The Best Morning Skin Care Routine

What is the best morning skin care routine and why should you really pay attention to the information I am about to give you?

If you are not doing it, a morning skincare routine can greatly impact the quality of your skin! It helps prevent premature ageing of your skin and by following these simple steps, you can even reverse some of the damage already done. And if you are already doing it, perhaps this information can help you take your morning skin care routine to the next level!

My name is Vesna Pelikan and I am a holistic skin coach. I own a private beauty clinic in El Medano, Canary islands and in this post I will talk about the best morning skin care routine!

Morning skincare should form a part of your holistic skin care, as well as your nighttime routine, diet, exercise and some other factors.

But which products should we use and how many steps should there be?

There are in fact only 5 essential steps (with one bonus step) that I am going to talk about here, and there is one ingredient in particular that has all the skin specialists, plastic surgeons and dermatologists in a rage! That’s how awesome it is for your skin.

For your morning routine you don’t need 20 different products, or take a long time to do it, but whatever you decide to do and/ or use, you should do it consistently. Also,

Make sure you are doing it to your FACE, NECK and DECOLLETE!

Are you ready? Here is, what most skin specialists agree to be, the best morning skincare routine!

STEP 1: CLEANSING

The first step is cleansing your skin in the morning. Some people like to skip that, but if you are using the correct cleanser, there is no fear you could be over cleansing or harming the acid mantle of your skin. Furthermore, if you want those products to really work, it definitely helps to have your skin clear of oils or residues.

A cleansing product should fit your skin type. Which skin type are you? I will make a special video to help you with that, but what you should remember regardless is:

DO NOT USE HARSH BAR SOAPS, SHOWER GELS, ETC. TO WASH YOUR FACE!

Men particularly like to do it. As if a hair shampoo or a shower gel was a fix for it all. But if you are one of those people who want just ONE product to do the job of 3 (face, hair and body), I have a perfect product for you, so stay with me here.

REMEMBER: Regardless of your skin type, the cleanser should be very gentle on your skin.

A Quick tip: How do you test if your cleanser fits your skin?

Wash your face with your cleanser (e.g. could be foam or milk), then wait 10-15 minutes. If your face feels dry, pulling, tugging, your cleanser is probably too harsh. Your skin should feel clean, yet comfortably hydrated after using a cleanser.

A NOTE ON MICELLAR WATER: If you like to use micellar water in your cleansing routine that’s great, but then you should be doing a 2 step cleansing process, and use a milk or foam cleanser according to your skin type after removing make-up with micellar water, which would be during your night time routine.

My all time favorite face cleansing product is Kapyderm Base Limpiante Normalizador. This cleanser is slightly acidic, and does not affect the acid mantle of your skin. It also does not contain soap! It works great with a foaming bottle, so we can mix it at home and one 250ml bottle can last you up to a year.

Kapyderm Base Limpiante Normalizadora is that 3 in 1 product I promised to tell you about before. Keep it in your shower and it is safe to use on everything: hair, body and face!

Oh, and all Kapyderm products are oncologically tested, and even appropriate for small children and people with skin conditions. Me and my clients LOVE THEM!

We will talk some more about this amazing product in another post/video! So please like and subscribe to get all the latest SKIN COACHING information.

STEP 2: OPTIONAL BONUS STEP TONING

Toners have become optional because face washes are way kinder and gentler now that they used to be. Because face washing products used to strip the skin of oils and also made the pH too high, toners were applied to balance the pH factor of the skin, hidrate it, and remove the remains of cleansers. Since much gentler products are available these days, you can even use a 2 in 1 cleanser/ toner, or a gentle cleansing product and you will be just fine.

HOWEVER. A QUICK word of WARNING! Especially if you have oily skin, you may feel attracted to an astringent type of a cleanser or even a toner. Not a good idea. These products contain alcohol that may feel super cool and comfortable on your skin and even get you that satisfying squeaky clean feeling, but will leave your skin stripped of its essential oils and can cause you quite some issues in the future.

These are some of the issues astringents generally cause:

Skin goes into repair mode, increasing the sebum production to make up for the loss of oils
Skin becomes irritated and skin condition worsens, especially in acneic skin

YOU SHOULD KNOW:

PH of healthy skin should be slightly acidic and an astringent will raise pH too much
Astringents contain alcohol which damage both beneficial bacteria on the surface of your skin as well as the acid mantle of your skin.

But toners can also be absolutely amazing for your skin!

At this point, I do have to admit that whenever I do use a good toner, I absolutely LOVE how it leaves my skin soft, supple, hydrated and generally feeling happier.

If your skin is very sensitive, you can use a specially formulated toner to soothe and hydrate your skin and also, balance its pH.

An example of such a product is Kapyderm Base toner, which nurtures and hydrates your skin cells. It also promotes healthy cell growth and if used as a lash serum, will help you to grow longer, thicker lashes. I have a video in Spanish on my youtube channel, Vesna Beauty Clinic, where I speak with Kapyderm Skin Expert Geri Fleites, about nourishing qualities of both cleansing foam and Base Toner.

STEP 3: THE SERUM

There are so many great ones on the market, but if I had to choose one, here it is.

THE NUMBER ONE CHOICE OF PLASTIC SURGEONS AND SKIN EXPERTS!!

I cannot stress the importance of this product enough. In fact, I wrote a whole other article about it and it’s amazing health benefits and I will even post a video talking about it in more detail.

Ready?

