12 Game-Changing Skincare Tips Everyone Needs to Know

Sometimes, a simple piece of advice can truly transform your life. When it comes to your skin, here are 12 game-changing tips that everyone needs to know.

Learn How to Read Labels

Do you feel completely lost when looking at the ingredients list on a skin care product label?

You’re not alone. This then leads people to be swayed by marketing, without actually understanding what it is they are buying.

It’s always best to educate yourself as much as possible, including when it comes to skin care ingredients.

Fortunately, this has never been easier. There are so many guides out there that will teach you everything you need to know about the various cosmetic ingredients out there.

When shopping for new skin care, a quick online search on ingredients you aren’t familiar with can be so revealing – these few seconds could hugely influence your buying decision.

Your Skin Care Routine Should Change with the Seasons

It isn’t just your wardrobe that needs to be updated as each season passes – you should be doing this with your skin care too.

Why?

Because your skin’s needs change with the seasons. Oil production is ramped up in the summer, meaning lighter products are needed to avoid breakouts. However, things dry up a lot in the winter, something that only rich products can counter.

Everyone’s skin will respond in its own way to seasonal changes, making it important to keep an eye on this and adjust the products you use accordingly.

Sunscreen Diligence Will Keep the Appearance of Wrinkles Away

Here’s a life-changing fact for you…

The sun is responsible for up to 80% of the visible signs of aging on your face. This includes:

• Fine lines and wrinkles, including the dreaded crow’s feet
• Dark spots
• Saggy and inelastic skin

The appearance of wrinkles is inevitable, but only to a certain extent. 

What exactly does sunscreen diligence entail?

It means keeping any bare skin covered with an SPF 30 sunscreen, such as the Stem Cell Active Day Defense SPF 30, every day of the year. Yes, even in the winter. This also involves reapplying your sunscreen every two to three hours. Again, even in the winter.

Don’t forget to also practice other sun protection measures. A pair of sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat can work wonders in keeping your skin shaded from the sun.

Switch to a Silk Pillowcase

Most people go for cotton when it comes to bedlinen, with silk considered to be an unnecessary extravagance.

However, sleeping on a silk pillowcase can actually work wonders on your skin.

How?

Well, when your skin rubs against cotton, friction is created. This not only leads to visible lines and wrinkles, but also causes inflammation in the skin, resulting in breakouts and other inflammatory flare-ups.

On the other hand, your skin will literally glide over silk. The friction isn’t there, meaning that your skin doesn’t end up dealing with stress throughout the night.

The result?

A smoother and clearer complexion in the mornings.

As an added bonus, you’ll also notice improvements in your hair after sleeping on a silk pillowcase. Everything from frizz to breakages will be reduced, giving you a glossier mane.

Apply Your Moisturizer Onto Damp Skin

It can often take a bit of time to actually be able to see the results from a skin care tip that you have followed, but this one provides benefits that are instantly noticeable.

If you apply your moisturizer onto dry skin, then it’s time to make a change…

Try applying it to damp skin instead. This means skin that has been freshly cleansed and lightly patted to remove excess water.

Wondering why?

Because one of the roles of a moisturizer is to form a thin film over the surface of the skin. This prevents moisture from evaporating out of the skin and into the environment, which keeps the skin feeling hydrated.

When this thin film forms over damp skin, then it locks in all of those extra water molecules that you would have otherwise rubbed away with your towel. This gives your skin a boost of extra hydration.

Immediately after doing this, you’ll notice that your skin feels much softer and plumper than when you apply moisturizer onto dry skin. The effects last too, making this a tip that you will probably follow for the rest of your life.

Understand How to Layer Your Skin Care Products

Skin care layering is something that confuses many. This leads to some people slapping on their skin care products in any random order, resulting in those products not working in the way that they should.

Don’t worry, it doesn’t need to be complicated. The general rule of thumb to follow is:

Apply your thinnest products first and work your way up to the thickest.

Here’s an example of how to layer some of the most popular skin care products out there:

• Cleanser
• Toner
• Essence
• Eye serum
• Face serum
• Eye cream
• Face cream
• Face oil

What’s the big deal about getting your skin care order wrong?

If you apply the thicker and heavier products in your skin care routine first, the lighter ones won’t be able to penetrate through these and reach your skin. For example, a serum applied over the top of a moisturizer would be blocked by the large molecules in moisturizer ingredients. However, apply it first to give it direct access to your skin, before locking this in with a moisturizer.

