What Is a Perfect Daily Morning Skincare Routine?

We all desire clear, perfect, and glowing skin that can look flawless without makeup.

A good daily skincare routine can help you to keep your skin healthy, beautiful, and glowing.

But after reading a dozen of skincare routines all across the internet, how can you decide which one is the most effective?

Today, I will share with you a simple yet very effective morning and night skincare routine.

Step 1: Cleanse Your Skin

So, the first step you get to do is to cleanse your skin. Do not use bar soap, ever, on your face, as they are extremely drying. There are typically two types of cleanser you should look for.

"And if your skin tends to be oily, you can likely tolerate more cleansing," says Dr. Sandra Lee, aka Dr. Pimple Popper, founder of SLMD Skincare.

"Though most people should be washing their face morning and night, it’s essential for those with oily skin to give their face a complete cleanse in the morning," Lee says.

• Oily Skin: If you have oily skin, you should look for a foaming cleanser to control the extra oil of your skin.
• Sensitive/Dry Skin: If you have sensitive or drier skin, you should look for some hydrating or moisturizing type of cleanser or a gentle milky cleanser.

Step 2: Tone Your Skin

After cleansing your skin, ideally, the next step is toning. Unfortunately, people have been using astringents, which are typically alcohol-based toners.

Due to the high percentage of alcohol in them, they make your skin apparently cold and clean. Still, the problem is that the alcohol strips off the oils and the useful bacteria of the skin called the microbiome.

Now, if you have oily skin and use an alcohol-based toner on your skin to get rid of all the skin's oil, what happens?

When you get rid of all the oil, your skin starts producing even more oil. So you might see your skin free from oil for a short time, but in the long term, your skin condition starts getting worse.

The other drawback of astringents or other alcohol-based toners is that it kills the microbiome of your skin, which like the good bacteria of the gut, help to maintain the good health of your skin. And getting rid of good bacteria means replacing good bacteria with bad bacteria, which can cause many other skin issues.

It’s not bad to use a toner, but it should be the right kind of toner, like the tea tree toner, as they help maintain the skin’s pH. The ideal work of the toner is to re-establish the pH, to allow the skin to be slightly acidic because sometimes the cleanser causes it to go more in a basic direction. So choose the right type of toner and make sure that alcohol is not the main ingredient.

Step 3: Apply an Antioxidant

This is the most important step in the morning skincare routine. A perfect antioxidant for your skin is a Vitamin C and Vitamin E combination.

According to Dr. Rhonda Klein, a board-certified dermatologist in Connecticut, “Antioxidants protect the skin by limiting free radical production, which can damage the skin. With daily use, they can reduce lentigines (sunspots), help combat visible signs of aging, and calm skin inflammations. Several antioxidants provide the skin with hydration and increase moisture retention to help revitalize dull-looking skin.”

Step 4: Apply an Eye Cream

After applying an antioxidant, the next step is to apply an eye cream. Well this step can be skipped if you want to, in the morning.

When buying an eye cream, it’s better to buy a cream with a minor amount of retinol. This helps tighten the skin and moisturize your skin.

Step 5: Apply a Sunscreen

The final step is to apply sunscreen, and ideally, it should be SPF 30 or above, which is what the American Academy of Dermatology recommends.

Dr.Bailey from Bailey's Skincare also recommends "It always goes on after all of your other products, like acne medicine and moisturizers, except makeup.”

An SPF above 30 with a broad spectrum helps block 97% of the sun’s rays. You can now also apply makeup after applying sunscreen if you want to.