Thorough but gentle daily cleansing and a good moisturising care will help to keep your skin healthy. Quality skincare products, chosen to match your specific skin type and need, can help protect facial skin from damaging external influences such as the sun, hot and cold climates and air pollution. They can also help to soothe irritated skin and support a healthy condition.
Four basic steps
Good skincare involves four basic steps: cleanse, tone, care and protect
Thorough cleansing is the first step in effective skincare. Cleansing removes dirt, sweat, sebum and make-up and prepares the skin for care. Cleansed skin is better able to absorb the active ingredients in care products.
Toning removes any traces of cleanser, refreshes the skin, while restoring its natural pH value.
Care products moisturise and replenish skin. Many also target and care for specific skin concerns.
Protect
Sun protection is important for the days when your skin is going to be exposed to harmful UV rays: the main cause of premature skin ageing. Most day creams already come with an SPF 15 but for sunbathing, a sun lotion is essential.
Your skincare routine should take place twice a day – in the morning and in the evening. The specific routine will vary depending on the time of day and the particular needs and condition of your skin.
Cleanse: Skin produces sebum as it regenerates overnight. Cleansing every morning removes this sebum and ensures that skin is ready for the day care.
Tone: Toning removes any traces of cleanser and refreshes the skin, while restoring its natural pH value.
Special care (for example serums or concentrates): These products contain a high concentration of active ingredient and should be applied directly onto the freshly cleansed skin.
If you are not using a special care product, skip step 3 and go directly to step 4.
Day care: Use a moisturising day cream that matches your skin type to hydrate and protect your face. A dedicated eye cream is recommended to protect and care for the delicate eye area.
Sun Protection: Several day creams already include a sun protection factor (SPF) – normally SPF 15 – but in many situations your skin will require a higher SPF. Facial Sun protection can be applied in addition to, or instead of, your usual day cream.
Cleanse: Cleansing every evening removes dirt, sweat, sebum and make-up. Skin is then clean and ready to absorb the active ingredients of your night care product. A dedicated eye-make-up- remover should be used to cleanse and protect the delicate skin around the eyes.
Tone: Toning removes any traces of cleanser and refreshes the skin, while restoring its natural pH value.
Special care (for example serums or concentrates): These products contain a high concentration of active ingredients, which can work overnight. They should be applied directly onto the freshly cleansed skin.
If you are not using a special care product then skip step 3 and go directly to step 4.
Night care: Use a moisturising night cream to nourish your skin and support overnight regeneration. Follow with an eye cream for the delicate area around the eyes.
Why cleanse and tone?
An effective face care routine starts with thorough but gentle cleansing and toning to:
Cleansing is particularly important for skin prone to blemishes as it helps skin to maintain its natural healthy balance and supports the natural regenerative process.
How to cleanse and tone
There are two main steps to a thorough cleansing routine: a cleansing milk or gel followed by a toner. If you are wearing eye make-up then it is advisable to add a separate eye make-up remover as a third step in your cleansing routine.
Eye make-up remover
To gently remove make-up from the lashes and delicate area around the eye. Eye make-up remover is best applied with a cotton pad wiped gently across the eye area.
A cleansing milk or gel
Choose a cleanser that suits your skin type. Cleansing milk is best for skin that is prone to dry skin types. For normal, combination or oily skin types, Eucerin recommends a gel cleanser.
Toner
Toning removes any last traces of cleanser and refreshes the skin, while restoring its natural pH value. Toner should be applied with a cotton pad, wiped gently across the face.
How to choose an appropriate cleanser and toner
Water alone will not clean your face. You need to use a surfactant (an ingredient that dissolves both water and fat) to bind with the dirt and remove it gently from your skin. It is important to choose products that are gentle on skin. Frequent washing with alkaline soaps or aggressive surfactants can weaken the barrier function of skin by:
When skin’s barrier function is weakened its sensitivity is increased and it is more prone to dryness and irritaton.
Read more about skin structure.
Cleansers
Choose a cleanser that:
When choosing between a milk and a gel product the general rule is that the drier the skin the more it will prefer a cleansing milk. It leaves your skin’s own lipids untouched, your skin stays balanced. Cleansing gels are ideal for cleansing normal to combination skin types.
Toners
Eucerin recommends alcohol- free toners for most skin types. Alcohol based toners have a cooling effect, but they can strip skin of its natural lipids. Skin may then over-produce lipids in an attempt to replace those that are missing. Alcohol can intensify the dryness in dry skin and, for those with oily or combination skin, an alcohol-containing toner can help to regulate excessive oiliness by removing sebum.
