It can slow down the signs of aging

Boosts confidence: When you look good, you feel like taking over the world!

Keeps your skin healthy, which in turn keeps YOU healthier in the first place

Taking care of your skin now can save you money in the future by avoiding surgeries and treatments to repair the damage

It can encourage you to adopt other healthy routines and an overall healthy lifestyle!

Prevention is easier than correction: Preventing skin problems is easier -– and less costly – than trying to fix them in the future. 

Your self-confidence will get a boost: When your skin looks better, you’ll feel better about yourself and have more self-confidence.

The experience of an at-home facial or treatment is certainly comforting, but you also get a lot of fulfillment just planning for it. “Anticipation of happy events releases feel-good neurotransmitters in the brain,” says Traube. Expecting positive events has also been shown to activate a certain area of the prefrontal cortex, a brain region associated with a sense of well-being, according to a study published in January 2018 in Frontiers in Psychology. It’s a natural little high for something so simple.

You may think your skin is healthy today, but did you know your skin cells shed just about every minute of every day? This means the healthy skin you have today will be shedding tomorrow, so if you don’t care for it know you could lose it to dull, less than perfect skin. Isn’t that a great reason to develop a daily skin care routine? A detoxifying charcoal mask is a great way to remove the dead skin and keep your skin glowing.

Perhaps you have a friend who doesn’t have a skin care routine and her skin looks great. Well, that is great for her, but did you know that all skin types are different? Because of this, your skin may require more care than the next persons.

The decisions you make today will have a significant impact on your skin's appearance 30 years from now. Developing a daily skin care practice now will help you maintain your skin looking great far into your golden years. Conversely, poor skin care habits today can have lasting effects on your complexion tomorrow.

When you take care of your skin health, you avoid issues down the line that can be costly. If you don’t want to deal with acne scars, deep wrinkles, skin discoloration, or other skin issues, a skin care routine now can prevent trips to a dermatologist or plastic surgeon in the future to address these issues.

Cleanser:

Cleanser is what you’ll use to wash your face and it’s important to use a product intended for your face – not just whatever bar or body wash you have lying around. You’ll want to wash your face gently and take care not to scrub too hard. Then, rinse with warm water, because hot water removes natural oils and causes your skin to become dehydrated. 

Finding the right cleanser for you may be a process of trial and error. If you have dry skin, you’ll want to use one without alcohol or fragrance. If your skin tends to be oily, you’ll want to look for an oil-free option, and you may want to consider using a toner as well. 

Toner:

Toner is applied after washing your face and can smooth, soften and calm skin. Toners often contain ingredients that replenish and restore nutrients to your skin and can diminish redness and dry patches.

Moisturizer:

Like cleansers, moisturizers are for everyone and should be used every time you wash your face. And like cleansers, a little trial and error is totally normal when you’re looking for the right one – oily skin, for example, can benefit from lightweight, oil-free or gel products. Moisturizers prevent your skin from drying out, leaving your skin hydrated and smooth. They are most effective when applied while your skin is slightly damp to seal in moisture.

Sunscreen:

Some moisturizers include SPF, but it doesn’t hurt to double up with sunscreen as well – particularly if your moisturizer has an SPF below 30. By now, you should know the lines well: Apply sunscreen every day, even when it’s gray or cold, even when you’re covered up. When you are exposed, reapply every two hours. Make sure your sunscreen protects against both UVA and UVB rays. If skin cancer and sun damage aren’t enough to convince you, UV exposure is also the number one cause of wrinkles, uneven skin tone, loss of firmness and aging signs.

Exfoliation:

Here’s a product you might not need or want to apply every day. If you have dry skin, including winter-air-induced dry skin, you may exfoliate more than usual, but you should still keep it to once or twice a week – max. Exfoliation can be used after cleanser but before moisturizer, as it helps to removes flaky skin by increasing skin cell turnover. The benefits are real – removing dead skin and buildup for smoother skin and clearer pores – but most dermatologists will recommend chemical exfoliants over scrubs to prevent damage to the protective barrier of your skin. 

Serum:

Another optional addition to your skin care routine, serums contain ingredients like antioxidants or retinol that support skin health in a number of ways, such as calming redness and improving texture and firmness.

The easiest way to remember when you should be doing what for your skin is to think of it like this: Morning skin care should focus on prevention and protection for the day and your nighttime routine should focus on cleansing and repair.

Most people will only need to really wash their face once a day. In the morning, rinsing with warm water before applying moisturizer and sunscreen should suffice, while at night, after a full day of exposure and damage, more dedicated care is recommended. As such, before bed, you should wash your face with a cleanser to remove dirt and makeup then use toner, exfoliant and serums if you so choose. In any case, always end with moisturizing. 

Regardless of the time of day, you should also always wash your face after working out or working up a sweat, as sweat can clog pores and make acne worse. As a rule, remember to take your makeup off before bed and resist picking at your skin.