Skincare is an investment, and it takes time to build. But it doesn’t mean that you should drop it if you find yourself getting too busy to stick to your routine. At the end of the day, skincare should also be flexible. You should be able to adjust it based on your lifestyle, your skin needs, and what you can commit to doing regularly.
You may have started your skincare journey at a stage when you felt you had enough time to go through all those steps and carefully apply different products layer by layer. Or maybe you got interested in a trend and decided to try it out without fully understanding the full process, only to find the routine to be more complicated than you initially thought.
Whatever the case may be, skincare should be a fun experience that helps you feel your best every day and promote overall well-being. When it becomes frustrating to maintain and causes you distress, then it is time to make some changes. Here are ways you can cut down the time spent on your skincare routine without sacrificing results:
1. Keep The Basics
It is difficult to maintain a multi-step routine every single day when you know that some days tend to be packed full of schedules that you barely have time to breathe. Give yourself some leeway and prepare for these occasions in advance by creating a stripped-down version of your regular routine.
For days when you can’t go the full stretch, just stick to the basics. Use a gentle and moisturizing facial wash in the morning to cleanse your skin and remove any dirt and oil that may have built up during the night. Make sure to apply sunscreen to protect your skin from harmful UV rays as you go about your day.
Note that sunscreen needs to be applied daily, regardless of the weather, as UV rays are always there even when you don’t see the sun. Exposure to UV rays is responsible for 90% of skin aging, thus sun protection is critical in your anti-aging skincare routine. According to dermatologists, you should use sunscreen with SPF 30 to SPF 50 in order to get adequate protection from the sun.
When washing your face at night, use a makeup remover to get rid of oil, dirt, and makeup residue. Choose the right makeup remover depending on your makeup use. If you wore heavy, waterproof makeup during the day, you need an oil-type remover that is specifically formulated to meltdown stubborn makeup residue that got stuck in your pores. But for light makeup, or if you just applied sunscreen, a water-based makeup remover will do the trick.
Remember to apply moisturizer both in the morning, before applying sunscreen, and at night before heading to bed. Moisturizers help keep your skin hydrated, which makes it look healthy and youthful for a longer time.
2. Augment When You Have Time
On days when you find yourself with a few extra minutes for self-care, you can add a couple of steps to your skincare routine. One supplementary routine you can consider is exfoliation. Since our skin sheds by itself, dead skin cells would accumulate on the top layer in just a matter of days, which can make you look tired and stressed out.
Exfoliation eliminates these dead skin cells, revealing the renewed, more youthful skin underneath the surface. Make sure to choose a gentle product when exfoliating so you don’t accidentally damage your skin and cause scarring. Rub the product softly in a circular motion and get the dead skin cells washed away with the water as you rinse off. Do this for only a maximum of twice a week as too much is also not good for your skin.
Another step you can easily add to your routine are Korean sheet masks. These are thin, disposable sheets made out of different materials that are gentle and feel soft on the skin. The sheets are then are soaked generously in serums and ingredients that nourish and care for the skin, giving it a youthful glow after just one use.
The sheets work to seal in the serum and allow your skin to absorb more nutrients as it reduces air exposure and minimizes evaporation. They are intended to stay on the skin for a maximum of 20 minutes and are best used at night to let your skin rejuvenate at night while you sleep. There are different variants of Korean Sheet Masks available, and it is best to choose one according to your skin type.
3. Nourish From The Inside
A good skincare routine must involve a healthy diet. The condition of your skin is greatly affected by what you eat, and you need to consume food that are beneficial to your skin in order to get the glowing skin that you want. Having a healthy diet will also help protect you from pollution and free radicals that could cause damage to your body.
There is much antioxidant-rich food that can be easily inserted into your diet, such as salmon, avocado, green vegetables, and almonds. You also need to control the intake of sugary, oily and processed food because these are not good for your body and your skin, often causing breakouts, clogged pores, and overproduction of sebum.