When it comes to improving the look and texture of your skin, it doesn’t always need months of waiting or a complicated skincare routine.
You can make small changes to your daily habits, your skincare choices and the application methods to make your skin appear smoother and fresher in a shorter amount of time.
Cleanse In A Way That Helps Your Skin
Although you might be tempted to scrub your face until it feels squeaky clean, the way in which you cleanse your skin can either support your skin’s barrier or end up slowly damaging it.
Always start by choosing a gentle cleanser that will respect your skin’s pH balance instead of stripping it. For your morning skincare routine, you only need a light cleanser to remove any sweat or skincare from during the night, and not a harsh and foaming face wash.
For your nightly cleanse, double cleansing is best if you wear sunscreen and/or makeup. An oil cleanser will break down long-wearing products and excess sebum, without disrupting your skin’s natural oils. You can then follow up with a mild water-based cleanser to remove any leftover remnants.
If you use a cleansing device like a facial cleansing brush, ensure you keep the settings low and limit their use to just a few times a week to avoid any irritation for your skin.
Exfoliate To Smooth And Brighten
Exfoliation speeds up your skin’s natural shedding process so fresher and smoother cells can come to the surface. When you lift away the dull build-up, your skin will reflect light better, and feel more even and balanced right away.
You can do physical exfoliation and chemical exfoliation carefully, if you decide to do them together, or you can do them individually.
Physical exfoliation includes using gentle cloths, soft brushes or a fine grain face scrub which will manually polish away dead skin cells.
You can make your own DIY face scrub if you want to avoid harsh and jagged exfoliative particles (like sugar crystals) on your more sensitive or acne-prone areas.
With chemical exfoliation, you’re using acids like glycolic acid, lactic acid or salicylic acid to dissolve the bonds between your dead skin cells, which gives you a more uniform and radiant finish without irritating your skin with excessive rubbing.
Always keep your exfoliation frequency low at first, sticking to once or twice a week, and you can always increase the frequency if your skin responds well.
Hydrate For Softer Healthier Looking Skin
Once you’ve exfoliated your skin, you need to focus on hydrating skincare products to make your skin look softer, bouncier and instantly more even.
It’s a boring step, but try drinking water consistently through out the day, rather than just chugging a lot at once, as well hydrated skin will automatically look more plump as the cells hold water more effectively.
Look for moisturizing ingredients that will bind and seal in water into your skin, with ingredients like glycerin, hyaluronic acid and aloe.
They will help to attract moisture, plus ceramides and squalane will reinforce your skin’s barrier to keep the hydration in. You can apply these products to your skin when it’s slightly damp, and then lock them in with a lotion or cream.
Improve Skin With Better Sleep
There are few changes you can do to transform your skin quickly as well as having better sleep. When you rest, your body increases blood flow and boosts skin repair, so you wake up with a fresher and smoother complexion.
Stick to a solid nighttime skincare routine, where you cleanse gently, apply a hydrating serum or retinoid (if your skin can tolerate it), and seal them in with a moisturizer.
When you’re sleeping, try and sleep on your back so you can prevent creases than turn into fine lines on your cheeks and chest.
If you can’t sleep on your back, you can use a silk or satin pillowcase, as they’ll reduce friction, tugs and pillow marks on your face and chest.
When you have good sleep, it’ll fuel stress reduction which will lower your cortisol, helping to calm redness, breakouts and flare-ups, so aim for 7 to 9 hours of sleep in a cool and dark room. With improved sleep, you’ll notice your skin looking brighter, less puffy and more even within a matter of days.