A Practical Guide to Building a Skincare Routine with Image Skincare

Having great skin is a goal for many people, but it can be hard to feel that way when there are so many skincare options to choose from.

With hundreds of different cleansers, serums, moisturisers and sunscreens, picking the right products to ensure your skin stays healthy can be challenging.

In reality, it’s a lot less confusing; if you use an ingredient-based routine and professional skincare products that have been formulated to target certain skin concerns, you’ll probably be spot on.

An option to potentially take is Image Skincare, which is a professional skincare range stocked by retailers such as Millies.

A brand that is known to provide an effective fusion of clinical-grade ingredients with those found in nature, it has since amassed a large customer base in both salons and skin clinics globally.

Product solutions are easily available to search through its website, Image Skincare available on Millies, providing a variety of options including cleansers, treatments, balms, moisturisers and much more.

Why Skincare Routines Matter

Keeping a proper skin care routine is more than just a vain commitment. Through cleansing, hydrating and protecting, the skin barrier is maintained. Without which, the skin barrier would be compromised easily, causing skin irritations, dry skin and early wrinkles. Dermatologists often remind patients that the best products are less useful if their protocols are not followed religiously.

Indeed, it is. The majority of these professional skin care brands are generally a whole system, making skin care easier and more efficient. These systems are developed to help several skin conditions, including acne, ageing, dark spots, etc.

What Makes Professional Skincare Different?

Professional skincare is developed using higher levels of active ingredients than everyday high-street products. Many will be the work of skincare experts or dermatologists and will be tried and tested when it comes to the visible results they can deliver.

Image skincare, for example, was formulated by an aesthetician and a Plastic Surgeon, all with the aim of creating effective, active, rich formulas that contain established ingredients and botanicals.

The branding philosophy revolves around “clean clinical skincare”, which generally means products are developed to reflect a balance between product efficacy and the health safety of its ingredients.

While many items might not include parabens, phthalates or harsh chemicals, they will feature skin-benefitting actives such as antioxidants, retinol and peptides.

It’s a good middle ground for someone wanting something more performance-driven and less intense than medical-grade.

Step One: Gentle Cleansing

As with most good things in life, an effective skincare routine starts with a thorough cleanse. Over the course of a day, our skin — the body’s largest organ — gets covered in dirt, oils, makeup, and pollutants, and a cleanser is responsible for taking the day off and allowing our other products to penetrate the different layers of gunk that seal our pores.

You want something that’s both powerful and nurturing to your skin, so going with anything that strips layers off of your face will only work against the rest of your routine.

If you have dry or sensitive skin, usually a hydrating or cream-based cleanser helps, while those who are prone to more oil or acne prefer something a little more clarifying or gel. Overall, the real magic is in the habit: stick to twice a day, both morning and night.

It helps maintain balance and get skin ready for the next phase.

Step Two: Targeted Treatments

Serums and treatments are products that are designed to target a specific skin concern. They contain a high concentration of active ingredients that work deep in the skin.

Common treatment ingredients include:

Most professional skincare brands offer these treatments in ranges to help with a variety of concerns. For example, there will be anti-ageing, brightening or acne products.

You normally only need one or two treatments. Sometimes, using too many at the same time can upset the skin.

Step Three: Moisturising for Skin Balance

Whether you have dry skin, oily skin, or anything in between, you should be using a moisturiser. They help maintain the lipid barrier of the skin (which serves as that all-important gatekeeper of all of your cells), and are effective in keeping skin hydrated and balanced.

Not all are created equal. Gel moisturisers are great for those who have oily or combination skin, while those with extremely dry or mature skin may prefer a thicker, more substantial cream. Still others are

formulated with antioxidant or anti-ageing peptides for a continued amount of care for the health of the skin.

Using moisturiser after a serum can help keep the actives in your serum from just evaporating in the atmosphere. It also helps to make sure that your skin is soothed, properly hydrated, and comfortable the whole day.

Step Four: Daily Sun Protection

If there’s a single step that every dermatologist would agree on, this would be sun protection. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun is one of the leading causes of skin ageing.

Applying a broad-spectrum sunscreen with a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of 30 or higher every day helps protect skin from the harmful effects of sun damage. This is especially important if you are using active ingredients like retinol or exfoliating acids, which make your skin more sensitive to the sun.

Rain or shine, using daily SPF is probably the simplest thing you can do for your skin.

Choosing the Right Products for Your Skin

Given the huge choice offered by professional skincare, the real selection of products can usually be resolved by the client in terms of how they relate to their skin type and lifestyle. In some cases, they may choose to consult a skin care therapist or a dermatologist before including more active products.

When choosing, one should also look at consistency, rather than complexity. Combining cleansing, treating, hydrating and protecting is often more efficient than constantly changing products.

A Balanced Approach to Skincare

Skincare fads come and go, but certain skincare philosophies are timeless. Most experts can agree on one simple fact, and that is, beautiful skin doesn’t happen overnight.

For this reason, professionally recommended brands such as Image Skincare have become widely sought after. This is due to the fact that brands of this nature rack up the skin benefits, all while keeping it simple with routines you can afford and sustain every day. Simply put, by focusing on the 4 core principles: Cleanse, Treat, Hydrate, Protect, you’re only scratching the surface as to how amazing your skin can be when performing these simple steps daily.

After all, the best skincare is the one you USE!