The Road to Your Best Skin

Maintaining your skin is a lifelong commitment.

We know that, sure, but that doesn’t mean we always take the steps necessary to maintain it.

I spend a lot of time hanging with my friends – who also happen to be beauty writers – and shockingly enough, skin issues come up. We all know we should take care of our skin, but all of us have individual processes for going about it. No one is wrong, it’s just a very personal process.

But once you find your “road”, taking care of the skin is just like taking care of the body – it becomes part of a lifestyle.

We chatted with renowned skincare expert Ling Chan, and she agreed: It is important to dedicate time to your customized plan to help achieve great skin. As for what that plan should be, Ling gave some awesome advice to get us started.

1. Get an expert monthly facial to clean the pores of impurities. Heavy makeup and our bodies natural 28 day cycle leads to clogged pores. In order to maintain a healthy complexion and get the most benefits from your products, it is important to go in for a pore cleaning every month to six weeks.

2. Having discipline when it comes to your at-home regimen and weekly maintenance. If you do not go in for regular facials this is even more important to maintain your skin’s health. (I always fail at this. It’s a bad, bad, beauty editor that every few days forgets she owns toner.)

3. Making healthy lifestyle choices when it comes to:

a. Proper Bedtime (11pm is recommended as this aligns with the body’s natural sleep cycle).

b. Limit Alcohol intake. Alcohol can negatively impact the skin and may contribute to broken capillaries, acne, and interruptions in your skin care regimen (ex: not washing face before bedtime).

c. Do not smoke cigarettes. Smoking negatively impacts the skin by constricting blood flow to the skin, decreasing healing time, tone, and contributes to premature or increased aging of the skin.

4. Hydration is the root of anti-aging.

a. When dealing with skin conditions, the first and most important step is to take care of your dehydration. Many skin conditions are a result of surface dehydration, which in turn disrupts the body’s natural production and release of oil. When your skin becomes dehydrated, it immediately affects and promotes all skin conditions such as acne, large pores and blackheads, redness, sensitivity, oily skin, premature aging and fine lines. Preventing dehydration is an important step in slowing the process of aging.

5. Exfoliation is important to remove dead skin cells, dirt and debris to promote a healthy looking complexion. Ling recommends to gently exfoliate nightly to ‘remove the day’. In a facial it is necessary to exfoliate to perform extractions and enhance results.

a. Overuse of cleansers that contain Glycolic Acids, Alpha Hydroxy Acids and irritating ingredients, along with exfoliating too frequently with very abrasive scrubs can eventually damage the skin and contribute to redness, sensitivity and inflammation. When the surface of the skin becomes dehydrated, the oil glands will overproduce oil to compensate for the lack of moisture which in turn can lead to large pores, blackheads and breakouts. That seems rather counter-productive, now, doesn’t it?