Transform Your Skin: Step-by-Step Skin Care Routine for Radiant Results

Healthy skin care doesn’t happen without a routine. Moreover, having a skincare routine isn’t just about cleansing your skin or hydrating your face.

A step by step skin care routine is more than ticking items off a list. Our routines should consider our skin type and ensure we don’t use too many products and ingredients that don’t suit it.

To understand the order of face care, let’s look at the best products for each skin type and how to make our skincare routine work for us.

Step by Step Skin Care: Steps

Before you select your skincare routine, you must learn the steps and understand if they apply to your skin’s needs. 

Not all skin types need to follow the same order of face care or use the same products, so understanding your needs — potentially with the help of a certified esthetician — is paramount.

The main steps of a skincare routine include:

1. Cleansing: twice a day, morning and night
2. Toning: twice a day, morning and night
3. Moisturizing: twice a day, morning and night
4. Using eye care: twice a day, morning and night
5. Protecting: once a day, in the morning

In addition, you should also exfoliate your face and use a mask once or twice a week, and treat any skin conditions, like acne, daily. However, these steps aren’t part of the daily routine you must establish.

Now that you know the step by step skin care routine you need to follow, let’s look at products and how they fit into this routine.

1. Cleanser

Cleansers can be water- or oil-based. The latter usually works best on dry skin, but some work well on wet skin.

When you pick your cleanser, consider the needs of your skin and potential issues. Water-based cleansers can prevent acne, but if the chemicals they contain are too harsh, they can dry your skin and damage its natural barrier.

On the other hand, oil-based cleansers are ideal for removing waterproof makeup. However, they can increase oiliness and aren’t recommended for oily skin prone to breakouts.

Here’s how to make your own natural scrubs, cleansers and face masks!

2. Toner

Toners can offer hydration to your skin as they remove dead cells and any grime your cleanser may have missed. A variant of a toner is an astringent — a product that removes excess oil and contains alcohol.

You should use toners after cleansing and apply them to your face with a cotton pad, swiping them over your face downwardly. Nevertheless, avoid astringents high in alcohol that can irritate your face.

3. Face Serum

Many people confuse serums and moisturizers. However, they’re not the same, nor are they interchangeable. In the order of face care, a serum, which is a product that contains highly concentrated active ingredients, is always applied before the moisturizer.

Use serums with vitamins C and E to fight the effects of free radicals on your face and neck, but only use a minute amount of product. They are powerful tools for reducing skin discomfort, damage, and wrinkles.

Yet, be mindful of serums containing acids, which may cause irritation when you combine them with other products. Here’s more about how to apply a face serum. And here’s how to make a serum at home.

4. Eye Cream

Since the skin around the eyes is not as thick as the rest of the skin on the face, it tends to be more sensitive. It can easily develop discoloration, fine lines, and puffiness. Use a specially formulated eye cream to brighten and firm up the skin around your eyes.

Don’t add an eye cream if your serum can be used around your eyes. Using products in excess won’t make your skin’s appearance better, but it may overwhelm it.

Also, be careful not to get any cream in your eyes, which can cause irritation and vision problems. This is why I use my own eye cream formulation that doesn’t contain any preservatives!

5. Moisturizer

Once you have applied your serum and eye cream, it’s time for the moisturizer. These creams, balms, fluids, or gels soothe and soften skin, giving it radiance and a smooth aspect.

However, their effects depend greatly on the type of skin you have. While the order of face care places them toward the end of your routine, you’ll first need to determine your skin type to have this essential product work for you as intended.

For example, if you have oily skin and your serum already gives you enough moisture, you’re better off using a gel or fluid moisturizer or skipping this step altogether. A cream or balm moisturizer is recommended for those with dry skin who should never skip this step. Here’s how to make a basic face cream at home. And here’s my course on making all kinds of different moisturizers.

6. Sunscreen

Sunscreen is the last step in your step by step skin care routine in the morning. It blocks UV light and reduces signs of aging, all while lowering your risk of skin cancer.

You should apply sunscreen over your moisturizer at least 15 minutes before you head outside. More importantly, don’t apply any skincare products, which can dilute it and make it less effective, on top of the sunscreen.

Finding the right sunscreen for you is important because some can cause irritation and skin reactions, so always test the sunblock on one small area before applying it all over your face.

How To Determine Your Skin Type

An important step in establishing a skincare routine is determining your skin type. Luckily, there’s a simple way you can do this.

