How To Care For Your Skin From The Outside

If you treat your skin with tenderness, it will respond with finely textured dewy freshness. If you neglect your skin, overexpose it to the sun, abuse it with harsh soaps and abrasive cleansers, irritate it with stinging astringents, or suffocate it with leftover makeup and heavy creams, it will retaliate by flaking away, erupting in bumps, developing splotches, bursting its capillaries, and wrinkling prematurely. Caring for your skin gently and consistently is the key to extending its youthful appearance.

Skin's response to a program of systematic care is almost instantaneous, and, as young cells migrate up through the dermis to replace dead cells sloughed off the surface in a constant process of self-renewal, we have a "new" face every 28 days. "Regimen" sounds intimidating. A daily routine of skin care requires no more than ten minutes and requires only three simple steps—cleanse, tone, and moisturize—each evening and morning.

Night care

Cleanse. Remove any makeup with cleansing cream or a natural makeup remover. Wash with mild soap or other cleanser, rinse, and pat dry. Tone. Apply a small amount of freshener( use an alcohol-free astringent if you have oily or blemished skin) to a cotton pad or ball. Begin at the décolleté (bust line) and gently apply over the neck area and face, using a patting motion Moisturize. Splash on cool water or mist with a spray bottle. Blot, but do not dry completely—moisturizer magic relies more on retaining moisture than in providing it—then smooth on a few drops of your moisturizer.

Day care

Cleanse lightly to remove nighttime accumulations, refresh your face with a few splashes of water, and pat dry.

Tone by applying a freshener or astringent. While your skin is still moist immediately after applying your freshener, alcohol free astringent, or water, apply a daytime moisturizer using gentle patting and smoothing motion.