How To: Create Your Own 10 Step Skincare Routine

Hello Princesses!

Today I'm going to be talking about how you can create your own 10 step skincare routine! Once you're happy with your basic four step skincare routine, you can add some extra steps. These are not necessary at all if you're happy with the four step routine. Personally, I find it quite soothing and relaxing to go through a long skincare routine, and I find it makes my skin feel and look really lovely. Having a long routine is not synonymous with having good skin, and it can take a really long time to find the perfect routine for your skin.

Step 1: Make up remover and/or oil cleanser

I use a separate eye make up remover and then an oil cleanser. This is necessary if your eye make up is removed effectively by the oil cleanser, but mine isn't so I have two make up removing steps.

Step 2: Low PH Cleanser

This step stays the same

Step 3: Exfoliation

I personally recommend starting off with a physical exfoliator rather than a chemical exfoliant since these need a little more prep work than physical exfoliants. A physical exfoliant is a product that has a rough texture and manually scrubs your skin, whereas a chemical exfoliant is a product that uses chemicals such as AHA (Alpha hydroxy acids) or BHA (Beta hydroxy Acids) to chemically exfoliate the skin. Most people suggest only exfoliating your skin two to three times maximum per week, though if your skin is sensitive, it's good to be cautious and start off with exfoliation once a week.  

My favourite exfoliator is the LUSH Angels on Bare Skin!

Step 4: Toner

Toners can either be used for softening, nourishing and hydrating, or preparing the skin for acids. I particularly like using toners straight after washing my face so that my skin doesn't dry out on the short walk from my bathroom where the sink is, to my bedroom where the rest of my skincare is. I also use a PH adjusting toner, which brings the PH of my skin down lower and helps my acids work better on my skin, but this is more for the advanced skincare section! Toners in the KBeauty world are vastly different from the toners I used in the Western world. Western tones such as the good old Clean and Clear pure alcohol toners that I used as a teenager usually feel like they are stripping the skin of any dirt and oil, whereas Korean or Japanese Toners are generally used to soften the skin and prepare the skin for better absorption of Essences, Ampoules and Serums which are our next two steps.

I love using the JDew Green Moist Toner and the Hada Labo Gokujun Lotion (which has a toner-like texture).

 

Step 5 and 6: Essences, Ampoules, and Serums

The next two steps involve Essences, Ampoules and Serums. You can use these steps interchangeable, and their placement in your routine always depends on what type of product it is, and how thick the product is. Unless the product is a First Treatment Essence (FTE, which obviously comes first) you generally layer them by consistency. Thinner products go first because they are absorbed quicker. The choice of products depends on their function, and there are so, so many ingredients that target different things!

Here are some popular ingredients and their functions:
Vitamin C: Brightens, fades sunspots and age spots, repairs sun damage, increases collagen production over time.

Niacinimide: Brightens, fades sunspots and age spots, strengthens skin's moisture barrier

Snail secretion: Alleviates redness, treats pimples, speeds healing, repairs sun damage, evens skin tone.
Arbutin: Brightens, fades sunspots and age spots by blocking the expression of melanin with long term use.

Yeast ferment extract/galactomyces: Brightens, fades sunspots and age spots, evens skin tone, controls cell turnover and oiliness

Hyaluronic acid: Hydrates by attracting and binding water within the skin

Salicylic acid: Chemical exfoliant (BHA) for the clearing of pores and treatment of acne; anti-inflammatory. Requires a pH between 3 and 4 to be effective.

Glycolic acid: (a type of AHA) Chemical exfoliant for the smoothing of skin's surface and treatment of acne; hydrating. Requires a pH between 3 and 4 to be effective.

My absolute favourite brightening serum is the Skinfood Black Sugar Perfect First Serum, but I'm also using the Wishtrend Pure Vitamin C Serum!

Step 7: Sheet Mask or Wash Off Mask

Sheet masks and wash off masks are fantastic ways to add extra benefits to your skin, and also for relaxing! If you're using a wash off mask move this to step three before you use your Toner, otherwise you'll be washing off your expensive Serums. Sheet masks can be placed anywhere after your toner but generally before your cream. I prefer to use them as my 7th step so that I have more time for them to sink into my skin fully. These funny looking masks are real powerhouses for your skincare, if you're wanting a huge boost of hydration choose a mask with hydrating properties, leave it on until it's totally dried out and reap the benefits. If you're like me and hate the feeling of a wet face that can't use any expressions, I highly recommend grabbing a Daiso silicone sheet mask cover so you can frighten your flatmates and the courier driver.

I adore the My Beauty Diary Birds Nest and Royal Jelly masks, and always wear my Daiso Silicone Sheet Mask Cover!

 

Step 8: Eye cream

Using an Eye Cream is another optional step, some people love using them and some feel that using their regular skincare works well enough without the additional step. I personally love using eye creams and have a separate light weigh gel to use during the day and a heavier oil to use at night. I get eczema on my eyelids if I don't use an eye cream (or a very, very hydrating face cream) so this is one of the steps I don't skip!  

I adore the Bobbi Brown Hydrating Eye Cream (though it's quite pricey) and my Holy Grail night eye cream is the Mamonde Age Control Camellia Oil!

Step 9: Moisturiser

This step stays the same as before, but you can also play around with different properties for creams to use during the day and during the night!

 

Step 10: Sunscreen or Sleeping pack

In the morning your last step is your sunscreen, and at night you can add a Sleeping Pack for additional hydration or brightening! Sleeping packs cam be amazing, or frustrating depending on how your skin works and what products you use, some cause all of my hair to stick to my face, and some dry down nicely and help me wake up with beautiful looking skin. Don't let the name sleeping pack or sleeping mask put you off, these don't sit thickly on your skin like a wash off mask would, they mostly feel like a moisturiser.

My Holy Grail sunscreen is the Missha All Around Safe Block Soft Finish Sun Milk, and I also really like using the Mizon Special Therapy Good Night White Sleeping Mask!

I hope you Princesses enjoyed this How To guide, remember that skincare is always so personal, so this is a guide rather than a strict list! If you don't feel like your routine needs 10 steps then by all means do as many as you want, but always listen to what your skin is telling you that it wants or doesn't want, because that 100% works better than listening to someone on the internet. ^ ^