Caring for your skin is quite simple. You only have to wash your make up off/cleanse, exfoliate, cleanse, dry, use a toner- wait for that to dry, apply vitamins A through Z brightening/tightening serums and finally moisturize. But DO NOT forget your eye brightening cream- lightly pat with your ring finger, NEVER rub. Lastly, you better be sleeping on a silk pillowcase to avoid getting wrinkles. Shit, we forgot the cucumber, BS-infused, charcoal-activated face mask didn’t we?

Oh, that’s just your nighttime routine. You also need a daytime routine, duh!

FCKING SKINCARE.

There are SO many trends, must-dos, must-haves and I’m intimidated. Am I doing this right? Do I really need retinol and salicylic ACID on my FACE? Am I doing too little… or even worse, am I doing too much?

At the very least, you should be doing these THREE things regularly:

1. Cleansing and moisturizing before bed
2. Cleansing in the morning
3. Applying a minimum of 30+ SPF sunscreen every morning

I’m going to share my personal skincare routine with you. It’s something that I have put a high level of importance on in the past couple of years because, lol, YOUTH PRESERVATION, SUNSPOTS, CANCER, WRINKLES, DEHYDRATED SKIN, ETC... Though I may not always stick to a step-by-step night and day routine, I have a few MUST-dos, literally, no exceptions. Even if I have a night out and come home obliterated (those nights are quite rare nowadays), I ALWAYS do these two things before going to bed.

• Cleanse (wash off makeup)
• Moisturize

Ladies (and gents, if you’re into this) PLEASE wash your makeup off before getting into bed! It will save your little eye lashes, brows and pores! Imagine all that gunk rubbing in deeper as you toss and turn on your pillowcase. If you aren’t cleansing every night before bed, you better be washing your pillowcase everyday. I’m not kidding.

Daytime MUST DOS:

• Cleanse (washing off all the oils from tossing and turning, night sweats courtesy of the summer heat and anything else you find unwelcoming).
• Apply sunscreen after cleansing and moisturizing. Did you know that the sun is responsible for 80% of premature skin aging and is a known cause of skin cancer? Also... it’s not just the sun. You're not safe staying inside either. Depending on the lighting in your house, studies have shown that incandescent (household lightbulbs) and florescent bulbs emit UV radiation!! Protect yoself, wear sunscreen EVERYDAY, INSIDE AND OUTSIDE!

I’m not talking about Banana Boat or Coppertone, that shit will make you break out. I found my secret little weapon against the sun (see below). These are the four brands I swear by for sunscreen, cleansing, moisturizing and serums: Clinique, Neutrogena, Ordinary and Elta.

Sunscreen:

[Clinique Pep-Step Daily UV Protector Broad Spectrum SPF 50]. This stuff is GOLD. I’ve found that zinc works best against sun exposure but I’ve always hated how ghostly it makes me look. This sunscreen by Clinique has a very mellow tint to it so it’s almost like a sheer BB cream that naturally evens out your skin. It’s extremely light-weight and works perfectly for my sensitive skin. Mind you that my skin is on the dryer side. P.S. It’s cheapest on Nordstrom right now, here ya go ;)

For men and women: Elta is a GREAT sunscreen. My dermatologist actually just introduced this one to me last week. I did some research and found that they have a sunscreen with and without the natural tint. Buy it, trust me. It’s cheaper on amazon: EltaMD UV Daily Facial Sunscreen.

PRO TIP

WEAR SUNSCREEN ON YOUR HANDS/ARMS WHEN YOU’RE DRIVING. Protect your little hands against sunspots from incidental sun exposure!

Cleanser:

I’ve used this make up remover/cleanser for YEARS. It leaves my face squeaky clean with 0 trace of makeup. I think the most challenging thing about removing makeup is the mascara part. Hence why brands also sell “eye makeup remover”. This additional cost can be avoided if you learn how to properly remove mascara with your cleanser without getting it in your eye, lmao.

I GENTLY rub the top eye lashes and underneath the bottom eyelashes with a pea-sized pump from the cleanser. If I realize I still have mascara on, I cleanse for a second time. My eye lashes are fcking precious to me, you better believe I’m going to take great care of them. You can buy this at your local grocery store, CVS and pretty much any other drug store, or you can purchase it here.

For men: Kiehl’s is a renowned brand. I personally have not tried their men’s skincare line (lol), but I have heard great things from my guy friends who use this brand. Check them out here.

Moisturizer:

Clinique! Clinique! Clinique! It’s a GREAT starter brand if you’re just getting into tending to your skin. They have starter kits and step-by-steps that have the essentials (cleanser, toner and moisturizing). This is the moisturizer that works wonders for me every night and morning.

Additional skin care toners and serums for brightening, tightening and rejuvenation:

ORDINARY. My goodness I love this brand because of their pricing and beyond satisfactory results.

It’s been challenging for me to find products that HAVEN’T made my super sensitive skin breakout, hence why I like to stick to basics (cleanser/moisturizer) from renowned brands such as Clinique and Neutrogena made specifically for sensitive skin. But Ordinary WORKS, and it works surprisingly well. I personally use their toner and vitamin C serum. Both of these smooth out my completion, shrink my pores and brighten my skin leaving me with a crisp dewy glow. Have I mentioned that it’s insanely well-priced? If you’re anything like me, then you most likely love a bargain and Ordinary is just that. Fellow sensitive-skinned friends, do your beautiful skin a favor and check out their products here.

Lastly, this is what I have to say about skincare in a nutshell, wash your face every night but don’t overdo the additional stuff. Like, if your skin doesn’t feel dry, maybe skip the moisturizer for that night or day. Don’t exfoliate everyday, drink A LOT of water and DO wear sunscreen ERRYDAY.

Here is a water intake calculator based on your weight and duration of your exercise. It will recommend how much water you should be drinking everyday.

Stephanie Daily

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