Three-in-one products
Three-in-one products, also known as micellar cleansers, offer cleansing, toning and eye make-up removal all in one. Oil molecules suspended in water lift away dirt and make-up quickly and gently. Micellar cleansers offer a convenient alternative to using three individual products.
The Eucerin DermatoCLEAN range of cleansers includes a gel, milk and toner. All of the range has been tested on, and proven to be compatible with, sensitive skin and contains products for all skin types.
The Eucerin DermoPURIFYER range has been specially formulated for skin prone to acne. For hypersensitive, hyperreactive skin Eucerin recommends Eucerin Re-Balance Soothing Cleansing Cream. For skin that is prone to redness try Eucerin ANTI-REDNESS Soothing Cleansing Gel.
Why care?
Care products should hydrate and replenish skin. Moisturisation not only increases skin’s water content, it protects it and encourages orderly desquamation (the process by which skin sheds dead cells) leaving it feeling smooth, soft and comfortable. Many care products also target and treat specific concerns.
Specific skin concerns such as ageing, hyperpigmentation and blemishes may need special care products that contain a high concentration of active ingredients. These special care products are often in a concentrate or serum format.
Special care
As they contain the most active ingredients in your skincare routine, special care products should be applied onto a freshly cleansed skin, and before the application of a day or night cream, to ensure they are absorbed with maximum efficiency and penetration into the skin.
Day or night care
A moisturising day or night cream should be used to hydrate and replenish facial skin as well as to provide active ingredients to address any particular skin concerns that you may have.
Eye Care
Eye care products should be applied carefully, and after your day or night care product, by gently dabbing the cream around the delicate eye area.
How to choose an appropriate care product
Care products should be matched to your skin type and should address any particular concerns that you may have. Your care product choice can also adapt to suit the season (for example, many people prefer to use a lighter fluid product in the warm weather and a richer cream during the cold winter months.)
Learn more in skin types and concerns and take our skin test to help determine your own skin type. If you would like advice on how to treat a specific skin concern then contact a dermatologist.
Read more about the Eucerin care products suitable for specific skin types in dry skin, sensitive skin, skin prone to redness, blemishes, ageing skin, hypersensitive skin or Atopic Dermatitis on face or body.
Day care and night care
Many care products can be used both morning and evening. Others are formulated for specific use during the day or at night:
Caring for skin around the eyes
The delicate skin around the eyes is particularly thin and sensitive and thus more vulnerable than the rest of facial skin. Because of this it benefits from a specially formulated eye care product. Eye cream should be applied with care.
For more tips on how to care for skin and to read about some of the common myths associated with skincare visit tips for healthy skin and skin myths.
Why protect?
Effective sun protection is a vital part of keeping skin healthy and should always be considered as part of your daily face care routine. Whilst a few minutes a day in the sun helps with the healthy production of Vitamin D, facial skin is often exposed to several hours of UV rays. Over exposure to UV rays is the main cause of premature skin ageing. For this reason, skin that is going to be exposed should be protected with a sunscreen.
Read more about UV rays and sun protection and how sun affects facial skin.
How to protect
Several day creams already include a sun protection factor – normally SPF 15 – but on many occasions your skin will require a higher Sun Protection Factor (SPF), which can be applied in addition to, or instead of, your usual SPF day cream.
Products containing SPF should be applied as the final step in your morning skin care regimen.
How to choose the right sun protection product
There are several factors that should be taken into account when choosing the appropriate sun protection factor for your skin:
For some skin types, and when a higher SPF is required, a dedicated sun protection product will substitute the day cream. Dry skin types will still prefer to use a day cream and add extra sun protection at the end of the routine. Your choice will be influenced by your lifestyle, personal preference and how your skin reacts to environmental factors such as humidity. The highest SPF applied determines the protection level (i.e. if you were to add a sun protection factor product with an SPF of 30 to a day cream with SPF 15 then the total protection level would be SPF30).
Read more about which products and SPF’s Eucerin recommend for your skin type and condition, as well as about how much SPF you need to use, in recommended sun protection.
Yes, face masks are particularly good at replenishing dry and dehydrated skin. Eucerin recommends that you use your night cream and apply a little bit more of it that you normally would to cover your face, throat and decollete. Night cream is richer than day cream, contains regenerating actives such as panthenol and is free-from SPF or pigment.
Ask your doctor or pharmacist for recommended products that are also tested in eczema patients and contain no perfumes or common allergens. If you have oily or blemishes skin always use non-comedogenic products for oily or combination skin.
For all skin types
Dry skin
All skin types