• First, cleanse your skin and wait for 40 minutes to an hour. Then, blot your skin with clean tissue and look at the tissue to figure out your skin type.
• If your skin feels comfortable after cleansing, you don’t feel an urgent need to reach for a serum or moisturizer, and there’s no residue on the tissue, you have normal skin.
• However, if there is residue on the tissue, you have oily skin. Still, there’s a caveat. If there’s residue on the tissue, but your cheeks feel tight, you have oily skin in some areas and dry skin in others — namely, combination skin.
• Alternatively, if your skin feels tight after cleansing, you may have dry skin, but only if it’s not irritated or itchy. If you experience skin irritation often and your skin feels dry, you have sensitive skin.

Normal Skin

The step by step skin care for normal skin, which is well-balanced and evenly hydrated, should focus on keeping it healthy and protected.

You can use all the products we included above and make changes depending on your concerns. For example, when it’s dry in winter, use creamy moisturizers suitable for dry skin.

Likewise, when your skin may feel oily during the summer and you experience breakouts, choose lighter products and treatments to eliminate acne.

Dry Skin

Dry skin has insufficient sebum production, so it may look rougher and flakier than normal skin. It’s also more prone to fine lines and wrinkles.

When adopting your skincare routine, avoid water-based cleansers and replace them with oil- or cream-based cleansers. 

Avoid using astringents and toners with high alcohol content, and consider only using a toner once a day. Use a moisturizing mask every week to soften skin and reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

Oily Skin

Oily skin is the opposite of dry skin: it suffers from excess sebum production, has an oily texture, and is prone to acne breakouts. As such, your step by step skin care routine should aim to control the excess sebum while maintaining the skin hydrated.

Don’t use heavy moisturizers — instead, use a lightweight cream with hyaluronic acid to prevent dehydration, which may make your skin produce even more oil. An oil-based cleanser may also work to attract excess oil, however counterintuitive this may sound.

Don’t overdo astringents, and stay away from oily moisturizers and sunscreens. Your skin will thank you for it.

Combination Skin

Combination skin is usually oily on the forehead, nose, and jaw and dry on the hairline, cheeks, and jawline. As such, it’s more difficult to target with the same products you’d use for dry or oily skin.

Instead, use a gentle water-based cleanser on your T-zone to reduce oil and a cream-based cleanser on the cheeks. Also, use a clay-based mask on your forehead, jaw, and nose and a cream-based mask on your cheeks.

Don’t use a toner on the dry areas of your face, but use a creamy moisturizer on your cheeks for the best results.

Sensitive Skin

Sensitive skin is the bane of many of us. It’s easily irritated and is prone to breaking out in red patches, especially when there’s a hormonal change, or we make the wrong eating choices. 

Because sensitive skin reacts to harsh ingredients and scents, you should be mindful of your skincare products’ ingredients. 

Consider making your own cosmetics to control the nature and amount of the ingredients you put on your sensitive skin, like our recipe for castile soap for sensitive skin. Use gentle and soothing ingredients, like calendula and chamomile, and avoid strong toners and peels.

Aging Skin

Aging skin is not a skin type, but bears mention here because it needs its own skincare regimen to counter the effects of a loss of collagen and hyaluronic acid.

You can combat symptoms like a lack of firmness with natural face masks and moisturizers with ingredients like bamboo that tone the skin. Fight hyperpigmentation with serums that brighten the skin, like willow bark and zinc hyaluronate.

Finally, gentle exfoliants can be used to improve skin that appears dull. Follow up with rich moisturizers to eliminate dead cells and give your skin a youthful glow. You’ll also reduce the appearance of wrinkles, making your face look years younger.

Skin Conditions

Common skin conditions include acne, eczema, dehydration, and sun damage. Depending on your particular situation, you’ll need to modify your step by step skin care routine to address these conditions.

Here’s a look at the products you may want to invest in for that purpose:

Additional Tips for Your Skincare Routine

The most important takeaway for your skincare routine is not to use products to get them off your to-do list. Not every type of skin needs every single product, and you can overwhelm your skin if you give it “too much of a good thing” by using too many skincare products.

For example, don’t use serums with exfoliating ingredients every night if you also exfoliate a few times a week. They will strip your skin of moisture and irritate it.

Likewise, if you apply moisturizing face masks a few times a week, don’t follow them up with serums, retinol, or moisturizing treatments. They will increase your oil production, leaving your skin more dehydrated than moisturized.

In conclusion, choose your step by step skin care routine wisely and always consult a trusted dermatologist if you’re unsure of how to address a specific condition.

Final Thoughts

Having the right skin care routine is crucial for flawless skin. If you haven’t tried any of these steps, we strongly suggest you give it a try. Especially if you want to improve the health and quality of your skin.

There’s never been a better time to get into skincare. But did you know you can save money and make your own bespoke skin care products too? Take a look at some of my skin care recipes to learn how to you can unlock a new skill, today!

That’s all I have for you today. Let me know what you think is the most essential piece of your skincare routine. I love to hear your experiences.