4-Step Skincare Routine That Will Keep Your Skin Looking Young and Healthy

In an ideal world, your skin would take care of itself. You wouldn’t need to slather yourself in moisturizer. The sebum naturally present in your skin would provide all-day moisture while the oxygen in the air would restore collagen and lipids. Modern living, unfortunately, is just too harsh for your skin to bear alone.

Chemicals, pollutants, and harsh weather bombard your skin every day. Your skin’s natural defences are no match for this unholy trinity of skin-damaging agents, and it may show signs of premature ageing unless you intervene. A quick and easy skincare routine helps you repair damaged skin, for example, and buffer your skin’s natural defences.

Now, you might have a skincare routine already, and if so, great – keep it up. But if you’re curious how it stacks up against ours or want a solid foundation to start, read on. What follows is a quick and easy four-step skincare routine that repairs, nourishes, and protects your skin from harmful environmental effects all day long. Give it a try and let us know what you think!

Step 1. Cleanse

The first step in any skincare routine is cleansing. You can’t expect any protective formulas to work properly unless you remove the layers of impurities that have accumulated on your skin during the day. I’m talking pollutants, dust, and other nasty particles that float in the air and live on the surfaces of things you touch, wear, sit, or sleep on.

Oh, and remember sebum? Depending on the health of your skin’s microbiome, which in turn depends on the irritants to which you’re exposed, you might be producing too much, causing your skin to feel oily and widening your pores. Using the right cleansing product will remove excess sebum without stripping it off entirely, restoring a natural balance.

Think of cleansing as the preparation stage of your skincare routine. Your cleanser removes all the impurities that act as a barrier between your skin and the air. Anything you apply afterward then has the best chance of absorbing to where it does the most good rather than simply sliding around over a layer of impurities.

The best cleansers use all-natural ingredients that are kind to your skin. Harsh chemicals, for example, might cause an adverse reaction or dry your skin out, leaving it red and inflamed. Our Gentle Cleansing Foam, however, combines rosewater, camomile, and calendula to remove impurities while protecting your skin’s natural pH balance leaving your skin fresh and ready for Step 2.

Step 2. Tone

To tone or not to tone, that’s the question, right? Toning is perhaps the most misunderstood aspect of any skincare routine. Does it cleanse, moisturize, or both? While toning isn’t necessary to achieve healthy skin, it can provide additional support if you already suffer skin problems, have been outside in the elements all day, or worn a lot of heavy make-up.

Toners are astringent, which means they cleanse and tighten the skin, reducing the size of your pores and controlling problem sebum production associated with acne. They’ll catch whatever your cleanser missed. A lot of toners also contain moisture-grabbing humectants or exfoliative ingredients to prime your skin for a layer of moisturizer.

Whether you choose to tone or not is up to you, but if you’re on the fence, I’d recommend a gentle toner to supplement your cleanser as a precaution. A gentle toner might not produce a revolutionary effect on its own (unless you already have oily skin), but it will help maximize the effects of each step in this routine creating a better result overall.

As with cleansers, your toner should be equally kind to skin. On days when your skin doesn’t require a deep cleanse, you might consider toning instead of cleansing. We recommend our Balancing Toner with rosewater, cloudberry, and Hyaluronic acid. Its three-in-one action soothes, cleanses, and moisturizes and is gentle enough for frequent use.

Step 3. Moisturize

If you were to do just one step of this routine, I’d recommend this one. But what of all that advice on cleansing earlier? Without a cleanser, you could get by with warm water and some vigorous rubbing (not recommended), but your skin needs a moisturizer to retain vital nutrients, restore elasticity, and protect it against environmental pollutants.

The environment draws moisture out of your skin. From morning until night, your skin loses water through evaporation. Every shower, wash, or blast of hot or cold air dehydrates upper tissues, leaving them parched and thirsty. If this were to go on unchecked, you would risk dryness, flakiness, cracks, or even bleeding (ever had dry knuckles in winter?).

Few of us are lucky enough to live in climates that are temperate all year round. Or to reside in countryside locations with ample supplies of fresh water, clean air, and healthy food. Instead, we crowd together in urbanized environments exposing our skin to all manner of nasties. A moisturizer in these circumstances is your skin’s best friend – use one!

We recommend our Skin Protecting Day Cream, a light, non-greasy moisturizer with ceramides and Vitamin C to replenish the skin’s natural defences and promote a younger, healthier complexion. As with all of our products, it’s all-natural and absorbs quickly to protect all day, leaving your skin smooth, radiant, and gorgeous.

Step 4. Protect

Your skincare routine might stop at Step 3. If that’s working for you, keep it up – we don’t want to interrupt your routine if you’re enjoying incredible results. However, I include Step 4 because Steps 1-3 cater to already healthy skin with little to no signs of premature ageing, dullness, or irritation. Step 4, however, is your extra line of defence against these complaints.

What do I mean by skin “protection”? Doesn’t the moisturizer “protect”? Yes, it does, and in most cases it’s more than enough. But let’s say you already suffer from dry or ageing skin or live in an unusually harsh environment. Steps 1-3 provide everyday protection but when times get tough, your skincare routine must get tougher, and that’s where serums come in.

You might already use a serum or have at least tried one. A serum is a highly concentrated gel or cream-like suspension of nutrients, moisturizers, and restorative ingredients. Think of it as “skin rescue” – you can apply it regularly for superior protection around-the-clock or as a treatment for problem skin.

Where the toner supplements your cleanser, the serum supplements the moisturizer, providing nourishment as well as moisture. Our Skin Protecting Anti-Pollution Serum, for example, is rich in flavonoids and phenolic acids, and helps reverse free-radical damage and prevent premature ageing. It’s skin “food” that should be a fixture of your bathroom cabinet.

You’ll find a bewildering array of resources online telling you this or that routine is the best. Our recommendation is to ignore the noise and consider what you want to achieve. If you want your skin to stay young, healthy, and beautiful, there’s no secret or trick to it – just take good care of your skin as you would your general health, and this routine is a great start.

Love nature, love skin, love you.

Daniela Korenc | Founder and CEO

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