Minimalist skincare: Know how to deal with different skin types and build a routine

We are living in times when a number of skincare trends, brands and products have rendered us conscious of our skin health. While this has enhanced people's information, it has also puzzled them about choosing a routine best suited for their skin. The trend has also pushed many to take up a minimalistic skincare method.

According to Dr. Kaustav Guha, director of R&D division, SkinKraft Labs defines minimalist skincare as a simple and easy-to-follow basic yet effective routine, comprising only few products for maintaining a healthy and glowing skin.

"As a significant proportion of modern population remains busy with their daily work schedule, they like quick care routines that are easy to follow. A complicated, time-consuming and expensive skincare routine is not only difficult to follow, but it also makes people reluctant over time," she adds.

Moreover, similar to many other skincare trends, the Covid-19 pandemic was also instrumental in boosting skin minimalism. According to Dr. Geetika Mittal Gupta, aesthetic physician and founder of Isaac Luxe, the fad rose to popularity among Indians, who were nearly trying everything to make their beauty routine enjoyable, straightforward, and uncomplicated amid the lockdown quarantine.

Guha also highlights the affordability factor, which plays a vital role in streamlining the skincare routine in India. "Instead of buying multiple expensive products, here people prefer going for two-three suitable products to keep their skincare affordable. Therefore, a minimalist approach is more popular and is considered more practical, affordable, feasible, and enjoyable among Indians."

What are the essential steps in a minimalist skincare routine?

For minimalist skincare, you must choose skincare steps and products according to your skin type and specific skin needs. Guha elucidates on five steps to skincare, which play a vital role in keeping the skin healthy and beautiful:

Step - 1: Cleansing: Cleansing is essential to remove all impurities and allow your skin to absorb the skincare products. Proper skin cleansing with a suitable cleanser twice a day (once in the morning and once at the end of the day) is optimum. Get a cleaning gel, facewash, or cleansing milk to remove sweat, dirt, pollutants, etc. Use it in the morning and night before bed. Without proper cleansing, your skin can become oily, dull, and even prone to acne.

Step - 2: Exfoliation: Choose a gentle exfoliator to remove dead skin cells from your skin surface and provide clean, even-looking skin. Ideally, an exfoliator is not an everyday thing. You can use it once or twice a week.

Step - 3: Moisturising: Moisturising is an integral step after cleansing. It forms a skin barrier, or a layer to retain natural hydration, maintain healthy cells and protect your skin cells. Different components of moisturisers provide multiple benefits. For example, while hyaluronic acid can help hydrate the skin and improve its appearance, vitamin C has antioxidant properties and helps brighten the skin.

Step - 4: Using sunscreen: Sunscreen is an essential skincare step. It helps protect skin from harmful effects of UV ray exposure, such as tan, sunburn, dull skin, and even skin cancer.

Step - 5: Nourishment with Essence/ Serums/ Oils: Add an extra glow and shine to your skin by nourishing it with antioxidants, vitamins, etc. You can use essential oils or serums of your choice for this.

There is hype about the ten-step Korean skincare or multiple-step routine involving essential oils, serums and an array of products. Amid these, how does minimalist routine stand out, and why is it important?

According to Guha, choosing too many products for your daily skincare routine can make the whole process complicated, time-consuming and challenging to follow and can also damage your skin instead of improving it. In contrast, choosing minimalist skincare over a multi-step skincare routine has multiple benefits:

1. When you use several products every day, the ingredients of different products can interfere with each other and ultimately lessen the effects of a particular product.

2. Reactions between different ingredients can create problems with your skin's condition.

3. A complicated regular skincare regimen can damage your natural skin barrier. This condition can lead to multiple issues like an imbalance of your skin's natural pH, etc.

4. The application of too many products can irritate your skin, triggering skin issues.

While a 10-step routine can be a bit too much, Gupta notes that the Japanese beauty regime, which serves as an inspiration for minimalism, consists of only three steps - cleanse, hydrate and seal. The Japanese believe that quality is what counts, not the number.

Also read: Simple skincare: Experts share insights on face masks for different skin types

How does one identify the right products and ingredients for a minimalistic routine?

Both Guha and Gupta stress on the need to identifying the products based on one's kin type and also understanding the varied seasonal needs of the skin.

Guha elaborates on suitable products according to the skin type:

For dry skin:

If your skin is dry, you must look for deeply hydrating products. Go for a gentle, creamy face cleanser that removes dirt without stripping out the natural oil and moisture. Instead of a thick and heavy moisturiser, look for one that contains skin barrier repairing ingredients. A serum with lactic acid can help you resolve dryness by repairing the moisture barrier.

Oily skin:

A cleanser with an oil-control formula, followed by a super light moisturising gel, will keep your skin moisturised without making it oily. For daily serum, look for products with hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, and salicylic acids to control excess oil secretion.

Acne-prone skin:

Instead of acne-focused, strong chemical-loaded cleansers, go for a gentle, gel cleanser. For acne-prone skin, toner plays a vital role. Select an alcohol-free toner to clean the pores. Use a hydrating and soothing moisturiser along with acne-controlling or spot-treatment serum.

Normal skin:

Select a mild facewash or cleansing milk and a light moisturising cream. When adding a serum, look for one with five percent niacinamide and one percent hyaluronic acid for proper hydration.

Additionally, while too many products can negate the effects and worsen skin problems, Gupta suggests one must steer clear of foamy face cleansers with sulphates. She also cautions of double cleansing, which is only suggested when removing makeup and some acne cleansers, which contain potent chemicals and abrasive ingredients. She suggests using an antimicrobial exfoliating gel cleanser instead to clear up your pores while still nourishing your skin; it has anti-inflammatory properties that will help to relieve acne issues.

What is the testing period of a product? How long must one wait to evaluate the efficiency of a product effectively?

Experts say skincare products do not work instantly and need some time to show desired results. Factors like one's skin type, product category and ingredients define the testing period of a product, which is not the same for all types of products. According to Gupta, skin cells typically last 28 days before shedding and the skincare process begins in the dermal layer before reaching the skin's surface. During the skin cycle, cells go through four stages: dry, improving, glowing, and oily. Because it's unusual for all skin cells to enter the same phase at the same time, you can have sporadic pimples or dry patches throughout the course of those 28 days.

According to Guha, it generally takes about four weeks for skin cells to turn over. Most of the products take about one month to reflect noticeable outcomes. Depending on the product type, Guha notes the approximate waiting period for the following products to evaluate their efficiency:

1. Cleansers usually need three to four weeks to show an improvement. As you apply a cleanser once or twice a day, but for a limited period of time, it takes about a month to show the effects of its ingredients.

2. Serum also takes from six to eight weeks to show results. Moreover, over-the-counter products take longer to show effect than prescribed ones. As dermatologists know which ingredient at which amount is most effective for your skin condition, prescribed serums show faster results.

3. Moisturisers are comparatively fast in showing results. One can instantly notice the change. For the complete result of other ingredients, you must wait about two to three weeks.

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