- Aarushi Singh
How to Build Up your own Personalized Skincare Routine | Skincare Routine Steps
Updated: Sep 14
Practicing daily skin care routine at home, choosing the right skincare routine order could prove to be the most effective way of treating your skin. Following the correct skincare steps help delivering nutrients to the deepest layers of the skin, in turns gives you the maximum benefits out of the product.
An easy thumb rule to follow is to apply your products with the thinnest consistency to thickest, or from liquid to cream. You might have to first use the products with the ingredients that are most important to penetrate into the skin for example antioxidants in serums and finish with the products that need to sit on top of the skin like emollients and humectants in moisturizers.
Top 3 things should be kept in mind while building Skincare Routine i.e. Protection Correction and Heal.
Below are the steps to build up your own Skincare Routine:
1) Know your Skin Type
Finding your skin type should be your fist step and it does make a huge difference although I believe skin type could change with seasons and highly depend on your geographical location. Therefore, skincare routine should be changed accordingly. Sometimes question comes in mind What is my skin type or How to find your skin type?? Skin type means how much hydrated your face is. Well, clean your face with a gentle gel cleanser could be CeraVe or Simple cleansers and wait for around 40 to 60 minutes, after which:
How to find Oily Skin Type: If your face is appealing like you have applied a highlighter all over your face, then your skin is Oily Type and you would have to choose products to make sure you build up best skincare routine for oily skin type.
How to find Dry Skin Type: If your face is appealing like stripped and you feel certain level of firmness and tight like your skin is stretching and while you smile, very fine lines appears and are visible. These are signs of dry skin type and you would have to choose products to make sure you build up best skincare routine for dry skin type.
How to find Combination Skin Type: This is very common type of skin, so while examining your skin after cleansing, you feel oiliness on your T-Zone (Forehead, Nose, Chin) and stripping on your other areas of face then you have a combination skin type.
And if your skin looks hydrated, no stripping or extra shine appearance, then you are a lucky one having a normal skin type. Since skin type is temporary, it is possible to bring your skin type to normal skin type by taking care of your skin and applying correct skincare product.
You might want to explore 11 Best Face Moisturizers for Oily, Dry and Combination Skin Type!
2) Start with Addressing your Skin Concern
Try examining your current specific skin concern you want to treat like Hyperpigmentation, Acne, Wrinkles or Dark Circles. To treat specific skin issue, you would have to choose active ingredient that targets specific concern. Try picking one treatment serum for one skin concern at a time.
For example, to treat Acne, you might follow below skincare routine for oily acne prone skin type:
Step 1: Choose a foaming mild cleanser
Step 2: Pick a chemical peel having exfoliating ingredients (AHA/BHA)
Step 3: Pick an Alcohol free Toner
Step 5: Target Acne with acne treatment Serum
Step 6: Pick a non-greasy and light weight Moisturizer
Step 5: Pick a non-comedogenic SPF in morning and a Spot Treatment cream at night (active ingredient to be applied only on spot)
3) Accordingly pick any one Active Ingredient (most effective in Serum form)
This is the most important step where you would have to make a choice by introducing one or two active ingredients into your skincare routine while patiently waiting for duration of about 12 Weeks to 16 Weeks to see the actual improvement. By Active ingredients I mean those products which tends to penetrate deeper inside your, does its job of delivering and helps in treating hyperpigmentation, scars, acne, etc.
Below are some Active Ingredients List:
Retinol (suggested to use at night): Targets Fine Lines and Wrinkles and Acne
Vitamin C (suggested to use in morning): Hyperpigmentation and Fine Lines/ Wrinkles
Niacinamide (anytime): Can be used as a Buffer and Targets hyperpigmentation, Acne, Fine Lines
Benzoyl Peroxide (anytime as a spot treatment): Targets Acne
Kojic Acid (anytime): Dark Spots and Lightening Skin
Hyaluronic Acid (anytime): Treats dehydrated skin
Vitamin E (anytime): Forms a skin barrier, has healing capabilities targeting Dark Spots and Hyperpigmentation
I would not suggest experimenting, mixing different high concentrations of active ingredients found in a specific product named under Vitamin C or Retinol Cream, etc. In that case, you may like to go for a product which is already formulated with correct percentages of skincare ingredients available in market as moisturisers or creams having combination of 2 or more active ingredients blended together such as vitamin C, vitamin E or Hyaluronic Acid. One must know that all ingredients has different pH levels which helps sink into our skin giving you the maximum benefits.
You might have to read '10 Best Active Skincare Ingredients Do and Don’t Pair' before starting off!
4) Test on small area of your Skin
This is just to make sure that your skin is accepting all the products that you choose and want to introduce. Always buy a sample or a small size bottle so that you do not end up wasting money on a product which does not suits your skin. Specially, when we talk about actives that might irritate your skin like vitamin C, you may go for a small percentage of it in a product. Slowly start introducing into your skincare routine. Start with using once in every four days, then once in every three days and then start using on alternative days if the percentage of active ingredient is high, otherwise if your skin loves it, there is no harm in using it daily.
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