Never Use Expired Skin Care Products

This one may not seem like a problem at first. After all, that serum that expired six months ago looks and feels just like it always did – surely it’s better to use it up rather than waste all of that money you spent on it?

While reducing waste is something that everybody should be aiming to do, your skin is not something that you should be taking chances with.

Not only are expired skin care products unlikely to have much of an effect, but they can actually be downright dangerous.

How?

After a certain amount of time, products are likely to develop bacterial contamination. Certain ingredients will also begin to break down, and this can cause oxidative damage to your skin cells.

Unfortunately, it’s not required for cosmetic companies to print expiration dates on their products or packaging, unless they are producing a sunscreen. Some, like Introstem, do, but if the products that you are using don’t state this, here are some general shelf life guidelines that you can follow:

• Creams – 6-12 months – shelf life is shortened for products that are preservative-free
• Sunscreen – the FDA mandates that the shelf life for sunscreen products is 12 months
• Serums – this depends on what they contain. Certain ingredients, such as vitamin C and retinol, are less stable than others

If you’re in any doubt, it’s better to throw it out.

Overnight Masks Can Transform Dry Skin

If you’ve got dry or dehydrated skin, then listen up…

Waking up to a complexion that looks and feels hydrated and soft has probably been one of your wishes for a while. Well, one way to make that dream come true is by treating your skin to overnight face masks.

These are more intensive than moisturizers. They aren’t designed to be used every day. Instead, these weekly treatments will give your skin a deep dose of moisture, allowing you to wake up to skin that looks healthy and happy.

Keep an Eye on Your Skin Type – it Changes with Age

Ideally, your whole skin care routine is based on your skin type, but don’t get too comfortable…

While you may have pin-pointed your skin type now, this is something that changes with age. As you get older, your skin becomes thinner, meaning that it looks paler and feels drier.

A solid skin care routine in your youth can help to delay the onset of visible skin aging, but this is something that is unfortunately inevitable for everyone. The best way to keep your skin looking its best is to constantly re-evaluate your skin type, along with your skin care routine, making the necessary adjustments whenever required.

Beauty Sleep is Real

How much sleep do you get each night?

Ideally, your answer is around eight hours. This isn’t only important for your overall health, but also for the appearance of your skin.

How does poor sleep affect your skin?

Well, while you’re sleeping, your skin works hard to heal and regenerate. This means that if you’re not getting proper sleep, your skin isn’t able to recover from all of the damage that it has experienced over the course of the day. This leads to:

• A pale and sallow complexion
• Dark shadows under the eyes
• An increase in fine lines and wrinkles
• Droopy and sagging skin

One of the best things that you could do for your skin is to make sure that you’re getting enough sleep each night, and that the sleep you’re getting is of good quality.

Always Cleanse Your Skin After Using a Shampoo/Conditioner on Your Hair

Think back to your last shower…

Did you cleanse your face and body before or after shampooing and conditioning your hair?

For many people, the answer would be before.

What’s wrong with this?

Well, what many don’t realize is that hair products are actually often the cause of breakouts on the skin?

How?

It all comes down to the ingredients in hair products. These are often oil-based and, as you know, oil quickly clogs up the pores. What happens when your pores end up clogged? Acne breakouts.

You’ll know that your hair products are the culprit if your breakouts occur on the parts of your face and body that are exposed to those products, such as:

• The hairline
• The forehead
• The back of the neck

While looking for non-comedogenic hair products is one way to get around this, cleansing your skin after using a shampoo and conditioner can also really help. This clears away any excess oil, preventing blockages in your pores, along with their accompanying breakouts.

Keep Your Eye Products in the Fridge

Do you ever use an eye cream or gel to help reduce the look of puffiness around your eyes in the morning?

If so, here’s a game-changing tip for you…

Try storing those eye products in the fridge!

Why?

Because then when you apply them to your skin, they’ll feel cold. Along with the ingredients in your eye cream, the cold temperature will help to constrict your blood vessels. This reduces the look of puffiness and swelling so much faster.

Other cosmetic products that benefit from being kept in the fridge include:

• Face mists
• Skin balms
• Sheet masks
• Jade rollers

Don’t be tempted to put all of your skin care products in the fridge. This technique doesn’t work for every formula, and can actually hinder the way in which some products work. The cold temperatures can render certain active ingredients useless, while some oils will solidify in the cold, meaning that you won’t be able to use that product properly.

You’re now equipped with some of the very best skin care tips out there. Incorporate them all into your life and you’ll notice huge differences in your complexion.