An affordable skincare rutine for the daytime

My take on an affordable skincare rutine for the daytime may have more layers than what others use or like to have. My rutine can change in regard to seasons, post-procedure skincare treatments, daily plans for the day (out all day, gym class, inside sunday hangover), daily condition of the skin in regard to acne, dryness, redness, sun exposure or other, so my inspiration for this will be overall, and then you can decide for yourself what to do for yourself by adding or leaving out products. Take your time to learn what will keep your skin in a good condition throughout the day.

I try to find products that fits my economy because to reach the full potential of a product you have to use it for 6-8 weeks, so if you cannot afford to buy it again then you might as well not start. The amount of active ingredients in the product sets the price, but it is also the brand name, and it is possible to find good reviews on products that fits your wallet. Some brands are doing a good job in making products that can be purchased by a broader group of people and can do a great job on your skin.

You of course always start with cleaning your skin and let it dry. I do not use anything advanced for cleaning my skin. A sensitive wash that do not strip your skin from all the moisture and a skin tonic that fits your skin (oily, normal or dry). For inspiration you can read my post on face wash here.

1. I start my day time rutine with a AHA peeling or a C-vitamin serum. I do not use AHA peeling the morning after using Tretinoin creme or other treatments that require your skin to relax and rebuild after. It is not recommended to use AHA and C-vitamin together because this can stress you skin.

   
   

   The AHA peeling leave-on cream is for delicate skin exfoliation to remove dead skin cells which can help your skin to absorb more moisture, help with black heads and even your skin tone. For a deeper pore repair use BHA. Read my post on AHA and BHA treatment here.

   
   

   C-vitamin serum is an antioxidant that can help strengthen your skin, smoothen fine lines and pigmentation which give you a more even skin tone. The vitamine stimulates collagen production and skin cell production. There is a lot of C-vitamine serums on the market, and in the process of reading about them I have learned that they should not have a yellow/brown color, because it means that it is oxidized, which makes them less effective or do not work at all. C-vitamin products made from L-Ascorbinsyre are told to be the strongest and most effective.

   
   

2. The next layer that I use is a Multi Peptide or a Matrixyl 10% serum with hyaluronic acid from The Ordinary to stimulate the collagen production. The hyaluronic acid helps to bind the moisture. Peptides are short chains of amino acid strings which is the building stones of proteins which helps the skins function. In skin care it is mostly used to stimulate the collagen and elastic, but can also do many other things. Read more about the magic of Peptides in my post here.

3. To top the serums I use a mixed face oil of Castor- and Jojoba oil with drops of Frankincense oil which for some could maybe be too much, but it keeps my skin moist for longer, and help regenerate my skin, so it do not deepen existing fine lines and wrinkles. Read more about how to mix the face oil in my post here.

4. To help calm, re-build and straighten my skin I use La Roche-Posay Balm B5+ which is good for many things like when you have been using Tretinoin creme doing the night or been doing any other skin treatments that can make you skin red, dry or irritated. It is a really good all around creme for repair and moisture. You can also buy this product with spf 50 if you want to use it for sun protection which is the next step. Sometimes I use Panthenol cream instead which many brands sell or add in their creams for skin repair which is also the case for La Roche-Posey Balm B5+.

   
   

5. On top of all the layers I use sunscreen spf 30-50 to protect my skin from the sun, so I do not experience any sun damage which can give you dark spots, red and dry skin, fine lines, wrinkles, uneven skin tone, big dry pores, leather damage skin - the list is long, so remember to protect your skin with sunscreen. The minimum of recommended spf in Denmark is spf 30. Read more in my post about sunscreen here and how much to use here.

6. BONUS STEP: As a bonus step I would like to recommend a final top layer for the dry skin periods as some people experience when the seasons shift, you work in air condition room, you are travelling on flight with dry air, outside doing winter season skiing, biking, running or are in other more rough surroundings. For this I use a Patrolatum/vaseline creme to lock-in the moisture, that I have been adding, and to protect the skin from outer elements. Read more about this in my post here.

As mention in the start of this post I use a lot of layers and some find this too much, so to make it more simple and "less moist" on your skin I would just use the serums and then a good spf 30+ all around face creme, so do step 1, 2 and 5 and skip 3, 4 and 6.

My visual list of products:

Photo by Mehrnegar Dolatmand on Unsplash