Skincare Essentials That Won’t Break the Bank

When starting a new skincare routine, it can be easy to become overwhelmed by the huge amounts of options available.

Every product out there touts itself as the must-have thing for your skin, charging exorbitant prices for their legendary ingredients. 

In truth, it is easy to give your skin all the care it needs with a simple selection of products, all of which can be found in one form or another at your local drugstore. Check out our article for all the essentials you need to keep your skin looking its best without spending a fortune. 

The Basics

Before you can start building an effective skincare routine it is important to get the basics down first, meaning a good cleanser and a hydrating moisturizer. 

As we age our skin loses healthy components of the skin barrier, which protects our skin from drying out. A twice-daily moisturizer will work to keep the skin hydrated, while a cleanser will help remove dirt, oil, and other ageing environmental toxins.   

Before you can even consider adding other elements to your skincare routine you need to repair and maintain the health of your skin barrier. Otherwise, the chances are your skin will not be able to tolerate many other skincare products.

When starting a new skincare routine, it is best to start with a gentle cleanser that will not irritate the skin too much, and a simple moisturizer that best suits your skin type (oily, combination etc.) You may also want to consider investing in a face spray for midday hydration boosts.

UV Protection

Excessive UV exposure will break down collagen more rapidly, so it is extremely important to protect your skin.

By wearing sunscreen, you will exponentially reduce the damage caused by UV rays and prolong the healthy, youthful look of your skin.  

Alongside your cleanser and moisturizer, a good facial sunscreen is the most important element to keep your skin healthy.

Building Collagen

Collagen is the most plentiful protein in your body and is one of the essential building blocks of bones, muscles, tendons, and skin. 

In your twenties, you start to lose 1 per cent of collagen per year, and some people may lose even more than that depending on their lifestyle and environment. 

Loss of collagen leads to saggy skin, a papery texture, and wrinkles. A collagen-building product will work to plump the skin back up and make you look more youthful. 

When searching for a collagen-building product you will be looking for what is known as a retinoid. These come in many forms, some of which are available by prescription only, but the ones you can buy over the counter come in the form of retinol creams and should be applied at night before going to bed. 

Brighten Your Complexion

As we age our skin becomes dull and loses its youthful glow. The older you get the slower the turnover of skin cells becomes, meaning the surface of your skin will become clogged up with dead skin cells.

For this step then we need to include products that are focused on returning that bright, youthful glow. 

For this there are two main options, brightening the skin with an exfoliation product that contains either salicylic or glycolic acid, or with a brightening product such as a vitamin C serum.

For this step, you will want to separate your brightening product from your retinol product, as the two combined will be overly irritating, so keep your retinol for the evening and brightening for the morning. 

As well as this, only incorporate one product at a time and try it for a couple of weeks to see how your skin reacts before adding in the other. 

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