How to Truly Nurture Your Skin, The Ultimate Guide for all skin types and ages, from Clear Givings Market.
Highlights:
Skin care is about more than just beauty. Your skin is part of your first impression, and as the largest organ in your body, it deserves the utmost levels of care. You want your skin to glow so that you look good and feel fantastic.
Part of feeling good is knowing that your skincare essentials come from an ethical source. Many skincare products today contain microplastics and harmful chemicals that aren’t just bad for your skin but for our planet as well.
Planning a skin care routine can be overwhelming enough without trying to factor in its sustainability. That’s why we’ve made it easy by providing all of your organic skin care needs in one place. People of all genders, no matter their age, can cultivate your perfect regimen from the comfort of your homes. We’ve done the legwork to thoroughly vet each brand, ensuring that they practice the highest standards of sustainability; all you need to do is fill your cart.
Before making your purchase, it's good to know that you’re choosing the best products for your skin’s needs. In the spirit of making things as simple as possible, we've put together a complete guide to skincare must-haves that your body and our planet will love.
The 5 Basic Steps of Skincare
- Cleansing- Select Natural Cleansers to Keep Your Skin Looking Fresh
- Exfoliating - Opt for Organic Exfoliants
- Treating - Choose Treatment based on Your Skin Type
- Moisturizing - Moisturizer is a Skincare Ritual Must, No Matter What your Age
- Protecting - Keep Your Skin Looking Young with Natural Sunscreen
The basic principles
Although everyone’s skin is different, there are a few basics to adhere to. Most skincare routines consist of five main steps: cleansing, exfoliating, treating, moisturizing, and protecting. Your daytime routine should differ from your evening ritual. While the goal of your morning skincare regimen is to protect your skin from the sun, your makeup, and dirt or debris, your nighttime care should focus on hydration.
These steps must be applied in the order given to promote optimal success. If you don’t exfoliate before you moisturize, for example, dead skin cells may prevent your moisturizer from full absorption. Furthermore, you might not need as many products as you think. Effective skin care relies upon a few key, high-quality products rather than a cabinet full of merchandise.
That being said, alongside your daily-use items, you should have one or two additional products that you’ll use less frequently. These will include face masks and serums. It can be difficult to determine which supplemental treatments are best for your skin, so if you find yourself struggling, consider consulting a skincare expert. They will be able to analyze your skin and give you customized tips for the nutritious glow you crave.
Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s take a deeper look at each of the five key steps to optimal skincare and which organic and sustainable skincare products you should use for radiant skin.
Select natural cleansers to keep your skin looking fresh
The thing about synthetic cleansers is that they often contain ingredients that may do more harm to your skin than good. For example, sulfates used to create foam and suds can cause skin irritation, especially for people with sensitive skin. Anyone who has struggled with breakouts or irritation in the past may benefit by switching to an organic skin cleanser.
It’s important to note that, even if your cleanser is plant-based, choosing the right ingredients for your skin type is essential. Those who suffer from dry skin may benefit from aloe vera. Those with oily skin can turn to facial cleansers with fewer oils and more natural acids.
Here at Clear Givings Market, we understand that you want to know exactly what’s in your facial cleansers, for the health of your skin and our planet. That’s why we include an extensive ingredient list whenever possible so that you can choose the organic skincare products that best suit your needs.
Opt for organic exfoliates
Exfoliating your skin helps to remove dead skin cells that are having difficulty shedding on their own. Exfoliating also helps clear away debris that may clog your pores and allows your skin to optimally absorb moisturizers and other products used later on in your skincare ritual.
We recommend staying away from exfoliates that use tiny plastic beads. These types of plastic cannot break down, and they will eventually end up polluting waterways and harming wildlife. Instead, select natural exfoliates like grains. While sugars and salts have become popular at-home exfoliants, they are quite sharp and damaging to the skin and should be avoided.
