Using Face Cream: A How-To Guide
Face creams are supposed to nourish your skin and improve skin texture. For that clear, glowing skin, we have to make sure that we are buying the correct products that suit our skin and are specially formulated to help solve our skin woes.
Now, if you are prone to breakouts, there is a high chance that you already have a drawer full of products to help you treat them. Whatever be your skin regime, I am sure that face creams are already on that list for moisturization. But, you also have to be careful with the face cream you use for your skin.
In this article, we will focus on how you can use face cream in a way to help you protect your skin from breaking out.
1) Choose a Face Cream that Suits Your Skin Type
You have to figure out what type of skin you have. Dry, oily, combination, as well as sensitive skin, has its own sets of pros and cons that require different cream formulas.
If you have dry skin, you’ll have a rough, flaky, or irritated skin texture and, it’ll likely feel tight. Whereas, oily skin is synonymous with excess shine, grease, and maybe even blemishes and breakouts. If you have a shiny T-zone with the cheeks feeling dry, you have combination skin. And, of course, if your skin is neither too oily nor too dry, you have normal skin.
Once you understand which category your skin fits into, you need to buy a face cream specially formulated to nourish it. This will help you greatly to control your skin from breaking out.
2) Pay Careful Attention to the Ingredients that are Added to Your Face Cream
After you have determined your skin type, you need to choose a face cream that contains ingredients that are suitable for it.
Face creams contain a cocktail of many ingredients. Some of these include the following -
Humectants. Face creams contain humectants that promote water retention by preventing moisture to escape through our skin cells. This is great for people who have dry and dehydrated skin. Often due to the lack of water, our skin cells get that lackluster appearance and shrink that can result in blemishes. Humectants help to control that.
Retinoids. If you have sensitive skin, you need to opt for gentle and mild ingredients that do not irritate your skin leading to breakouts. Retinoids, though perfect for aging skin, should be avoided by sensitive skin owners at all costs as they have a strong effect.
Alpha Hydroxy Acids. Alpha hydroxy acids generally include salicylic acid as well as glycolic acid. They are usually present in face creams in smaller quantities that are perfect for oily skin.
They help to remove dead skin cells and deep clean the pores while maintaining the pH level of our skin. But, if you have very sensitive skin, again it will be better to avoid such face creams.
Emollients. Emollients generally include ingredients such as petroleum, mineral oil, petrolatum, lanolin, and so on. If you have normal skin, it will be better for you to opt for face creams that contain this ingredient as they help to repair the lipid barrier of our skin giving you supple and soft skin. The best part is that creams containing emollients can be both water-based as well as oil-based. While oily skin owners should opt for the former one, people with dry to normal skin can choose the latter formula.
3) Apply Your Face Cream After Cleaning Your Face
There is a reason why moisturizing comes after cleansing. After a long day at work, our skin gets covered with dead cells and dirt due to pollution. It is better to apply the product after cleaning our skin. Not only will this prevent our pores from getting clogged, but it will also facilitate better absorption of the goodness of our face cream.
4) Gently Massage the Face Cream into the Skin in Circular Motions
Always be gentle whenever you apply anything to your face including face creams. If you are too harsh when massaging the product, your skin might become irritated leading to redness and breakouts. Using a circular motion is a great way to massage the product into the skin without disturbing it. For your under-eye area, use your ring finger.
Resources— Our Everyday Life, WebMD
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