Creating a Skincare Routine You Love

When we’ve asked our family, friends, and customers about their skincare routine and preferences, we’ve heard everything from “I do literally nothing to my face!” to a 5+ step routine with a variety of brands and products. If you’re happy with how your skin feels and have no reason to change, this is not the post for you. But if you’ve thought “Should I have a skincare routine?” or “How do I figure out which products to use in what order?!”, read on for our thoughts!

If you’ve spent any time on social media or seen any beauty product ads pop up, you’ve probably felt the pressure to have a specific, complex skincare routine. You’ve heard promises of perfectly even skin, blemishes disappearing, and balanced oil production. Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as pulling out your credit card and buying yet another skincare product.

Before considering which specific products to use daily, we encourage you to consider your mindset around skincare. For us, we see it as a beautiful honoring of the body that God has given us. It’s an opportunity to appreciate His creation of human skin and the nourishing properties of the plants, oils, and fats that make up the serum or cream. And taking a few minutes at the beginning & end of our day to care for our skin can remind us to slow down and be present.

Skin is highly personal and individual, just like everything else about us. Before crafting a routine, ask yourself a few questions about your current skin and skincare:

• Does your skin tend to be oily, dry, combination (both oily and dry), or sensitive?
• Does it change with the seasons or monthly with hormone shifts?
• Do you like the time your routine takes? Would you prefer a shorter routine that you can be consistent with, or a few extra steps that give you those moments of peace while caring for the body God has given you?
• Do you like the products you’re using right now? If not, what don’t you like?

The most important part of choosing products and creating an intentional routine is being realistic with your own priorities, personality, and motivations. Do you want the simplest, fastest option because you find yourself ditching complex routines after a few days? Or do you thrive on a several step routine that helps you feel refreshed and confident?

After thinking about your individual needs and preferences, you can confidently build a routine that works for you. We suggest starting with less, then introducing new products as desired. Ideally you can try them one at a time, so you can evaluate how your skin reacts. If the brand offers small/trial/travel sizes, those can be a good way to test without spending money on a full-size product (or having a lot of partially-used bottles sitting in your bathroom).

Possible Steps in a Skincare Routine:

Skincare products fall into a few categories, based on their purpose. This also dictates the best order to use them in. We’ll highlight some options we like for each step below.

Cleanser:

• Removes dirt, oil, makeup and other impurities from the skin.
• Our Favorite Options - a tallow soap, oil-to-milk cleanser, or oil cleanser.

Exfoliant:

• Removes dead cells, unclogs pores, and softens skin.
• Can be physical (i.e. salt, sugar, jojoba beads, pumice, seed/nut powder or shells, etc) or chemical (AHAs, BHAs, etc)
• Our Favorite Options - a gentle washcloth or our Tallow Facial Scrub.

Toner/Hydrosol:

• Restores skin’s pH balance (toner) or adds hydration (hydrosol).
• Prepares skin for accepting serums and moisturizers.
• Our Favorite Options - a rose hydrosol (also known as rose water).
• If you are looking for a simpler routine, this is a step that can be skipped.
  • Note: If you are using a moisturizer that does not contain water, make sure you splash water on your skin instead (see note in Moisturizer section below).

Serum/Facial Oil:

• Higher concentration of active ingredients to target specific skin concerns like lines, dark spots, dull skin and more.
• These can differ between your morning and evening routines.
• Our Favorite Options - Brighten Vitamin C Serum and Rejuvenate Facial Tallow with Bakuchiol (a serum + moisturizer combo)

Moisturizer:

• Hydrates (adds water to) the skin.
  • If you are using a water-based moisturizer, the water will usually be the first ingredient in the list. Note that these require emulsifiers and preservatives since they will grow bacteria and mold otherwise.
  • If you are using an anhydrous (waterless) moisturizer or balm, make sure you apply to damp skin to trap that water in and avoid skin dehydration.
• Creates a protective barrier that keeps water in.
• Nourishes and soothes the skin. Improves skin elasticity.
• Our Favorite Options - Vanilla Bean Tallow or Rejuvenate Facial Tallow. We prefer the Vanilla Bean in the morning and Rejuvenate at night.

How should you choose from these steps? Here are 3 example routines -

SIMPLE AND FAST:

Morning & Night

Step 1: Cleanser (or just pure water in the morning)

Step 2: Moisturizer

THE MIDDLE GROUND:

Morning 

Step 1: Cleanser (or pure water)

Step 2: Serum/Facial Oil

Step 3: Moisturizer

Night

Step 1: Cleanser

Optional: 1-3x a week - Exfoliant

Step 2: Serum/Facial Oil

Step 3: Moisturizer

COMPREHENSIVE:

Morning

Step 1: Cleanser (or pure water)

Step 2: Toner/Hydrosol

Step 3: Serum/Facial Oil

Step 4: Moisturizer

Night

Step 1: Cleanser

Step 2: Exfoliant (1-3x a week)

Step 3: Toner/Hydrosol

Step 4: Serum/Facial Oil

Step 5: Moisturizer

Skincare should feel natural, simple, and consistent with your priorities and personality! Next time you're tempted to feel guilty for not having a textbook routine or using all the right products, remember that it's completely personal. If you want to use one or two products, and it's working for your skin, embrace that and don't let yourself be pressured into more.

If you have questions for us about your routine or products, please feel free to email us at hello@schneidergoodsco.com or DM us on Instagram.