1. Less is more Treat your skin like an intractable teenager; the best skincare routine strikes a delicate balance between providing for its needs and giving it the freedom to do its own thing. The skin has three needs: cleansing, exfoliating, hydration, and protection. Otherwise, let it breathe, let it heal, let it produce oil (oil is good for your skin).


2. Gently does it It's called skincare for a reason. Treat your skin lovingly, don't abuse it. Use cool water to cleanse, a clean towel and pat (don't rub) dry, use eye makeup remover when necessary (instead of rubbing with cleanser), avoid harsh ingredients, apply products lightly (again, no rubbing).


3. Cleanse should be thorough at removing makeup and grime, without stripping, and when rinsed, leave no film on the skin. If you wear tough eye makeup, I would recommend investing in a separate eye makeup remover like Lancôme Bi-Facil to facilitate the process, and avoid rubbing unnecessarily at delicate eye skin. Outstanding products, from the most emollient balm to a luxurious Japanese foam: LUSH Ultrabland (very delicate skin), Shu Uemura Cleansing Oil (balancing and effective), Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser (a perennial favorite), Johnson's Head-to-Toe Baby Wash (the best foaming gel, without any harshness), and Shiseido Benefiance Creamy Cleansing Foam (the ultimate lather). I do not like medicated or exfoliating cleansers because of the dangers they pose to the eyes.


4. Exfoliate Exfoliators are an amorphous category; they can take the form of a cleanser (physical scrubs), treatments and moisturizers (chemicals like BHAs or AHAs or vitamin C), sponges and mitts (like a viscose cloth or muslin squares) or even masks (often a combination of physical and chemical). They can be very gentle, like Dr. Hauschka Cleansing Cream (almond meal pressed into the skin with water) or Remede Sweep (microfine marble powder), or very powerful, like Bliss Labs Pore Refining Facial Scrub and La Prairie Retexturizing Booster. Due to the delicacy of my skin, I have yet to find an exfoliant that, in short, does not do horrible things to my skin, but I'm hoping Primavera Refining Exfoliating Cleanser, combined with an electric tooth brush, might be an exception.


5. Hydrate There are so many moisturizers out there! But here are some I like. Kiehl's Blue Herbal Moisturizer has a very light, noncomedogenic, medicated gel-lotion perfect for acne-prone skin. For oily but not acne prone skin, Decléor Ylang Ylang Aromaessence, though it's an oil, really normalizes oily skin and controls excess sebum. I think Better Botanicals Dandelion Moisturizer is the ideal weight for combination or normal skin. For normal to dry skin, Kiehl's Ultra Facial is a tried and true classic. For very dry skin, La Prairie Time Release Intensive Moisturizer can't be beat. Myself, I am interested in Embryolisse Lait-Cr`me Concentré, but have yet to try it. You may need more than one moisturizer, depending on how temperamental your skin is.


6. Protect A good sunscreen, like Olay Complete, is a necessity. The only true anti-ager. To be frank, I haven't found a sunscreen that doesn't smell bad or have a nasty texture, so I never wear any. Very bad, I know.


7. Treat If maintenance is not enough, and your skin still misbehaves, secondary skincare may be necessary. For generally lackluster skin, I have had great success with Jurlique Herbal Recovery Gel (techinically a treatment, but I've been using it as a summerweight moisturizer); it's like a vitamin for the skin. Those who need something stronger may prefer La Prairie Retexturizing Booster or Awake Vital Express (AHAs/BHAs and vitamin C, respectively), which will also double as anti-acne agents. For senstivity or dryness, Burt's Bees Repair Serum is really remarkable, and so simple. My mother loves this as well.

Labels: awake, beauty notes, better botanicals, bliss, burt's bees, cetaphil, decleor, dr. hauschka, johnson's, jurlique, kiehl's, la prairie, LUSH, minimalism, olay, remede, shiseido, shu uemura, skin