Skincare tips all adults should know
TAKING care of your skin isn’t rocket science. But there are some simple steps you need to follow if you want to get it looking better.
I’VE always been a $10 moisturiser from the chemist kind of gal. The kind who may — or may not — remember to wash her make up off at night, and who thought toner was the reason we went to the gym.
And then I had an apparition of sorts. I woke up one day and thought, as a 35-year-old mother of three, the time had come for me to be a real life grown up and start looking after my skin.
Gulp.
So I booked my dry, dull complexion in for a facial, determined to learn how to be bright, nourished and blemish-free — and hoped for the best.
MIRROR MIRROR, ON THE WALL …
After a lovely introduction to my skin therapist Isabella, I was asked to hold a mirror up to my face and describe what I saw.
I didn’t think “tired mum” was the answer she was looking for, so I took a good hard look at myself.
My skin wasn’t bad — it just wasn’t good. It’s freckly. A bit uneven. Wind and sunburnt from a trip to the snow. No spots or scars but a small spray of tiny while millia on my cheekbones, left over from pregnancy hormones I’m told — and annoyingly, too small to remove, but big enough to notice.
I just wanted clean, fresh, bright skin. Clear. Young. Happy. The kind of skin you look at and think “wow, how on earth does she do that?”.
But did I have to spend a fortune to have good skin, book in regular treatments I didn’t have time for, and be lectured on all the things I should have been doing for the last three decades?
Shouldn’t I know this by now?
Well learn I did — and thankfully, not a lecture in sight.
CLEANSE, TONE, MOISTURISE, REPEAT
Therapist Isabella Loneragan, from The Dermal Diary in Sydney’s north, told me skincare was like going to the gym to care for your body, or going to the doctor for your health.
If you want something to improve, you have to care for it — and that didn’t have to be as daunting as I thought it would be.
I should be cleansing and moisturising every morning. Mixing a proper sunscreen into my foundation and making sure I wear it every day.
Then at night you double cleanse — once to wash off the day and once to cleanse what’s underneath. Then you tone, using a medical gauze and wiping upwards for gravity. Who knew?! Then a special “fix everything” cream to make everything amazing, then a moisturiser.
I learned that I needed AHA in my life. AHA stands for Alpha Hydroxy Acid, and it dissolves dead skin build up — perfect for me and my pesky millia. Then there’s Vitamin A, or Retinol, which stimulates new skin cell production I’m told, as well as fading brown marks and sunspots, which would do quite nicely for my freckles.
Vitamin C is an antioxidant fabulous for reducing sun damaged skin, as well as treating red, sensitive skin. Perfect.
EASY AS AHA
I bought the products she recommended as an investment in myself, and off I went, committed to becoming a woman who knew how to care for her skin.
I am now six weeks into my new routine and I can honestly say my skin is better than it’s ever been. I had a follow up appointment with Isabella and she said my millia has decreased 85 per cent. EIGHTY FIVE per cent. In six weeks. I truly never imagined that was possible.
I’m more confident, I feel fresh and clean and bright and clear — all the things I had identified as important when forced to actually look at myself in the mirror.
And it’s easy. It takes 30 seconds twice a day — such a small investment of time for such an improvement, both in the way your skin looks, feels and smells — and also the self-esteem boost. It’s like going to the gym. As soon as you start to get results, you become hooked and want to improve even more.
But I think the key is to get a proper assessment. Go to someone knowledgeable, someone you trust, before you spend your rent money on products that may do nothing for you. Everyone’s skin is different, and everyone will need different things to help it.
“I feel a good skin care regimen is as important as brushing your teeth — your face is the first thing people see and your skin is the largest organ of the body so those two facts alone warrant good skin care,” Ms Loneragan told me.
“And it’s never too late to start.
“People come to me with skin conditions they want to treat, and stay because they realise treating the skin is akin to going to the gym — it take work to maintain it looking really good.”
I’m putting in the effort. And I’m hoping my skin will thank me for it — just like I’ve thanked Isabella.
ISABELLA’S TOP TIPS:
• Avoid granular exfoliants and excessive use of oil on the face, like Rosehip or Coconut Oil.
• Don’t use cleansers that have Sodium Laureth or Lauryl sulfate in them — it acts as a foaming agent and can be drying and ageing.
• Mix your foundation in with your SPF for a more natural look.
• Expensive products doesn’t necessarily equal rate of result. If you are on a tight budget, invest in one or two good serums and cut back on the rest.
• To help acne, use an AHA Cleanser and toner, BHA (Beta Hydroxy Acid) Serum, Enzyme Exfoliant and in clinic advanced acne facials.
• For freckles or pigment, use an AHA Cleanser and Toner, Lytera, vitamin C and Vitamin A Serums, and SPF 30 over Moisturiser.
• For Milla, use an AHA Cleanser and toner, Vitamin A Serum, Enzyme Exfoliant, in clinic advanced facials.
• For ageing skin or wrinkles, try an AHA Cleanser and Toner, Lytera, TNS Essential Serum for Collagen Production, Vitamin A Serum, Eye cream and Night cream.