Take the day off
March 20, 2018 by Shari J. Twigg
Are you someone who doesn’t wash their face at night? Do you find it difficult to cleanse your face and neck before bed because you are just too tired to do it and then put it off ’til your shower in the morning? I’m now going to try to get you to change your ways. First off, make it easy on yourself and wash your skin when you get home for the day. This also allows time for you to put on a mask once in awhile and leave it on while you make dinner. Because, really, when’s the last time you used your mask you bought?
Why should you? Well, first off, you started the day at likely 6 in the morning with a shower. Maybe you washed your face then? Maybe not! My first tip for you is to buy two facial cleansers, one for your shower and one for your sink to make it easy because, let’s face it, we are all lazy. It’s much more likely you are going to wash your face if your cleanser is where you can see it. Also, put your exfoliator (my recommendation is our Advanced Aesthetics ResurFace Crème) in your shower and use it 1-3 times/week. It’s easy to use and not a hassle to rinse off in the shower.
Next, why should you do this before bed? Well, think about what your skin has encountered through the day. Not only have you likely put makeup on at least once (maybe more), your skin produces sebum, perspiration, bacteria continues to multiply, you’ve touched your face countless times, dust and pollutions stick to the skin, etc. All of these things lead to a really dirty skin surface. So, start with a clean slate in the evening. Use a makeup remover and remove all of your makeup, including your eye makeup. Don’t leave your mascara on as it may pull lashes out and dry them out when rubbing against other surfaces, such as your pillow. Once every trace of make-up is off, then use a great facial cleanser to thoroughly cleanse the surface of the skin and remove any remaining sebum, dirt and perspiration on the skin.
Don’t forget your neck!!! Treat the neck in this gloriousness, or someday, like when you are in your 40s, you suddenly notice your neck when you never have in the past. Those bad lines, wrinkles, and laxity just suddenly seem to appear overnight and you notice them when you are getting your hair done and wonder why no one ever told you to take care of your neck skin in the past.
Let’s move on. See how easy that was now. The skin is now ready for special treatments like exfoliants at night. I like to use our Glycolic Gel Pads that have 10% glycolic acid, soothing agents, at a low pH on a nightly basis to keep the surface of the skin as smooth as possible. This also provides a great opportunity for serums and other treatments to penetrate the deeper layers of the skin. So next would be a serum or serums for treatments, like anti-aging, pigmentation, redness, acne, etc. Following this, an eye treatment is a must by the time you are 30, if not before, as its easier to keep your skin looking youthful then to turn back the hands of time and, really, skin/sun damage. Once you’ve completed this, the only thing left is to get a great moisturizer on. Most do prefer to use a richer moisturizer at night and this is a wonderful time to do so, as most of us don’t mind a little richness on at that time, while during the day, a lighter moisturizer may be preferred for makeup application etc.
See, it’s easy and really essential for healthy skin to get all of the day’s accumulations off the face and neck. Take the time to treat your skin right. It’s the only one you have and you are worth it. Most of us feel like our lives are hectic and busy, but make the time, just as you do for working out to keep you healthy and preparing healthy meals for nutrition.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Aesthetics Advisor,
Shari J. Twigg, MD
Why should you? Well, first off, you started the day at likely 6 in the morning with a shower. Maybe you washed your face then? Maybe not! My first tip for you is to buy two facial cleansers, one for your shower and one for your sink to make it easy because, let’s face it, we are all lazy. It’s much more likely you are going to wash your face if your cleanser is where you can see it. Also, put your exfoliator (my recommendation is our Advanced Aesthetics ResurFace Crème) in your shower and use it 1-3 times/week. It’s easy to use and not a hassle to rinse off in the shower.
Next, why should you do this before bed? Well, think about what your skin has encountered through the day. Not only have you likely put makeup on at least once (maybe more), your skin produces sebum, perspiration, bacteria continues to multiply, you’ve touched your face countless times, dust and pollutions stick to the skin, etc. All of these things lead to a really dirty skin surface. So, start with a clean slate in the evening. Use a makeup remover and remove all of your makeup, including your eye makeup. Don’t leave your mascara on as it may pull lashes out and dry them out when rubbing against other surfaces, such as your pillow. Once every trace of make-up is off, then use a great facial cleanser to thoroughly cleanse the surface of the skin and remove any remaining sebum, dirt and perspiration on the skin.
Don’t forget your neck!!! Treat the neck in this gloriousness, or someday, like when you are in your 40s, you suddenly notice your neck when you never have in the past. Those bad lines, wrinkles, and laxity just suddenly seem to appear overnight and you notice them when you are getting your hair done and wonder why no one ever told you to take care of your neck skin in the past.
Let’s move on. See how easy that was now. The skin is now ready for special treatments like exfoliants at night. I like to use our Glycolic Gel Pads that have 10% glycolic acid, soothing agents, at a low pH on a nightly basis to keep the surface of the skin as smooth as possible. This also provides a great opportunity for serums and other treatments to penetrate the deeper layers of the skin. So next would be a serum or serums for treatments, like anti-aging, pigmentation, redness, acne, etc. Following this, an eye treatment is a must by the time you are 30, if not before, as its easier to keep your skin looking youthful then to turn back the hands of time and, really, skin/sun damage. Once you’ve completed this, the only thing left is to get a great moisturizer on. Most do prefer to use a richer moisturizer at night and this is a wonderful time to do so, as most of us don’t mind a little richness on at that time, while during the day, a lighter moisturizer may be preferred for makeup application etc.
See, it’s easy and really essential for healthy skin to get all of the day’s accumulations off the face and neck. Take the time to treat your skin right. It’s the only one you have and you are worth it. Most of us feel like our lives are hectic and busy, but make the time, just as you do for working out to keep you healthy and preparing healthy meals for nutrition.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Aesthetics Advisor,
Shari J. Twigg, MD