Good cosmetic skin care sets the pace and sets the stage for everything you could want, now and in the future, for your face. It’s that easy. You can make a world of difference in how your skin looks and feels, starting today and at very little expense, by following some very simple basic principles. Just say yes”. It is never too late and it is always convenient to take better care of your skin. And here’s the best part: The same efforts that tend to create better-looking skin also create healthier skin overall. It’s a “win-win”! There’s even a third “win”: Your healthier, better-looking skin will respond better in almost every way to any procedure your esthetician or plastic surgeon also wants to perform for you. The best place to start is not with that amazing, mystical, “must have” product on TV that “works instantly” and is “not available in stores.”

It is a personalized evaluation and treatment plan by a certified esthetician or plastic surgeon. Typically, this will include recommendations for in-office treatments, home care guidelines, and skin care products. There are actually some great products out there, but unfortunately, many product claims are exaggerations. While there is usually at least some truth to what they say, the ingredients aren’t as important as having someone you trust to guide you along the way. The best estheticians and plastic surgeons who truly understand and believe in proper cosmetic skin care know that there are some simple general basics that everyone should follow, appropriately tailored to meet individual needs, for good cosmetic skin care.

Cleaning: what to use and how, every day. A mild cleanser with glycolic acid twice daily is a great basic, giving you a deep clean and a bit of exfoliation (see below) without significant mechanical trauma. Examples of quality products: Revision – Brightening Wash, or Glytone – Daily Facial Cleanser. It should be a gentle wash, not a powerful scrub. Rinse, then gently pat dry (not a “towel version” of dermabrasion!) with a thoroughly clean towel. In general, cleansing should be followed by the application of an antioxidant and then lastly, your moisturizer as the final step to “seal it all in.”

Hydration: what science has revealed really works. Hyaluronic Acid, Glycerin, Shea Butter, and Niacin have all been shown to be trusted compounds that work extremely well to plump and hydrate the skin. Products that contain any of these ingredients are the best option. Hydration also helps strengthen the skin’s ability to “lock in” moisture and maintain good elasticity and tone. Hydration becomes more important with aging when the skin begins to need even more protection against drying out. Those who are more exposed to cold and wind also need to be more focused on this aspect of their skin health. Examples of quality products: Obagi – Therapeutic Moisturizer (Glycerin) or Nia 24 – Skin Strengthening Complex (Niacin). Twice daily application is the minimum recommendation. Proper hydration is also directly related to proper overall body hydration (see below).

Protection – Keys: antioxidants and sunscreens. Antioxidants protect against environmental damage (like those nasty “free radicals”) and also help repair this type of damage – this is how antioxidants work to slow down skin aging. Kinetin, idebenone, vitamin C, vitamin E, and green tea extract all belong to this family and are the ingredients you should see somewhere on that label. Recommended use of antioxidants: twice a day. Examples of quality products: Kinerase (kinetin), Prevage (idebenone), or Obagi – Vitamin C Serum (15% Vitamin C). Sunscreens work best to help your skin if they block both UVA (aging rays) and UVB (skin cancer rays).

Recommended use of sunscreen: apply as a final step in skin care each morning. During the summer months, sunscreens should be reapplied every 2 hours, as their effectiveness drops to zero during this short period of time. Metal-based or “physical blockers” (such as zinc or titanium oxide) are preferred over “chemical blockers” (such as PABA or oxybenzone). The oxides block better since they reflect those harmful rays; chemical blockers work primarily by absorbing the rays. Oxides also have less overall risk of skin irritation and allergy-like problems. Examples of quality products: Obagi – Sunshield SPF 50 (zinc oxide), or MD Solar Sciences Lotion SPF 50 (zinc and titanium oxides).

Good Hydration and Nutrition – healthier skin, from the inside out. What you put on your skin is more important than what you put on it. Almost no one hydrates more than they should. Do you really drink 5-6 full glasses of water a day? Well, that’s what you need! Sorry, coffee doesn’t count! Proper hydration of the body may be the simplest, easiest, and most important thing you can do to stay healthy, and yet it is probably the most neglected aspect of most people’s health regimens. And proper skin hydration depends more on its overall hydration state than the number of times you apply a moisturizer.

A healthy diet fuels a healthy body, and your skin is one of your body’s largest “organs,” receiving about 20% of your body’s total blood supply. A diet that includes good amounts of grains, nuts, fruits, and vegetables will provide your skin with a steady stream of youth-preserving, age-defying omega-3s, “good” fats, beta-carotene, and important skin-friendly vitamins A, C, E and B complex. The respect these powerful and especially healthy foods deserve has resulted in much greater emphasis on them by the medical community in recent years. Just this month (June 2011) the old “food pyramid” will retire: the new guidelines recommend that we all can benefit from having better daily servings of grains, nuts, fruits and vegetables.

Exfoliation (mechanical or chemical): the not-so-secret “secret” to true skin renewal! Exfoliation has many benefits, but its real secret (and what it does best) lies in how it directly stimulates the growth of new cells from the deepest layers of the skin upwards. The freshest, smoothest and youngest skin cells are recruited to the surface. In other words, exfoliation causes true renewal and rejuvenation of the skin. Mechanical exfoliation products remove blemishes, smooth, and improve skin texture, tone, and discolorations. Example of a quality product: Nia 24 – Physical cleansing scrub (with jojoba “pearls”).

Recommended use: after cleansing, 2 – 3 times a week maximum, with circular movements. More and better advances can be made by combining this “at-home peel” with the in-office mechanical peel procedure popularly known as microdermabrasion, performed by your esthetician about once a month. Chemical peels encourage the sloughing off of the dead outer layers of skin, smoothing fine lines and wrinkles and improving tone. They also help “facilitate” the absorption of other topical products that we want to introduce into the skin.

The most studied, trusted, and overall best chemical exfoliants are alpha hydroxy acids (such as lactic acid and glycolic acid) and Retin-A. Examples of quality products: Obagi Tretinoin (Retin-A, 0.05%) or Obagi – Exfoderm Forte (lactic and glycolic acids). In addition to its exfoliating effects, Retin-A (a form of vitamin A) also increases collagen production and plumps up skin cells. Recommended use of Retin-A: every night, after cleansing. Again, more and better progress can be made if your esthetician also performs facial chemical peels for you in the office about once a month. Office peels like Obagi – Blue Peel Radiance (glycolic, lactic and salicylic acids) or Glytone (glycolic acid) are among the best.