Feeling Helpless About Your Skin Care Routine? Find Out If You Should Be Doing More
Tired of feeling helpless about your skin care routine? Do you find yourself comparing your skin care routine to your friends, your co-workers, or models in the magazines? I beg you, please stop. I know, I know, that’s easier said than done, but it really is a waste of time. Every single person is different with different skin types, conditions, and needs.
When I first started giving facials I would ask my client what their skin care routine consisted of. A lot of times my clients would happily give me a detailed list, but more often than not, there would be a pause and my client would say with an exasperated sigh, “not enough”. I always felt like they were waiting for me to scold and punish them for such an offense. I could feel the embarrassment and shame dripping off them. “Am I doing enough skincare?” I could see that they felt helpless knowing what they should be doing for skin care. Who to listen to when there is so many opinions, news articles, and posts about skin care.
I don’t ask my clients anymore because I was tired of watching my clients go through the remorse and guilt. The guilt of now knowing what was appropriate or what my expectations were.
Skin Care Routine Is Personal
What is “not enough”? This is a hard question to answer because every single person is different. What may be enough for one person may not be for another. A good rule of thumb is less is more. I have found with myself, my family, and my clients that the more simple we make our skin care routine, the more balanced our skin becomes.
If you are sitting around thinking that you aren’t doing enough skin care steps in your routine. I want you to stop and ask yourself a question. Why do you feel like this? Is it because you are battling extreme issues that just won’t go away, no matter what you do, like breakouts or excessively dry skin? Or is it because your neighbor next door berated you for not following the hot new trend that involves 20 plus steps and products? Or is it every time you flip through a magazine there is an ad for a skin care product for a step that you didn’t even know existed (there is a pre-cleanse to a cleanse? Um).
End The Feelings of Helplessness Now
Don’t beat yourself up because you don’t think you are doing enough. Most of the time, you are probably doing the exact right thing for you. We are all different and have different skin types with different needs. Your skin is one smart puppy and it knows how to take care of itself. We never question our hearts or our livers if they need us to help them function, why question our amazing skin if knows it’s job? Phew, this is load off, right? It’s ok to question if you are doing the correct ingredients for your skin type and conditions but the steps you take to get healthy skin shouldn’t be a worry. Your skin changes from day to day, season to season so healthy skin is more about doing what is right for your skin, not about how many steps the latest fad told you to do.
Learn to communicate with your skin. Usually, it will tell you when it needs something. Sometimes that means backing away and letting it heal itself or it could be telling you it needs more love and attention. Become best friends with your skin and learn to really listen to what it has to say. You may learn a lot.
