Double cleansing – Using a water based / gel cleanser, AKA a “normal” face soap alone isn’t enough to fully clean the skin. That’s why people complain about blackheads, even if they do wash their face everyday. I swear by double cleansing because if there’s anything regarding skin care that I can’t go without since starting it, it’s that. To double cleanse, you start off with either an oil based cleanser or a cleansing balm. The oils in these cleansers work as a magnet to attract other oils like sebum, and sunscreen, makeup, pollution, etc. You want to gently rub the oil or balm cleanser onto damp skin for about a minute or two. Personally, I prefer a balm because I feel like the consistency does a deeper cleaning in my opinion. Zero and Versed are brands with amazing cleansing balm options. If you want to lean towards a more light weight oil cleanser, Anua has an incredible one! Afterwards, you will go in with your “normal” face soap to wipe away the previous cleanser and everything it pulled out of your pores. After you finish washing your face, you want to leave your face damp to begin the rest of your skincare routine. Skin care products are absorbed into deeper layers of the skin when the skin is wet. When the skin is wet, it works as a sponge!

Following this step, you will start off with your essences. Essences are what help balance the PHs in the skin. Snail mucin is commonly used in the skin care community. Snail mucin is great for PH and hydration. Snail mucin by corsx is a pure ingredient that is obviously snail mucin (lol). Snails do not get harmed in the process: As the slime drips down, it’s collected and put into containers. In fact, if a snail is harmed or killed, the mucin releases a chemical that irritates the skin. So harming snails is the last thing we want! The only downfall to snail mucin is that many people are allergic, so a good alternative is hyaluronic acid.

After essence, you’ll go in with your toners. Milky and hydrating toners are good for ultimate hydration. Good recommendations are I’m From Rice milky toner and Anua toner. If you’re wanting to use a toner that says “exfoliating,” you want to be careful what you mix that with. There are active ingredients such as AHA, BHA, Vitamin C, and Retinol. You don’t want to mix active ingredients in the same routine. For example, if you’re doing your skin care routine and putting on Vitamin C, you don’t want to use retinol or any of the other actives until a different time that you’re doing your skin care routine. I love using toners with AHA/BHA about once or twice a week. They are more harsh ingredients as they are exfoliators, therefore using them everyday is unnecessary.

A great a way to get your Vitamin C or retinol in is through serums. Serums are following toners! Vitamin C is what should be used in the mornings because it will strengthen your sunscreen while also giving your skin the vitamin it needs throughout the day. Retinol is an anti-aging serum that you will apply before bed. You do not want to apply retinol in the mornings, wearing retinol while exposed to the sun is harmful to the skin. Another great thing about retinol is that it can clear the skin from blemishes. There are also other serums that don’t have active ingredients such as caffeine serum, jojoba oil, or hyaluronic acid. Caffeine serum de-puffs the skin. When you gain weight in your face, then lose that weight, it’s common to have under eye bags. That’s because the weight under your eyes will remain. Caffeine serum is a great way to slowly get rid of those. Hyaluronic acid serum and jojoba oil are amazing sources of hydration for the skin.

Lastly, you want a good moisturizer. My recommendation is one of the Kopari moisturizers. According to estheticians, Kopari has 100% clean ingredients. One of them has ceramides (the one with the blue lid). Ceramides are great at soothing and reducing redness / irritation of the skin.

Lastly, sunscreen! Chemical sunscreens constantly break me out and leave a layer of oil on my skin throughout the day. Which is why, for the face, mineral sunscreens are the way to go!

Congratulations! You’re one step closer to glass skin