Skincare 201

If you missed last week's post on Skincare 101, please check that out first. This week's post is about stepping it up from the basics and adding in three more items to your skincare routine. Let's get started.

1. SERUM

Serums are where the magic happens my friends. A serum is a higher dose and concentration of something. Its job is not to moisturize the skin (necessarily). It is a targeted dose of vitamins, collagen boosting elements, etc. Let's take a look at what kinds there are.

Vitamin C

So good. This is great for someone who is looking to brighten their skin or in their 20's and early 30's with minimal skin damage from life habits or sun exposure. I love using a Vitamin C in the morning for my serum. At Sephora we used to say that vitamin C is the BLT of skincare, it brightens, lightens, and tightens the skin. Disclaimer, there is not significant evidence that vitamin C works, but my personal experience and the experience of many others I think that it is still a powerful choice for a serum.

Niacinamide

This is a powerful vitamin. Also known as vitamin B3, this water-soluble vitamin can diminish fine lines, shrink pore size, even skin tone, etc. If you've been on a vitamin C for a while and need a boost, try this. It will knock your socks off. Again you can use this morning and night. If you're a first timer and younger start with vitamin C. If you're mid 30's or older adding niacinamide might be just what you need.

Hyaluronic acid

If you're someone who struggles with feeling dry, or your foundation seems to seep into your skin throughout the day. Try adding a hyaluronic acid serum or oil into your skincare routine. Hyaluronic acid can hold water from the air and add it back into your skin. So it's great for winter or dry weather areas. This will also help to diminish fine lines and wrinkles, and prolong your makeup because your skin is getting moisture from somewhere other than the water and oils that are found in your foundation.

WHEN DO I USE IT?

Use a serum twice a day. Now I'm going to complicate your life. You can use a different serum in the morning than you do at night. Woah...let that sink in. The more into skincare you get the more you might realize that you need to swap out a few things morning and night (more complex skincare blogs coming soon).

2. EYE CREAM

The skin around your eye area is the thinnest on your face. You need an eye cream that has been developed for that area, and one that can be taken up on your lid as well. Eye creams have to go through major testing because of the delicate eye area. Some bloggers will say that you don't need one if you have a good moisturizer, but I've tried that it never works for me. Mostly because the concerns around my eye area are different than the rest of my face. Two of my all time favorites are: Charlotte Tilbury Magic Eye Rescue and Shiseido Benefiance Wrinkle Smoothing Eye Cream

WHEN DO I USE IT?

Morning and night. Use it after you cleanse, but before the serum. With your ring finger, take a pea size amount and split it between your other ring finger. Gently pat in onto your occipital bone, and if you can, bring it up onto the outer part of your lid. You're basically making a C on the outer part of your eyes.

3. SUNSCREEN

Find one that works for you and your skin type. This is an absolute must. If you spend money getting your skin gorgeous and then you don't wear sunscreen you are inviting age spots, wrinkles, etc. back into your skin. The sun, though lovely, damages the collagen coils in your skin and makes it harder for them to bounce back. You might not see the effects right away, but you will the older you get. Some of my favorites are Shiseido , Paula's Choice, and Supergoop!

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Please let me know how you get on with the recommendations, and I will be back with even more skincare tips next week!