How to Start the Perfect Skincare Routine for Beginners: A Step-by-Step Guide
What does a great skincare routine do for your skin? It can help you maintain healthy skin by properly cleansing and protecting it. It can also improve your skin if you’re struggling with congestion, texture, dryness, aging, or breakouts.
scrub me secret: just like a great skincare routine can do a lot for your skin, a bad skincare routine can damage your skin and cause issues like sensitivity, redness, bumpy texture, breakouts, flaking skin, etc. This is why I suggest starting with the basics, making sure your skin is benefiting from that, and then adding on products from there. If you’re doing too much there is no way of knowing what’s helping and what isn’t.
Your beginner skincare routine:
My suggestion as an esthetician is to start with a skincare routine that contains these 4 steps - Cleanse, tone, moisturize, and SPF. Be intentional about the products you choose and make sure they are working for your skin. After you have these 4 steps down, you can start adding other items one at a time.
scrub me secret: oftentimes I’ll meet someone who wants to purchase multiple new serums and masks for their skincare routine. I always suggest to introduce no more than 2 new products like serums, treatment fluids, masks, or exfoliants at a time. Adding too many new items at once can sometimes result in skin sensitivity or breakouts.
Step 1 - Cleanse
What to know when looking for a cleanser:
First things first, you’ll want to shop for a facial cleansing item. Some facial cleansers will come in the form of a bar that resembles a normal soap bar but they are very different from body soaps. Regular soap should not be used as a facial cleanser.
Facial cleansing items often contain ingredients called surfactants, which help the product to suds and foam. Some surfactants like sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and sodium laureth ether sulfate (SLES) are really harsh and can strip your skin’s barrier. I recommend avoiding products with this on the ingredients list. I also avoid skincare items that list fragrance and perfume on the ingredients label.
Choosing the right cleanser for your skin:
🔸Creamy cleanser or moisture rich cleanser: for dry skin or sensitive skin types (this includes very inflamed acne)
🔸Gel cleanser, foaming cleanser or a facial cleansing bar: for combination skin types, normal/oily skin types, congested skin, or breakout prone skin
🔸 Acne-specific cleanser (a cleanser with 2% salicylic acid, sulfur, or benzoyl peroxide, or a blend of salicylic and benzoyl peroxide): for skin types that have a high oil production and struggle with many blackheads, comedones, and/or pimples. If you are struggling with acne but also have sensitive skin a cleanser like this is best if used only a few times a week. And a creamy cleanser on other days.
Skincare brands I like for facial cleansers - Josh Rosebrook, PCA, Indie Lee, scrub me
Step 2 - Toner
Ingredients to avoid in toner:
Ingredients like fragrance, denatured alcohol, parabens, propylene glycol, and sodium laureth sulfate are ingredients often seen in toner products and should be avoided. Ingredients like these have negative effects on our skin and body.
Choosing the right toner for your skin:
A toner is meant to balance your skin after cleansing and provide it with extra vitamins and nutrients. Using the right toner helps your other products work their best and keeps your skin in tip-top condition.
🔸Hydrating toner: Toners made to calm and hydrate often contain ingredients like aloe, rose water, and hyaluronic acid. These are best for sensitive skin types, dry skin, dull skin, and aging skin.
🔸Astringent toner: Astringent toners are made to control oils and reduce buildup in the pores. Witch hazel, willow bark, and salicylic acid are common ingredients in astringent toner. This type of toner is best for oily skin types and congested skin types.
🔸Brightening toner: This type of toner contains a small amount of AHA like papaya, mandelic acid, glycolic, lactic, or some other type of acid like a PHA. Fluids that contain more than 5% acids I consider to be an exfoliation treatment fluid and not a proper toner. If used as a daily toner they oftentimes cause skin redness and flaking skin. This type of toner is best for dull skin, aging skin, and those looking for a more even complexion.
