Cleanse-

cleansing is very important and needs to be done daily in the AM and PM. This step removes the dirt that is accumulated on the skin, cell debri ( your skin is constantly going through turnover and dead cells are shredded), products applied to the skin, excess oil produced by the skin itself, pollutants from the environment, etc. During cleansing, there is a complex interaction between the cleanser, the moisture skin barrier, and skin pH. Choosing the right cleanser based on your skin type is important. Cleansing with water, soap, or a liquid cleanser, will all affect the moisture skin barrier. For example, soap will bring about the greatest changes to the barrier and increase skin pH and an alkaline pH is not good for skin health. Liquid facial cleansers are gentler, affecting less disruption of the barrier, with minimal change to skin pH. The ideal pH range for skin is 4.7 to 5.75. Skin maintains its barrier best at pH 5.5.

Protection:

Sun exposure without protection is one of the prime factors contributing to skin damage contributing to premature aging and more importantly skin cancer. Doctors believe that most skin cancers can be avoided by preventing sun damage.

Staying out of the sun is the best way to avoid sun damage. Other precautions include using sunscreen, wearing protective clothing, and avoiding sunlight between 10.00 AM and 4.00 PM when UV rays are strongest. The immediate danger of too much sun is sunburn. If you looked at sunburned skin under a strong microscope, you would see that the cells and blood vessels have been damaged. With repeated sun damage, the skin starts to look dry, wrinkled, discolored, and leathery. Although the skin appears to be thicker, it actually has been weakened.

Sunscreen works by blocking and absorbing UV rays through a combination of physical and chemical particles. Physical particles, such as zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, are used to reflect UV radiation from the skin. At the same time, complex chemical ingredients in sunscreen react with radiation before it penetrates the skin, absorbing the rays and releasing the energy as heat. A combination of blocking and absorbing UV radiation is especially important to combat both UVB and UVA rays which cause skin cancer and premature aging. Another factor to consider in sunscreen is the sun protection factor or SPF. It refers to how much longer it takes for UVB rays to redden the skin with sunscreen compared to without sunscreen. For example, an SPF of 15 means it will take 15 times longer for skin to burn while using the product compared to without the product.

Moisturizer-

Skin needs to feel drunk all the time. The right time and the right way to apply the moisturizers hold the key to maximum benefits. Except for humectants and hydrophilic ( water attracting ) products which can absorb water from the atmosphere or underlying skin layers, the more commonly used occlusive oils should be applied on moist skin. Right after cleansing, the skin is moist and its capacity to absorb the ingredients is very high. Table 1 shows the distinction between emollients, humectants, occlusives, and peptides that are all known for their moisturizing and skin-improving properties that are referred to in Table 2.
Moisturizers improve skin barrier repair, maintain skin integrity and appearance by acting as humectants, emollients, and occlusives, each with its own mechanism of action. Moisturizers improve skin hydration and increase stratum corneum ( layer of skin) water content by directly providing water to the skin from their water phase and increasing occlusion to reduce trans-epidermal water loss, it also covers small skin fissures, provides a soothing protective film, and protects skin from friction. Furthermore, moisturizer application smooths skin surface by filling spaces between partially desquamated skin flakes and restores the ability of the intercellular lipid bilayers to absorb, retain and redistribute water.

Treatment:

‘Treatment’ here is being referred to any product that is needed to improve a specific property of the skin resulting in healthier skin. For example, reduce wrinkles, increase hydration, strengthen the skin barrier, scavenge the free radicals, boost collagen synthesis, etc. while we cleanse, Moisturizer, and protect the skin during the daytime, we treat the skin to enhance its properties resulting in a healthier. Retinol boosts collagen synthesis and prevents wrinkle formation, antioxidants- vitamins C, E scavenge free radicals formed in the skin. Peptides have amino acids that help in the restoration of collagen and elastin and improve skin structure. Ceramides help in repairing the skin barrier. Prebiotics help in maintaining the skin microbiome which in turn helps with the hydration of skin along with many other factors. Based on the skin type, skin health, and age, the treatment to be used might vary not only in the type of treatment but also in the quantity of the treatment used. For example, compared to normal skin, the products to be used for dry skin must have very high amounts of humectant. Likewise compared to normal skin, oily skin might need niacinamide to reduce skin pore size. Mature skin needs optimal and proven concentration of the ingredients used as treatments.