Starting Your Skincare Journey? Don’t Know Where to Start? Let’s Look Together.

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Rowan chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

Skincare is a topic trending often on social media and influencers almost daily. From snail mucin to retinol, to paid promotions and different skin types, knowing what helps your skin flourish can seem challenging and overwhelming. Here are the 10 best tips to navigating skincare.

Original photo by Katie Leis and Nadiyah Timmons

1. Determine Your Skin Type

The most notable skin types are oily, dry, or combination. Oily skin typically looks shiny, but in the greasy way, not the dewy way. This leads to breakouts such as blackheads and acne, as the skin might feel suffocated. Dry skin looks tight and flakes, but no amount of lotion or moisturizer seems to help. Your skin might be irritated in different weather, especially in the winter. Combination skin type typically means your skin is dry everywhere except your T-zone. The T-zone is the forehead, nose, and chin. People with combination skin usually feel the impacts of both oily and dry skin. 

2. You Have Acne? Which Type?

People can have different types of acne. The most popular are cystic, hormonal, and fungal. If you have acne near your upper lip, chin, and jaw, you probably have hormonal acne. Hormonal acne is caused by, well, hormonal fluctuations. That is why one of the best treatments for acne is a proper diet, as that helps regulate your hormonal functions. Fungal acne is caused by an overgrowth of yeast in the hair follicles, and can be treated with specific cleansers or even dandruff shampoo! Cystic acne is probably the most painful one, where bacterial acne forms under the skin. It can be inflamed and pus filled, and most usually treated with cleansers to clean the bacteria from dead skin cells or medicine. 

3. Determine What You Want to Tackle

Figured out your skin type? Great! You know which acne you have? Fantastic too! With that, it is time to see what you want to take care of. Hydration, hyperpigmentation, breakouts, pores, sebum production, and more can be overwhelming and dangerous to tackle all at once. All skin types need cleanser to maintain a healthy skin barrier, hydration to reduce dry skin and excess oil production, and SPF for sun protection. But be careful! This is a slow and steady process. For example, if you want to tackle your cystic acne and you use Benzoyl Peroxide and Salicylic Acid, that might damage your skin barrier and do more harm to your skin! Let’s look and see what your skin really needs. 

4. Layering Matters 

To save your skin barrier and your wallet, the base products for the morning are face wash, moisturizer, and sunscreen, in that order. At night, all you need is face wash and moisturizer. Some people with especially sensitive skin might see their skin barrier be damaged and hurt by washing their face in the morning. In that case, all you need is a splash of water and those same products. Face wash or water cleans, moisturizer helps hydrate, and sunscreen helps retain healthy skin the more women age. After these steps, go about your normal makeup routine. 

5. Too Many Products Available? Let’s Simplify It. 

Don’t knock drug store products till you try them! According to Yale Medicine Dermatologist Sara Perkins, plenty of effective options can be from your local Walmart, Target, CVS, or Walgreens (www.yalemedicine.org). Places such as Ulta or Sephora sell other brands with good discounts. Some of the best product names are La Roche Posay, Neutrogena, PanOxyl, Olay, Good Molecules, Byoma, Centella, and others! It might be a little bit of trial and error!

6. Which Product Fits Your Skin Needs?

For oily skin, products that say “mattify” or “matte finish” are what reduce the look of oily skin. To address the root cause of oily skin, use gentle products to avoid over-stripping your face.  Over-stripping your face will cause oil production to hydrate, but we want moisturizer to tackle that. Some women, especially after doing something like working out, might benefit from HOCl spray. Hypochlorous Acid spray kills bacteria, especially for those prone to acne or eczema. Be sure to look for products that say “non-comedogenic”, or “non-pore clogging”. For dry skin, use moisturizing products with a dewy or glowy finish. For combination skin, be sure to use an oil removing cleanser (so probably a foam or gel), good moisturizer, and cream or matte finish SPF depending on your oil level. 

What do you need to do in simple terms? Determine your skin type (oily, dry, combination). If you have acne, determine which type (cystic, hormonal, fungal). Determine what cleanser, moisturizer, and SPF fits your goals and apply it in that order, negating SPF at night. Good luck with your glow up era! You got this, girlie! Here’s to clear skin :)