Caring For Your Skin: Cleansing & Moisturizing

I'm going to be doing a series in skin care targeting the face, in this order:

Part 1: Cleansing & Moisturizing

Part 2: Toning

Part 3: Exfoliating & Masks

I'll be covering the how's and why's, as well as where to get certain products or how to make them yourself. This is part 1.

The Skin Types

There are 4 basic skin types:

Normal - neither overly oily nor dry

Dry - self explanatory

Oily - overactive sebaceous (oil) glands

Combination - a combo of dry and oily

Why Cleansing & Moisturizing is Important

Cleansing is important for all skin types as throughout the day dust, bacteria and other nasty things find their way onto your skin and settle into your pores, which will then often cause breakouts. Makeup is also a huge culprit in terms of skin breakouts, and must always be washed off. Even if it's the dead of night and you're dead tired and all you want to do is drop dead on your bed and pretend to be dead, wash your face off first. If you don't your makeup will smear all over your pillowcase, dig deeper into your skin and collect even more bacteria. No, it's not a pretty picture I paint.

Besides keeping your face clean, moisturizing,  I believe is the single most important thing to include in your skin care routine. When your skin is properly moisturized with a good moisturizer it will help keep it soft, supple, healthy and glowing.

But What Should One Use? 

I'm a huge fan of simple, easy, healthy facial products as most of the stuff you get in stores are laden with things that do more harm than good. Your skin will absorb whatever you put on it, so give it the good stuff. This is my favorite makeup remover and cleanser:

Coconut oil! I keep a bit in this tiny jam jar, isn't it cute? It's perfect for all skin types, even oily (which happens to be my type). Waterproof makeup? Please. She doesn't have a case against it. All you do is take a small pea-sized amount and rub it all over your face, being generous to places like your eyes to remove stubborn stuff like mascara. It'll all just melt right off. 

Now wash your face with warm water and pat dry. If the oil happens to be hibernating in a solid state, worry not. It will melt in your hands.

That's Fine, But I Like Extra Moisture

At this point, your face may either feel sufficiently moisturized or a little too oily. If it's the latter, then give it another rinse and dry. That's the key to oils and oily skin - give it just enough. If it feels perfect, then great! Coconut oil acts as a two in one: cleansing and moisturizing. But if you have dry skin or just want a little extra moisture on problem areas, pat on some extra moisturizer. 

My absolute favorites are by Tropical Traditions. They're completely natural, free of drying alcohols, artificial fragrances, parabens, and other things you don't want on your face. They'll also help heal breakouts and open sores!

For normal, dry and combination skin:

These creams are very rich, so you only need a little but it'll give you all the moisture you need.

For all skin types:

These lotions are much lighter than the creams, but still pack a huge punch of moisture. 

How to use them: take a little pea sized amount and rub or pat onto your skin gently while it's still damp from washing, and add a little more as you see fit.

Recap:

Dirty skin = bad skin

Cleanse with coconut oil and wash with warm water

Pat dry

Moisturize with extra lotion or cream

Cleanse and moisturize daily, once or twice a day and you'll be waking up with healthy, glowing skin!

I'm not finished with you all yet. Check back next week for part 2!