The best choice for your daily serum is …. Drumroll…. a vitamin C serum. And yes, Vitamin C will have the best effect if it comes in a serum form. Though, if you have a cream that contains it, awesome! You can always add some more in it’s serum form.

Here is some quick information:

Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant and has been proven in studies to not only prevent but even reverse the signs of aging! It will help prevent sun damage from UVI, boost skin cell regeneration, neutralize free radicals and keep your skin healthy and RADIANT!!! And if you can get it with vitamin E, even better.

Use Vitamin C under your moisturizing cream every single day. Don’t skip! Furthermore, add it to ALL your skincare products, get a vitamin C serum for your hair, eat vitamin C rich foods and yes, add it as a supplement!

Your future you will thank you for it.

I love Vichy 10% Vitamin C with peptides, and currently I am testing a higher grade professional version by Mesoestetic, which promises to increase cellular energy and skin regeneration, and especially, to protect my skin from free radicals. It is available for sale at my salon.

My skin has definitely improved a lot. The color, texture, elasticity.. .I even microneedle Vitamin C into my skin, to get a super awesome moisturizing effect.

In case you wish to add some other serums to your skincare routine, here is my post on the 5 best skin serums (in Spanish).

STEP 4: EYE CREAM

Yes or No? Really? But I have so little time in the morning…! (sigh) 🙄

Oh yes. It may seem like too much, especially if you do not have wrinkles, puffiness or undereye bags just yet, but trust me. So very important to have good quality eye cream! The skin around the eyes is very thin and sensitive and needs to be given special care. Eye creams have formulas adapted for maximum penetration and protection of that sensitive area!

A quick tip: One of my favorite plastic surgeons, dr. Tony Youn, suggests that our eye cream should also contain retinol.

I am currently using two different brands of eye creams, sort of switching them around. One is from BHI called Contorno Ojos Intensive (intensive eye contour) and the other Kapyderm Innovo Contorno de Ojos. I can’t decide which one I like better, they are both amazing!

STEP 5: MOISTURIZING YOUR SKIN

The job of a moisturizer is to lock in your skin’s natural moisture and prevent the loss of water. There are loads of amazing products on the market, but since we have already applied Vitamin C, everything else is a plus. If you have dry/ dehydrated skin, you should pick a moisturizer that feels good, your skin feels soft, pliable and not tense. What I am trying to say is that you probably won’t see much of a difference between a 200 EUR moisturizer, 80 EUR product, or even a 40 Eur one! As long as they don’t contain harmful ingredients. However, some products may just smell so good you gotta make them part of your morning routine, and others well, make you feel like a star. And that’s awesome!

Usually I am testing various products, and currently I really like Innova Gold from Kapyderm and Eternal Lifting Cream from Beauty House International. Loads of active ingredients, vitamins etc. Sometimes I even use both. But really, not necessary.

And what is you favorite moisturizing cream? Let me know in the comments!

STEP 6: SUN SCREEN – YOUR SHIELD OF PROTECTION!

How do I stress this enough? SUPER MEGA IMPORTANT!!!

Do NOT leave your skin without an SPF!

If you are going to reapply your sunscreen various times per day, SPF30 is ok, personally I prefer SPF50 and in the Canary Islands, less just doesn’t make sense.

Nevertheless, even if you are using SPF 50, please keep in mind that for the best effect, you should reapply sunscreen throughout the day, especially if you are going to do any outside activities, where you could be sweating or be directly exposed to the sun.

If possible, check the UVI factor where you are to make sure you are not overexposing yourself. I track mine of my Apple Smart Watch, so it reminds me constantly to wear my protection and I really bug my clients about it as well.

As you can see, it’s 15:18 and we have a UVI of 11! And that’s on 25th of May.

I will talk about UVI rays in my next videos, or you can read my quick article about it in the blog (UVI en Canarias) but for now, please stay inside between 12 and 5 pm in the Canary Islands, as the sun is at its most powerful point between 2-4 PM.

Best SPF protectors?

I do have another article on that topic, but I do like Mesoestetic SPF 50 Light Water Antiaging Veil, I use a slightly toned TAHE SPF50 when I’m ok with using some make up, ISDIN Mineral Protection is definitely very good and if you like an easy application and coconut fragrance, why not try BHI Liv SPF50 for face and body. All except ISDIN, available at Vesna Beauty Clinic.

CAVEAT:

Sun screens were not meant to replace moisturizers, and because of their chemical compositions, you really should not be putting them on your bare skin

The way I prefer to look at it, is not that it is a moisturizer with sunscreen, but that it is a moisturizing sunscreen. So for somebody that has sensitive skin and a sunscreen generally dries it out, a moisturizer with SPF is a good option for the final protective layer!

Thank you so much for staying with me so let me finish with a bit of recap of why I put together all this information for you.

A regular, morning routine will prevent early signs of aging, keep your skin protected from pollutants, stimulate production of collagen and elastin and just give you an amazing start to your day!

I hope you have found value in this information, and that you will follow this blog or a channel, share it with your loved ones, and also, leave me any questions or comments! It really keeps me motivated to create new content when I get some feedback 🙂

I will post another article / video soon about the best and most efficient NIGHT TIME ROUTINE, with another STAR NIGHTIME PRODUCT that you cannot possibly live without!

Thank you so much for staying with me and remember,

Love the Skin You’re In!

See you soon

Vesna Pelikan

Holistic Skin Coach