Skincare brands I like for facial toner - Josh Rosebrook, Good Molecules, Indie Lee, and Ology Essentials
scrub me secret: you can use the EWG website where they have a skin ingredient and skincare product database that helps you decide if a product is the right fit for you. It gives the product a rating and breaks down the ingredients listing reasons why a product is rated a certain way.
Step 3 - Moisturizer
Ingredients to avoid in moisturizer:
Parabens, mineral oil, fragrance, propylene glycol, acetylated lanolin alcohol, and cetyl acetate are common ingredients found in moisturizers that we want to avoid because of their skin-sensitizing and pore-clogging properties. Moisturizers can have other sneaky ingredients that aren’t good for our skin and body. As I stated in my “scrub me secret” above, you can use the EWG skin deep database to help you decide if a product is the right choice for you.
Choosing the right moisturizer for your skin:
🔸Gel moisturizer: This type of moisturizer is a water-rich hydrator that gives skin the moisture and hydration it needs while being super breathable. Gel moisturizers absorb into the skin quickly and leave it feeling more matte than other moisturizers. This makes it great for oily, congested, and acne-prone skin types.
🔸Medium-weight facial lotion or cream: A medium-weight facial moisturizer is great for many different skin types. This type of product still contains a lot of water like a gel-hydrator, making the product feel more breathable and less thick on our skin. It will give our skin more moisturizing nutrients than a gel moisturizer. This is best for combination skin, dry skin, normal/oily skin, sensitive skin, and aging skin.
🔸Enriched moisturizer or facial balm: This type of moisturizer is heavier feeling in texture and contains oils (ideally non-pore clogging oils). This oil-rich moisturizer feeds dry and dehydrated skin nutrients that it’s missing. A product like this is best for those who like a “dewy glow”
A facial balm or thick moisturizer is best for dry skin, sensitive skin, chemically treated skin, and aging skin.
Skincare brands I like for facial moisturizers - Josh Rosebrook, Kinship, PCA, Goldfaden Md, and Wildling Beauty
Step 4 - SPF
Why you need SPF daily:
Even if you aren’t out in the sun daily, there are still ways our skin endures damage throughout the day that can be prevented by using SPF. UV rays from the sun sneak in through our car and house windows. Also, light rays from HEV light emitted from our electronic devices can cause pigment spots and cause our skin to age more quickly. Using daily SPF blocks those HEV light waves as well.
Choosing between mineral and chemical SPF:
🔸Chemical SPF: A chemical SPF is a product formulated with certain chemicals that absorb harmful light rays like UV and HEV and stop them from damaging our skin.
While chemical SPFs are often lighter-weight and blend into our skin more easily than mineral SPFs, there is research that shows certain chemicals used in these SPFs might be harmful to our health and may cause skin sensitivities in some. It’s best to do your research before deciding!
🔸Mineral SPF: These are SPF products will include the ingredient titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, or both. These mineral ingredients defend our skin against the sun by creating a barrier that quite literally blocks the rays from absorbing into our skin.
Mineral SPFs are a bit thicker in texture and sometimes will leave a little bit of a white cast on skin but are preferred by those who try to avoid chemical SPFs
🔸Chemical and mineral blended SPF: A chemical and mineral blend SPF will have a blend of zinc and titanium dioxide as well as some chemical SPF ingredients like Avobenzone, Octinoxate, Octocrylene, and Octisalate to name a few.
These blended SPFs feel a little bit better for our skin health vs. a straight up chemical SPF. These types of SPFs also usually have a lighter-weight texture than mineral SPF and don’t leave a white cast.
Skincare brands I like for facial SPF - PCA, Tocobo, Kinship, and Alastin
scrub me secret: Once you’re getting good results and are in a rythym with this skincare routine adding a facial oil would be my next suggestion. A facial oil can have multiple different uses like pre-cleanse (oil cleansing), using it for facial massage, and as the last step of your PM routine if you are feeling dry or lacking of radiance.
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