While exfoliating your skin is important, you don’t have to exfoliate every day; two to three times a week is fine. Your skin is delicate, and over-exfoliation can damage it. It’s best to exfoliate your skin in the morning. At night, your skin goes through a rejuvenation process, which will leave more dead skin cells to shed in the morning. Although exfoliation is important, it is possible to exfoliate too much; two to three times a week is good.
For the best results, make sure that your skin is damp before exfoliating. Don’t forget your lips; they are skin, too, and they can benefit from shedding dead skin cells. Make sure that you rub the exfoliant firmly, but not aggressively to avoid damaging healthy skin.
When choosing an exfoliant, there are several choices: lotions, cleansers, or even exfoliating washcloths or brushes. Whatever option you choose relies on your personal preference; some like to combine their cleansing and exfoliating for a more convenient skincare routine.Choose treatment based on your skin type
Skin treatment is perhaps the most difficult part of your routine to nail down; it depends on a number of factors, including your skin type, your daily activities, your age, and more. Treatment products consist of items like toners, facial masks or serums.
Finding the perfect treatment for your skin may rely upon experimenting. While we can recommend various treatments depending on what type of skin you have, everyone is different. Furthermore, not all skin therapy products need to be applied every day. The key is to nurture your skin without stripping it of its natural oils and nutrients. If you’re struggling to nail down the perfect routine for your skin, contact us with your skincare questions, and our complimentary skin care specialist who is well-versed in conscious beauty skin care will gladly respond to your queries.
Here are some treatment tips for common skin types for all genders
Mature skin
People with mature skin benefit from products that contain vitamins A, vitamin E, and hyaluronic acid, which can help minimize the appearance of wrinkles and promote glowing skin. Other ingredients include mango, chamomile, aloe vera, and olive oil.
Astaxanthin is another ingredient proven to slow down the effects of aging. As an antioxidant, it works at a cellular level to prevent skin degradation, and its anti-inflammatory properties help reduce skin irritation and other common skin issues. If you need help finding high-quality astaxanthin, contact us.
Oily skin
Oily skin is typically from the overproduction of sebum—the substance that promotes hydration in the skin. Therefore, those who struggle with oily skin should avoid products with too much oil as well as products that will dry out the skin. Many mistakenly believe that their oily skin precludes them from using moisturizer. In fact, hydration and oil are two different things, and just because your skin is oily doesn’t mean that it has enough moisture.
Natural acids help to reduce the appearance of oily skin. Ingredients like citric acid, stearic acid, and aloe will help to clear your oily skin without over-drying.
Acne-Prone Skin
Acne-prone skin is incredibly frustrating, and acne often comes at the worst time, like right before a hot date or an important meeting. Treating it requires patience. Many prescribed acne treatments contain harsh chemicals and cause side effects like redness, discoloration, or dryness. Luckily, for people who are holistically oriented, there are many clean beauty products that can address this issue effectively.
Acne is a common skin condition and can be hereditary or hormonal. Acne forms when the skin’s pores become clogged. When your skin creates too much sebum, it mixes with dead skin cells and forms a plug on the hair follicle. That clogged pore becomes infected with bacteria. The keys to treating acne are balancing your skin’s pH and oil levels, killing bacteria, and reducing inflammation.
Here are some important things to note if you are dealing with breakouts:
Resist the urge to touch your face. You can introduce new bacteria with your fingers, and popping pimples can lead to further inflammation and scarring. The skin on your face is very delicate, and bacteria is pushed deeper into your skin when you pop pimples. It is best to let breakouts naturally heal, apply topical products, or protect your skin with hydrocolloid pimple patches that absorb excess fluid.
Don't overwash your face. It's very tempting to wash and scrub your face constantly, but this increases irritation and causes dryness. Experts recommend limiting face washing to a few times per day: upon waking up, before going to bed, and after workouts or when your face is very sweaty. Using a facial cleansing brush can help deep clean your pores without causing irritation. Men should cleanse prior to shaving.
