One of the best and most important ways to avoid skin damage, dark circles, and signs of aging over time is to make sure you have a daily, effective skincare regimen that’s as habitual as brushing your teeth.  Your regimen should include a variety of skincare products to ensure your skin is hydrated, glowing, and healthy. But it can be hard to know which products are best. That’s why we created this guide.

If you already have the skin care basics, this guide can help you guarantee you’ve got everything you need. If you don’t have a skincare routine at all, here’s some information to get you started.

Use Sunscreen Daily

It might seem pointless, but using a broad-spectrum sunscreen daily is one of the best ways to prevent things like sun damage and general wear on your skin over time. Why? Because even if it isn’t sunny out, UV rays can damage your skin. It doesn’t matter whether you have a lighter or darker skin tone, sensitive or dry skin, oily or dull skin, or combination skin, sun protection is vital.

There are a variety of sunscreen formulas; choose the one you like best. Wearing sunscreen daily ensures you’re protecting yourself from sun damage and decreasing your risk of skin cancer.

Hyaluronic Acid

You’ve likely heard of hyaluronic acid. It’s in many different skin care products and in the dermal fillers you can find at J. Sweat Plastic Surgery. One of the best ways to replenish dehydrated skin is to add products containing hyaluronic acid to your skin care routine.

Your body contains this substance naturally, but by adding more, you ensure your skin will retain moisture since hyaluronic acid is considered a humectant. This means it draws moisture from the environment into the skin for increased hydration.

Include Growth Factors

Growth factors do a lot of good things for your skin. They essentially jumpstart your skin’s natural process of rejuvenation, which includes replicating skin cells, reducing swelling and inflammation, and boosting collagen production.

Growth factors can be a natural treatment for multiple concerns like wrinkles, dark spots, and laxity. And since they are already found in your skin factors,  they generally work great with any skin type.

Treat and Prevent Acne with Retin-A

You might have heard of tretinoin, which is an effective acne treatment many individuals add to their skincare routine. It’s a type of Retin-A, a substance that affects the growth of skin cells. Retin-A regulates the skin cycle so you don’t have dead skin cells on your skin that often end up clogging pores and leading to acne. Retin-A can be effective at decreasing inflammation as well.

Sometimes prescribed by aestheticians to patients planning to undergo skin treatments like chemical peels, Retin-A can help quickly produce new, healthy skin cells. If you struggle with troublesome acne, be sure to include this in your skincare regimen.

Use Hydroquinone to Fight Keratosis

Hydroquinone can have some great benefits for your skin when it comes to keratosis or a build-up of keratin. Keratin is generally found in the hair and nails and can cause unfavorable issues on the skin, like bumps, scales, or lesions. Hydroquinone can be highly effective at removing keratin and fighting off keratosis caused by sun damage or exposure to certain chemicals.

Avoid Damage to Your Skin

This is one of the most important steps and can come in many forms. Avoiding sun exposure by covering up and wearing sunscreen can do wonders for keeping your skin healthy and functioning. Quitting smoking can also do a lot to benefit your skin. Smoking works against your skin in many ways, including reducing the blood flow to your skin cells and depleting important nutrients that help your skin rejuvenate itself. This is why many smokers tend to appear to age faster than those who don’t. It’s also why many plastic surgeons recommend patients don’t smoke before or after their procedure.

If you’re looking to take your skincare regimen to the next level, we offer proven SkinMedica® products to help your skin thrive. Contact our office with any questions.