem to find time for is skincare. I thought that the best thing about getting older would mean YAY no pimples but that doesn’t seem the case, dealing with both pimples and wrinkles is terrible!

There are so many buzzwords and skin care trends that do their rounds and its really hard to differentiate between them and know what to listen to and what to avoid. I love the Korean skin care routine but its 10 steps twice a day and honestly who has time for that!! Or the budget needed for literally 10-15 skin care products.

For me I have deiced to focus on just 3 Golden rules that I try stick to 100% everyday. The rest are great if I can once or twice a week and when I want to spoil myself. Obviously if you have the time for the toner, serums, ampoules and masks everyday then fantastic, but for when you don’t just stick to these 3 -Cleansing, Moisturising and Sunblock.

Cleansing -The first thing you should do when caring for your face is to get into a routine of cleansing it. Twice a day will fight many of the most common skin problems and leave your face feeling healthy and looking great.

Cleansing your face removes makeup, oil, dirt, and other debris. Even if you don't wear makeup, the skin on your face comes into contact with residue from other skin-care products like moisturizer and sunscreen, as well as pollutants, microbes, dirt, and other debris, not to mention oils, sweat, and dead skin cells." Without cleansing, it's this buildup on the skin that can lead to textural issues and poor luminosity, especially because it prevents your skin from being able to renew itself overnight.

If you don’t clean your skin properly the buildup can potentially clog the pores resulting in dry, irritated skin, and even acne. This can lead skin to becoming itchy, resulting in scratching, potentially leading to breaks in the skin, which can then increase the risk of infection. Talk about a domino effect, huh?

Choosing a PH balanced product is best for your skin as it puts less stress on your skin and prevents it having to correct the balance. Our skin is fairly acidic, which helps it ward off the advances of harmful bacteria and fungi. The optimal pH of human skin is 5,5. For reference the PH of water is NEUTRAL and that is 7.

Moisturizing -Transepidermal water loss (TEWL ) is the loss of water that passes from inside a body through the epidermis to the surrounding atmosphere via diffusion and evaporation processes.

The skin is comprised of three primary layers: the epidermis, the outermost layer; the dermis or middle layer; and the hypodermis, the undermost layer. TEWL is a process that your skin naturally regulates, certain factors that can damage the skin’s barrier function can also affect TEWL levels. Circumstances such as injury, low-humidity weather conditions and topically applied products that dry out the skin can impact TEWL

Your skin needs moisturisation and hydration to maintain desirable levels of TEWL. The best way to achieve this is applying a moisturizer. Applying moisturizer on a WET skin is even better as it traps the water in between the product and the skin and is absorbed into your skin.

Hydration refers to the water content of the skin, whereas moisturization is the skin’s ability to retain those water molecules. Therefore, your skin needs both elements to maintain desirable levels of TEWL.

To achieve this, combine humectant and occlusive skincare ingredients. Humectants (glycerine, hyaluronic acid and sodium lactate) help to draw moisture to the epidermis, either from the air if it is humid enough, or from the underlying dermis in low-humidity conditions. Because water content that is drawn from the dermis can be lost through TEWL, it’s important to combine the use of humectants with occlusives (coco butter, silicones, shea butter, beeswax, squalane). Together, these ingredients create a reservoir of moisture in the epidermis and act as a barrier on the skin to help prevent TEWL by sealing in that moisture. The occlusive agents simultaneously keep pollutants, toxins and harmful bacteria out

Transepidermal water loss can contribute to a variety of unwanted skin conditions, including a more pronounced appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. For a complete approach to skin anti-aging, use skincare products that contain effective moisturizing ingredients that won’t cause irritation or dryness. This can have a very positive impact on the smooth and radiant look and feel of your complexion.

Moisturizing reduces the chances of skin problems. Using the right kind of moisturizer for your skin can help maintain its balance. When skin is too dry or too oily, many common skin problems like acne start to pop up. Moisturizing fights wrinkles. That plump, firm feeling in your face after moisturizing isn’t an illusion. According to the British Journal of Dermatology, people with properly moisturized skin accumulate wrinkles at just a fraction of the rate of those with dry skin.

Sunblock - Ultraviolet rays will damage your skin over time and it's essential that you protect your face from harmful radiation. Use a good broad spectrum sunscreen under your foundation. A foundation with SPF in it is NOT enough protection. To achieve the Sun Protection Factor (SPF, which protects against the sun’s UVB radiation), you should use approximately two milligrams of sunscreen per square centimeter of skin. In practice, this means applying the equivalent of a shot glass (two tablespoons) of sunscreen to the exposed areas of the face and body. The amount you need on your face for best protection is 1.2 ml which is a ¼ teaspoon twice a day.

Dermatologists recommend using a sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30, which blocks 97 percent of the sun's UVB rays. Higher-number SPFs block slightly more of the sun's UVB rays, but no sunscreen can block 100 percent of the sun's UVB rays.

Then the things we need to do at least once a week are to exfoliate and use a weekly mask to keep skin in optimal condition.