Also, use oil-free and non-comedogenic products. Natural ingredients that can help combat acne are aloe vera, jojoba oil, and tea tree oil. Tea tree oil and aloe vera both have antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties that make them perfect to prevent acne. Aloe vera contains sugars, amino acids, and zinc, which moisturize and protect the skin. Jojoba helps to repair damaged skin, decreases acne healing time, and reduces inflammation.
Acne treatments take time, so be patient when trying new products. Trying new products every few days can aggravate your skin and actually worsen acne, so stick to one new treatment each time. It can take your treatments 4 to 6 weeks to start making a noticeable difference. For your skin to fully clear, it may take 2 to 3 months.
Dry skin
Natural oils and plant-based butters can do wonders to help with dry skin. Ingredients like olive oil, shea butter, and jojoba butter hydrate the skin, giving it that nourished, youthful radiance.
Blue tansy is a botanical skincare ingredient that’s recently taken the skincare world by storm with its anti-inflammatory and soothing properties. In fact, it has been known to ease symptoms associated with severe cases of dry skin, like psoriasis or eczema. Those who have difficulty finding a product to hydrate their dry skin may want to seek out products that contain blue tansy.
Combination skin
Individuals who have combination skin may have a more difficult time determining the best products for their skin. We recommend trying a few different items to see which ones work best with your skin’s specific needs.
Opt for products that are not too drying and not too oily. If your dry areas and oily areas are consistent, you don’t have to treat your entire face with the same products; apply treatments in the areas where they are needed. We recommend using a creamy moisturizer for your dry skin patches and using a lightweight, water-based moisturizer for oily areas.
Moisturizer is a skincare ritual must, no matter your age or skin type
A key part of preserving a radiant glow is by maintaining a strict moisturization schedule. Too much soap and water can dry your skin. Just like conditioning your hair, your skin needs extra help to remain smooth.
While you should moisturize as part of both your morning and evening routine, most of your skin hydration should occur at night. Your face produces less oil at night, which means that it’s at its most dry. By moisturizing in the evening, you ensure that your skin stays hydrated and fresh.
It's best to apply moisturizer immediately after cleansing, when your skin is damp, to promote absorption. Make sure that your skin has fully soaked up the moisturizer before applying sunscreen, makeup or going to bed.
It’s important to note that, while oils can have hydrating properties, they are not moisturizers. Skin oils should be applied after moisturizing. Your moisturizer should be a cream or lotion that contains ingredients that are best for your skin type (similar to the ingredients you should choose for your skin treatment noted above).
Keep your skin looking young with natural sunscreen
Although every step of your skincare routine is important, it's important to never skip your sunscreen. Ultraviolet (UV) rays are the biggest perpetrators of aging, not to mention the heightened risk of skin cancer. Even if it’s cloudy, you wearing sunscreen is essential; up to 80% of UV rays can pierce through cloud layers.
When choosing a sunscreen, it’s wise to pay attention to the ingredients. Some of the chemicals in sunscreens, like oxybenzone, pose a serious threat to marine life, including reefs. It doesn’t matter if you don’t spend much time in the ocean; traces of these materials have been found in waterways, many of which are bound straight for the ocean. In order to protect precious marine life, ocean-safe sunscreens are a must.
With the right products, skincare becomes a therapeutic experience that you look forward to. We can assist you in finding the perfect skincare ritual specific to your needs, and once you do, you’ll enjoy beautiful, nourished skin with a natural glow.
Self-care starts with skin; when your skin is happy, healthy, and nourished, your inner self feels that way, too. Your spirit craves your love and attention, and your skincare ritual is an indulgence that can provide self-fulfillment that’s nurturing for the soul.
Pamper your skin, hair, and body with the rejuvenating powers of clean and sustainable beauty. Shopping with Clear Givings Market makes that easy. Select skincare products for men, women, and more organic and eco-friendly items!!
Your choices have real power, thank you!
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Header Photo courtesy of Kusum Cosmetics
