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, when making a product choice.  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.

Luckily many skin care companies have websites that can help you fine tune your individual product needs.  For example, at Mario Badescu 'get the maximum benefits from our skin care program, through our skin questionnaire Mario Badescu Skin Care Can Bring You Beautiful Skin.'

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. 

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: