AN AESTHETIC THERAPISTS SKINCARE SURVIVAL GUIDE

Our skincare routines are more important than ever before. With aesthetic treatments on hold, we need to be using products that will temporarily tide us over. To give our skin the best chance of staying fresh and healthy, we asked aesthetic therapist Hannah to give us her ultimate survival guide!

The last few weeks of isolation has not only taken its toll on us mentally, but physically as well. Now I don’t just mean becoming couch potatoes!

In fact, our skin has been changing a lot more than you would imagine. This means one thing…we need to be on top form with our daily skincare and cleansing routines and not bypassing this because we’ve technically not changed out of our PJ’s. Below I have designed a skincare survival guide for you to refer to whilst you’re unable to receive your regular treatments at the clinic:

Skincare Tips:

Water, water, water! I know a lot of us will have subconsciously been increasing our tea and coffee intake over the isolation period, but we must not forget to still hit our recommended daily intake of 2litres! This helps to flush our bodies through and rehydrate the skin as we spend more time indoors with our central heating turned up.

For a deep cleanse, hot steamy baths and showers are good to clear out and decongest blocked pores. The steam will open your pores and loosen any build up of dirt.

DIY Skin Peels:

Skin peels promote cell turnover, leaving you with brighter, smoother and healthier looking skin. We can do this ourselves by introducing a retinol into our regime like the Obagi Retinol products which contain Vitamin A to kickstart exfoliation. It should be noted some Retinols will cause slight flaking of the skin, this is nothing to shy away from as it’s simply making way to reveal your new rejuvenated skin.

Skincare Safety:

A lot of us may be guilty of reaching for our new products daily with the hope of instant results. However, it is important that we do not overuse retinols and acids as these are active. You should be aiming to use these products 2-3 times a week. In moderation these products can give fantastic results but if used incorrectly (such as too often) these can result in skin irritation, post inflammatory hypopigmentation and dryness. To avoid this, all exfoliating products should be used alongside a hydrating cream.

With the welcome arrival of some lovely weather, we should not be forgetting to use an SPF on a daily basis. Think of an SPF as a shield for your skin. As our skin is a living organism it needs to be sheltered from harmful UVA and UVB rays that we come into contact with daily, the Heliocare range is my favourite for sun protection products that you can trust.