Everyone wants a skin care regime that delivers beautiful skin, the question is how do you get it?

Generally with regards to the elements of good skin care, most of us need to daily cleanse and moisturize our skin. Most of us will benefit from regular skin exfoliation. All of us, regardless of skin color, or geographical location, need to wear sunscreen. 

Knowing your skin type, will determine the details of the methods and products we use. If you're dealing with acne, caring for your skin can be particularly stressful and using an appropriate system, difficult to determine.

The essential elements of skin care listed above probably seem pretty basic, even common sense? Yet, most of us aren't benefiting from these powerful essentials.

Why? The likely culprit is a mix of misinformation and inappropriate product choices for our individual skin care needs....

Do some homework and get a handle on your skin type.  Remember your skin's needs will vary in the short term i.e. hormonal shifts, seasons, etc., as well as the long term i.e. teenage skin versus mature skin.  Where is your skin at now?  What kind of skin care regimen will have it at its best?

Often there are too few categories for the variety of skin types among us all.  However, there are some generalizations that can help guide us in the type of skin care regimen we should follow and the types of products we will benefit from.

Bigger skin care concerns?...  

Do you have a question for a dermatologist?  Get a free consultation within 72 hours.

Some others that come highly recommended include SkinCeuticals Foaming Cleanser for normal to oily skin, DDF Non-Drying Gentle Cleanser for dry, sensitive or mature skin and Dr. Brandt Anti-Irritant Cleanser for very sensitive, highly reactive skin  or skin that has undergone treatment. 

3 Exfoliating
The objective of exfoliating is to remove dead cells from the skin's surface and result in skin with a fresh healthy glow, and over time, increase the skin's capacity to absorb moisture and reduce fine lines and acne. It is an irritating process that actually, is beneficial to most skin types. The goal and also the problem is determining the fine line between good irritation and irritation that is too much and potentially damaging. Exfoliating can be done can be done manually using a mildly abrasive product (such as a silk mitt or washcloth, a "scrub" or exfoliating mask) or even better, chemically (AHAs, BHA, Renova A, Retin A etc.).

Chemical exfoliators are ideally used in a crème or lotion (the benefits in a cleanser are lost down the drain).

Good AHA products are made by a variety of companies: Consider Obagi Nu-Derm Exfoderm Forte and effective and well priced Alpha Hydrox AHA Enhanced Lotion for all skin types except those with very delicate or sensitive skin.

Good BHA products are made by fewer companies: Consider Alba Botanica Beta-Z Night Time Renewal for all skin types.

Tretinoin i.e.. Retin A, Renova etc. require a prescription

New product: With patented combination of retinol and aha RoC Retinol Actif Pur Anti-Wrinkle Treatment, Night  

Moisturizing and Protecting
Objective:  

 #2 Protection of the skin from sun exposure is required for all races of people. Yes all. Sun exposure is the primary culprit behind aging skin , wrinkles, pigmentation problems, and most definitely skin cancer (and these negative effects occur in varying degrees depending on your skin color).

A good lightweight moisturizer with a sunscreen is Cetaphil Daily Facial Moisturizer, SPF 15, Fragrance Free (can be found in most drug stores).

Sunscreen is the only product that can truthfully claim to prevent aging and wrinkles and it should be part of everyone's morning skin care program.

Since sunscreens are formulated with a moisturizing base, it can play the role of moisturizer too. If however, your skin is dry, apply your moisturizer to those dry areas, and then the sunscreen on top of that.

The critical components of sunscreen include; an SPF of at least 15 and these ingredients titanium dioxide, avobenzone (Parsol 1789) or zinc oxide. Unfortunately, good formulations for skin types that are normal to oily are not easy to come by.