A Basic Yet Effective Skincare Routine Your Dry Skin Needs

Okay! So you‘ve checked out the list above and might still have some questions. Don't worry! I’ll go more in depth on my choices and what they’ll do to help alleviate your dry skin and get that glow on!

In the mornings you should either use a very gentle cleanser, like a milk or cream formula (even an oil or balm is great) or just use some water. You didn’t collect enough on your skin while you were sleeping to suffice a full thorough cleanse again. This will make sure your skin barrier stays healthy and you’re not over cleansing or over stripping your skin.

Speaking of barrier, your skin is always prone to trans epidermal water loss or TEWL for short. This is when your skin is compromised in the top layer from lack of moisture and water. Your barrier become compromised if you’re using harsh products too much or in too high of a percentage (ingredients like retinol and glycolic acid, the stuff that exfoliates the skin). You can strip the barrier with grainy or walnut/apricot scrubs, from too much glycolic acid or from a cleanser that leaves your face feeling squeaky. My whole routine is based around making sure that my skin retains its water and stays healthy.

Signs of a compromised barrier is firstly, redness, irritation, flakiness, breakouts and sensitivity and tightness. Your skin is highly lacking water that keeps it plump and soft. So that’s why I recommend hydrating the skin with a hydrating toner or spray before your serum and moisturizer. The water content will help those products penetrate deeper and lock in! The moisturizer is especially essential as it creates a shield in a way to keep all the good stuff in!

Vitamin C is essential for me since I have post acne scarring and hyperpigmentation. Vitamin C is a potent antioxidant that works against free radicals that further damage the skin. It’s also amazing for simply lightening the spots! This is definitely where I get the most glow boosting results!!

SPF. Do I need to say more? It’s protects your skin from the sun which ages, damages and burns you. We want that glow, not to look like a wrinkly lobster.

PM. Double cleanse. Use that oil to get the makeup, excess oil, dirt, pollution and all that off the skin and then use the gel cleanser you use (or milky one again) to really get those pores clean and ready for the rest of your routine.

I forgot to mention on my little info graph that I am on a prescription called Tretinoin. It’s retin-a or retinol you get from your doc for when your skin is in need of help. For me it’s been stopping my acne and healing up my post acne scars! The benefits of retinol are crazy. You can look up my past post on skincare for where I go a little more in depth.

I only use this product 2-3 times a week to make sure I don’t over do it and irritate my skin horribly! I simply skip that step on my “nights off”.

Next is a Hyaluronic acid which attracts water to the skin. I love it because the air where I live doesn’t have enough water, so this helps the water from my products stay in my skin.

I added facial oil in the PM because a) I love oil and b) it REALLY locks in the moisture and hydration! I always look like a shiny, oily greaseball, but I swear this is what had maintained my barrier while I’ve been using retinol.

There we go! Now venture off and do your skincare beautiful!

Much Love

Erin, xo

ps. Product recommendations are coming up SUPER soon 😘