My Effective Skin Care Routine

Whilst this blog is mainly about digital and technology, those things should enable us to be away from our desk more often and building more effective relationships with people. To that end, an effective skin care routine is critically important, especially the more that we age.

_{Note: I am not a healthcare provider, this information was gathered through a lot of research, including from board certified dermatologists but you should always seek your own advice. The links in this article are also affiliate links and help to support the site.}

Why Have a Skin Care Routine?

For two very simple reasons:

1. Healthy skin
2. Good looking skin.

The Science behind Skin Care

Aging and UV rays cause our skin to become less healthy. Our skin structure is very much like bricks and mortar, where the mortar is fats and protiens. If we dry out the mortar, then we risk the integrity of the skin barrier and can end up with red and inflammed skin. The suns UV rays cause photoaging and can dry out our skin, but also can reduce the amount of collagen fibers in our dermis layer which will cause wrinkles and the typical appearance that we associate with aging.

That is why it is important to use 3-4 simple products to protect against new photoaging, help repair our collagen and elastic fibers and to maintain our skin’s ’mortar’ through moisturization.

The Skin Care Products

These are the four simple products I use to protect my skin.

Sunscreen

Since UV rays cause photoaging, it is important to use a broad spectrum high SPF sunscreen. Broad spectrum is important so that it covers both UVA and UVB rays, since both cause damage. The SPF number is a calculation of how long extra you can stay in the sun before your skin goes red. If without sunscreen your skin takes one hour to go red, then SPF 30 it will take 30 hours. However, you should use caution as these qualifications consider a pretty thick layer of suncream, so the general rule of thumb is reduce by 60%. So if you apply SPF 30, you really only have SPF 18.

On this basis, it is recommended that you use no less than SPF 30 and preferable 50.

I use the CeraVe 100% Mineral Sunscreen SPF 30. I chose this one due to it leveraging Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide instead of some harmful chemicals that are in other brands, such as Oxybenzone, fragrances and parabans. These minerals stay on the surface of your skin to reflect away the suns rays. It also contains Ceramides and Hyaluronic Acid to help maintain your skins natural moisture.

Moisturizer

The moisturizer is critical to maintain fats and protiens in your skin, thus protecting the skin barrier. Have you ever felt skin tightness after a hot shower? Thats because you’ve washed away the moisture in your skin. So it’s important to maintain moisture in your skin.

I use Bulldog Original Moisturizer but I am also looking at CeraVe Daily Moisturizing Lotion.

Retenoid

Retenoids are a little more complex, they come in two types, Retinol and Retenoids. Retinol is weaker and comes in the over the counter products. Retenoids are typically prescribed. There is credible science behind retenoids with good clinical trial evidence of their effectiveness. They provide three main benefits:

1. They reduce wrinkles by promoting the growth of collagen and elastic fibers in the thick middle layer of our skin, known as the dermis. If we have enough collagen and elastic fibers in this part of our skin, then our skin looks healthy.
2. Reduce uneven skin pigmentation, especially from sun damage.
3. Makes your skin cells regenerate at a faster pace, therefore, making our skin look more youthful.

It is important to know that this isn’t a fast treatment, and if your skin is in particularly good condition, you may not notice a change. You may also notice that your skin becomes more sensitive when using a retenoid and could even become a little sore.

The product I use, which is widely available in the US but might not be elsewhere is Differin Gel.

I started with a tiny peas sized amount every other night then progressed to using nightly.

Cleanser

The cleanser is not totally necessary, you can do a fairly decent job cleaning with plain water. However, it won’t fully remove all dirt and oils. I used to never wash my face, but I started washing it in the evening prior to applying the retinoid to ensure it gets a nice even spread and decent adsorption. I don’t typically wash my face in the morning.

The product I use is CeraVe Hydrating Facial Cleanser.

The Final Skin Care Routine

Morning: Wash face with water, pat dry with a towel and apply the CeraVe Hydrating Mineral Sunscreen SPF 30.

Evening: Wash face with CeraVe Hydrating Facial Cleanser, pat dry with a towel. Apply the Differin Gel and let it settle in before applying the Bulldog Original Moisturizer and shortly to be the CeraVe Daily Moisturizing Lotion on top.