A beginners guide to maximising your skincare routine.

If you want to achieve amazing skin like Lana and myself, founders of The Aesthetic Lounge, then a solid skincare ritual is critical. However, if not used correctly and consistently, (yes I have said this many times before, here’s my blog on consistency) you may as well throw it in the bin.

As Dermal Therapists (aka skin specialists) we can actually tell if you are using your skincare, simply by looking at your skin. No we are not magicians, well our hands are pretty magical but…
The correct skin care.
Used properly.
Actually works.
And it shows!

So how do you know what’s the correct skincare for you?
As we are not magicians and everyone’s skin concerns and conditions are different from person to person, and changes from season to season, a Discovery Facial is crucial. It’s an interactive skin consultation and facial in one, where we can feel your skin and assess how it interacts with our active products. You will leave looking refreshed and feeling confident that together, with your tailored in-clinic program and skincare routine, we will achieve your best skin ever! So, all you need to do is lay down, relax and let us do the work. Easy.

Even though I cannot tell you what’s the correct skincare for you over a blog, I can definitely help you maximise your results by using it p r o p e r l y.

Their knowledge as to how to solve your issues is fabulous and they DO solve them! A. Whitehead

I often hear clients say “Do I have to use all these products? Can’t I just use one?”
Simply put, no. There is no one magic product that can do it all – yet.

Did you know, your skin is the largest organ and one of its main functions is to be a barrier? That’s right, it actually wants to repel your skincare, so this is where cosmeceutical skincare and dermal treatments will outshine cosmetic products. Luckily, as a Dermal Therapists, achieving maximum absorption from your skincare (without irritation) is our specialty. When in-clinic treatments are performed in the right order, we massively increase the absorption of skincare actives. Our dermal treatments momentarily disrupt your skin’s barrier and allow the active ingredients to pass through, so nothing is wasted.

Ok, so back to why you vacuum before you mop! At home by applying certain products, in a particular order also plays a major role in the success of achieving your skin goals. After all, you wouldn’t mop a dirty floor and then vacuum it, right? Well the same goes for your skincare routine, you wouldn’t moisturise before you exfoliate as this would be pointless. Just in case I didn’t make it clear enough… here are some more examples: 🙂 you wouldn’t bake a cake without preheating the oven first, as you’d end up with a flat cake, and you wouldn’t go for a run without warming up first, as you would probably injure yourself. Trust me, I could go on and on, but I’m sure you now get the point.

These examples also show us that preparation is key. If you fail to prepare, then prepare to fail. Read my blog on skin preparation here.

So back to using your skincare in the correct order. Using the right skincare is great but, if you haven’t sufficiently prepared your skin, then you are wasting your time, money and products.
At home you need to prepare your skin with cleansing, toning and exfoliating…
Every.
Single.
Day.
This process should only take 2 minutes. I feel I need to insert a disclaimer here *understand that I’m talking about chirally corrected cosmeceuticals (products that are concentrated and active but non irritating and prescribed by a skin specialist – that’s me), not cosmetic products (don’t be blinded by their pretty, bright or shiny packaging, catchy names, marketing campaigns with celebrities to distract you from the lack of active ingredients, amongst an abundance of alcohols, colours and fragrances – but they are so pretty and cheap…hmm). You definitely do not want to increase the absorption of these inferior, sometimes harmful products.

Step 1. CLEANSING removes dirt, sunscreen, makeup and pollution from the skin. Cleansing is the single most important step, as it removes these impurities from the skin and sets your skin up to receive all the important ingredients that are to follow. If your cleanser is too astringent it will dehydrate your skin, decrease absorption and increase reactions. So getting the right cleanser for your skin is vital and why we have so many different cleansers to choose from.

Step 2. TONERS have come a long way from the 80s alcohol filled toners that gave your skin a squeaky clean feel, but caused long term skin dryness and irritation. The right toner will literally help transport the active ingredients found in your serums, through the skin’s barrier. Uber for your skin. We have toners for oily skin, for thickened skin and even a toner for prematurely ageing skin with pumpkin enzymes!

Step 3. EXFOLIATE, now I’m not telling you to scrub your face, every single day – definitely not! There are 3 types of exfoliation; granular, enzymatic and acids, and each has its place for the right skin. Probably another conversation for another blog.
As far as daily exfoliation goes, I’m referring to Alpha hydroxy acids (AHA), these miracle molecules not only gently exfoliate but literally penetrate your skin’s barrier to create and attach water providing instant hydration, firming, plumping, smoothing and radiance for your skin. And it’s super simple to apply; no scrubbing, no messy removal process, no time wasting. Our top selling AHA comes formulated as a night time cream that drip feeds your skin chirally corrected acids, so you wake with glowing smooth skin. And when your skin is happy, hydrated and healthy it accepts serums readily.

Step. 4 SERUMS are like moisturisers, not! A moisturiser sits on the surface of your skin and acts as a protective barrier, where serums absorb into the skin’s layers to correct and fix your skin concerns. There is almost a serum for every single skin condition that either prevents future damage or fixes your current skin woes and this is why I have 5 serums in my personal skincare routine. One that acts like b.tox in a bottle to prevent wrinkles, one that reduces redness and inflammation, one that prevents brown spots, one that is a potent cocktail of antioxidants to prevent premature ageing and one that stimulates collagen to reverse the visible effects of ageing. Unfortunately the more skin concerns you have, the more serums you need and once you see the results, it becomes an addiction (I should know).

Step 4. MOISTURISE I’ve always said “if you’re using the right combination of serums you shouldn’t need a moisturiser”. As old habits die hard and moisturisers do feel really nice on the skin, it’s ok to use a cosmeceutical moisturiser, as long as you aren’t solely relying on it to miraculously fix your skin concerns and prevent future damage.

Step 5. SUNSCREENS have come a long way. You won’t find any greasy, thick, white sunscreens at The Aesthetic Lounge. We only use and recommend sunscreens that are designed for facial skin, fortified with moisturisers, broad spectrum SPF 15 or higher and feel really, really nice.
It goes without saying, if you live in Australia – wear sunscreen, because prevention is easier than fixing the damage, read our blog on sunscreens here.

You can book your Discovery Facial here, and learn how to maximise your skincare with our skin experts.

Written by Yasmine

Yasmine is a mother, a wife, co-founder of The Aesthetic Lounge and is a Cosmetic Dermal Therapist (aka passionate skin specialist). She is 37, but you wouldn’t know it and when she started her career in skin almost 20 years ago, her skin was reactive, stripped, had rosacea, melasma and was covered in freckles and sun damage, but, through consistency, correct treatments and cosmeceutical skincare all these skin woes are now a memory of the past. Yasmine believes in; looking good for your age and not trying to look another age.