Whether we choose to buy high-end, drugstore or somewhere in between, we all want to get the most out of our skincare products. How many times have we tried the latest and greatest based on a friend’s recommendation and found that her “miracle cream” didn’t work quite as well for us?
Differences in skin types and age aside, there are certainly a few steps we can take in order to make sure that we are getting the most out of skin treatments:
1. Start on clean skin. This may sound very basic, but a clean face helps to ensure that the treatments you apply can penetrate to where they’re needed.
2. Exfoliate regularly. This goes hand-in-hand to starting with clean skin. By removing the dead skin cells, the active ingredients in our skin care products don’t have to fight to get to the epidermis where they will be absorbed. Exfoliating not only aids absorption, but it also reveals newer, healthier–looking skin cells below, helping your skin to look more youthful and radiant. Try our customer favorite MaMa Lotion, which contains 20% AHAs in a gentle formulation suitable for even sensitive skin types.
3. Follow instructions. Products come with specific instructions, which have been tested by the manufacturer for maximum results and minimal side effects. For instance, some treatments, like retinoid serums, are meant to be used only at night because they are rendered ineffective upon exposure to UV light.
4. Layer in order of lightest to heaviest. Start with the treatment that has the lightest consistency. In most cases, this will be a serum. Serums are quickly absorbed and won’t interfere with the absorption of subsequent products. Targeted treatments, such as skin lighteners or reparative formulations, would come next, followed by a night cream if needed.
5. Give it time to work. We would all love to find that miracle cream that gives instant results, but the truth is that the skin needs time to adjust and react to active ingredients. The skin renews itself about every 28 days but it may take anywhere from 1 to 3 months for us to see results after introducing a new treatment to our skin care routine.
Sometimes small changes can lead to big results.
