The amazing 4 step beautiful skin routine

Yesterday we learned that beauty creams don’t work. Turns out that the great sounding jar of cream that says it is packed full of Vitamin C, CoQ10, and other goodies, never had a hope of working in the first place because the moisturiser in the cream creates a roadblock that won’t let the active ingredients through to do their jobs. So now what?

These 4 steps will give you skin the best chance of getting the nutrients it needs to be beautiful.

These 4 steps will give you skin the best chance of getting the nutrients it needs to be beautiful.

Four steps for a great skin care routine

Besides eating beauty foods full of nutrients that go to work IN your body (which I will continue to say is the number one beauty action plan you can use to get and stay gorgeous), there are four things to keep in mind when considering beauty products that you put ON your skin:

  1. CLEAN dirt and debris from the skin (cleanser)
  2. EXFOLIATE away dead skin cells so step 3 works better (mechanically via dry brushing or chemically via acids)
  3. DELIVER nurturing ingredients deep inside skin (serum)
  4. SEAL in the good stuff (oils, moisture)

Step 1. Clean dirt and debris from your skin’s surface

This one I’m sure everybody is doing. We all wash our faces with something. Because the product doesn’t stay on your skin very long, you don’t need to spend a lot of money on fancy ingredients for your cleanser. Dermatologist Dr. Adrienne Denese recommends that you don’t use soap but use a cleanser that has a pH close to that of your skin and make sure it won’t over-dry your skin. That squeaky clean feeling is not what we’re after! Make sure your cleanser:

  • removes dirt, oils and dead skin
  • leaves your skin soft and hydrated; not tight or dry
  • is oil based
  • is natural and organic with no harsh detergents

Step 2. Exfoliate to make it easier for skin care to actually get through to intended areas

You can exfoliate your body via both daily dry brushing, as discussed last week, as well as a weekly gentle acid treatment that removes the top layer of dead skin cells.

Why gentle acids and not the most popular type? There is some controversy about Alpha Hydroxy Acids (AHAs) including glycolic, lactic and salicylic acids.  While these acids are incredibly popular and plentiful in skin care products, new reports suggest that they increase your sun sensitivity and may damage your skin long term. Many people, myself included, have reported sun spots, and other pigmentation changes. 

Interestingly, the reason why I used to be a regular user of glycolic acid pads was they are remarkable for evening out skin tone and reducing tiny bumps underneath the skin’s surface. Now that I follow a health and beauty oriented diet, I don’t really feel I need the AHAs anymore. If you’re thinking that you can’t live without your AHAs, try adding more beauty foods to your diet.

Personally, I now order a plate of natural acid exfoliation each week but without the dangerous side of sun damage! Health advocate and skin expert Annmarie Gianni suggests these gentler, more nourishing alternatives to AHAs:

“Honey contains gluconic acid, which is a milder acid that gently exfoliates and brightens skin. Fruit enzymes from papaya (papain) and pineapples (bromelain) also contain low levels of acids that are well tolerated by sensitive skin. Exfoliating sugar scrubs and plant-based scrubs can also slough off dead skin cells.”

Because this is natural beauty month I will share a few great natural products all month long as well as home remedies and foods you can easily make to get the benefits of gentle exfoliation without risking sun damage.

Step 3. Use serums to deliver skin building nutrients right where you need them

OK, this product needs to be the big daddy of your routine! The serum.

Queue angelic music! Zoom in on tooth gleam! S-e-r-u-m! S-e-r-u-m! S-e-r-u-m!  Don’t let the usually small and unassuming packaging of these powerful serums throw you off the trail of their superhero amazingness!

Now that your skin is clean, and you’ve removed the dead skin cells out of the way, you need to get some amazing youth-inducing, beautifying serum ingredients into your skin. This product is the one you can justify spending the most money on as it stays in contact with your skin for a long time and is responsible for the heavy lifting of collagen building and anti-ageing.

Later this week I’ll go into more detail of what specifically to look for in a serum product (there are soooo many). We can look to the latest beauty research to show us the way.

Step 4. Seal in all the great nutrients delivered by your serum with oils and day creams with SPF s

Now that you’ve delivered the serum payload into your skin, you need to seal it in, so that it has the best chance of doing it’s work. Something nice and simple can be used here – your standard inexpensive creams work for this, as all they’re doing is acting like saran wrap to lock in your serum and make your skin feel nice and plump.

Put it all together: day routine vs. night routine

That’s it! You’ll note that the only difference between night and day is the type of moisturiser. Use an SPF one for day and and an oil one for night (or really any other basic cream will do as explained above.) Their only job is to seal in your serum and in the day time you need some extra sun protection as well.

The AM Routine for face

  1. Cleanse face
  2. Dab serum on face
  3. WAIT A FEW MINUTES
  4. Dab SPF cream on face

PM Routine for face

  1. Cleanse face
  2. Dab serum on face
  3. WAIT A FEW MINUTES
  4. Dab a few drops of an inexpensive organic beauty oil on face like rosehip oil

What about exfoliation?

Yes – you’ll be glad to note that you don’t have to worry about exfoliation each day. If you use a gentle exfoliator roughly once a week, that takes care of this step.

I hope the 4 steps make sense and are helpful

This is the latest research into skin science mixed with about 10 years of road testing every skin care product known to (wo)man! Using this approach I have seen reduced redness, lines and wrinkles, as well as significant visual improvements in pore size, colour evenness and overall radiance or glow.

After all of the skin product testing, I’ve come full circle. The simplest routine seems to work the best. I’ve found that putting minimal and natural products onto well-nourished skin is the best bet. Product quality is very important and in the next post we’re going to figure out how we can evaluate the beauty products we have as well as choose new ones that will not harm us long term.

Natural Beauty Tip No. 8: Use these 4-steps: cleanse, exfoliate, add serum, and moisturise to get the best skin of your life.

Tip 1 Tip 2 | Tip 3 | Tip 4 | Tip 5 | Tip 6 | Tip 7 | Tip 8 | Tip 9 | Tip 10