How to Build a Skin Care Regimen

An essential element to being an IT Girl is taking impeccable care of your skin. Our skin, the largest organ in our body, protects us from environmental pollutants and gets rid of things we don’t need. Our skin is the blank canvas that we paint our Nars eyeshadow, and MAC Lipglass onto, and typically it is very hard to achieve seamless and flawless makeup without our skin being in its best shape.

1. Who Ever Said Beauty Is Only Skin Deep? One of the most common myths about skin care is that the answer to any problem resides within a department or drug store. Au contraire; flawless skin starts within. Our skin is a lot of times an indicator as to what is going on inside our bodies, thus keeping our bodies in tip-top shape will manifest on our faces.

The first step to achieving and maintaining beautiful skin is to:

Eat a balanced diet rich in fruits, vegetables and essential fatty acids. We are what we eat. Diets high in saturated fats, processed foods and sugar rid the body of proper nutrients essential to the skin maintaining proper function.
Drink plenty of non-caffinated, non carbonated, non-alcoholic, sugar-free beverages. Your best bet is to make the majority of your fluid intake water,and you should consume at least half of your body weight in fluid ounces (e.g. if you weigh 140lbs, you should be drinking at least 70 ounces of fluids a day). Water is the greatest beauty elixir unmatched by anything else. It filters the kidneys, facilitates the breakdown of fat, toxins, and waste, and it keeps the skin dewey and hydrated.
Exercise, exercise, EXERCISE! Not only does at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity at least 3 times a week help you maintain your girlish figure, it increases blood flow to all of your vital organs, including your skin, thus providing the nutrients it needs, and removing the toxins it doesn’t.

2. Tailor Made… All beauty products are not created the same. What works on the next IT Girl, may not work on you. Yes you can use skin care advice from your best friend, and test your grandmother’s tried and true beauty secrets, however, determining what issues to address, and how to address them, greatly depends on your skin type and problem areas.

3. Cleanse…Tone…Treat…Moisturize…Protect…These are the basic 5 steps to a solid skin care regimen.

Cleanse: This should be done on a daily basis with your cleanser of choice.
Tone: This removes invisible residue from your cleanser, tightens pores, and prepares your skin for the rest of your regimen.
Treat: Once skin has been cleansed, now is the perfect time to treat your problem areas (e.g. hyperpigmentation, fine lines, wrinkles, etc.)
Moisturize: Use your moisturizer of choice after treating your problem areas, and always make sure you let the moisturizer absorb before applying your makeup.
Protect: Always, always, ALWAYS protect your skin from premature aging, and skin cancer by wearing sunscreen/sunblock with at lease and SPF of 15.
It is also very important to incorporate manual exfoliation and a deep cleansing mask into your regimen 1-2 times a week.

Seek Professional Help… Always see a dermatologist before beginning your skin care regimen so that any problem areas may be dealt with by a licensed trained professional. To find a certified dermatologist near you, visit the American Academy of Dermatology.