How to Simplify Your Beauty Routine

Wondering whether you should be toning down your beauty routine? The recent skinimalism trend, which encourages people to strip their skincare efforts back to basics, has led many people to feel the same way.

While there’s no denying that longer skincare routines can have their advantages, there’s also a lot of truth to the claims that a short and sweet beauty routine can often be more beneficial. How? Read on as Lionesse explains why a simplified skincare routine can sometimes be better for the skin, along with tips on how to simplify yours.

The Benefits of Simplifying Your Beauty Routine

Other than the fact that you’ll be saving time each day when you carry out your beauty routine, plus the benefit of not throwing money away on products that you don’t actually need, what are the benefits of keeping your routine simple?

Well, just about every dermatologist would agree that applying too many products to your skin spells bad news for your skin barrier. All of those ingredients will wreak havoc with skin barrier function, paving the way for a multitude of skin concerns to rage on. 

Overloading your skin with excess ingredients will also leave you more susceptible to congestion and clogged pores. Rather than helping your skin, all of those extra products could trigger sensitivities, inflammation, and breakouts. 

Although an elaborate beauty routine may be fun, less is definitely more when it comes to achieving healthy-looking skin. 

How to Simplify Your Beauty Routine

If you’d like to give the skinimalism trend a try, here are some tips on how to simplify your beauty routine:

Identify Your Main Skin Goals

If you want to keep your skincare routine simple, separating need from want is a must. Chances are that some of the products in your beauty routine are only there because you were charmed by their marketing or intrigued by an ingredient. That makes them a ‘want’ rather than a ‘need’.

How do you know what your skin actually needs?

There are a few products that are essentials, which we’ll talk about in more detail soon. However, it’s also important to identify your main skin goals. This will help to guide you when it comes to figuring out what your skin actually needs.

Pick a few key concerns that you want your beauty routine to focus on. Are you looking for brightness in your complexion? A way to address dry and flaky skin? Or perhaps you need assistance with oil control. Make a list of your key visible skin concerns and make sure that every single product that you use will help you to effectively eliminate one of them.

Be Sure to Incorporate the 3 Essential Steps

So, what are the essential steps that everyone needs to include in their beauty routine? These are the three must-dos:

1) Cleansing

Keeping your skin clean is absolutely vital, not only for your overall appearance but also for the health of your skin. Each day, dirt, dead skin cells, oil, pollutants, and other impurities pile up on the surface of your skin. Fail to cleanse these away and they’ll only edge their way downward into your pores. Once there, not only can they lead to acne breakouts, but the free radical damage that they cause accelerates the skin aging process. 

Plus, if you plan on using other skincare products, cleansing also clears the way for those ingredients to easily penetrate your skin. Apply them to dirty skin and they’ll be met with a barrier that they’ll struggle to get through.

Keep the skin goals that you made earlier in mind when choosing a cleanser. If your skin type is oily and you’re prone to breakouts, a foaming cleanser may be the best option for you. Meanwhile, if your skin type is dry and you need a cleanser that moisturizes while it cleans, your skin will love the Lionesse White Pearl Facial Cleanser. 

2) Moisturizing

Some may say that moisturizing isn’t technically an essential step. For a lucky few, this may be true. If your skin is perfectly in balance and doesn’t need any moisture or an additional layer between it and the environment, then you may be able to skip the moisturizer without an issue.

However, for most people, that extra help is necessary. In today’s modern, polluted world, it’s so difficult to keep the complexion in balance. A moisturizer helps with this in a big way. Not only does it provide some hydration, which most people’s skin would benefit from, but it also creates a seal over the skin’s surface. This keeps the skin feeling protected from environmental damage. 

Of course, a moisturizer with the right ingredients will also help you to achieve your skin goals. The Lionesse Golden Sapphire Cream, for example, is exceptionally hydrating and also contains ingredients that will brighten and add radiance to your complexion. Meanwhile, the lush White Pearl Night Cream will quickly soften and smooth the look of dryness.

3) Sun Protection

The final must-do in your beauty routine is applying sun protection. If you want to ensure that your skin looks healthy for many more years to come, UV damage is the last thing you need. Allowing UV rays to penetrate your skin significantly accelerates the skin aging process while also leading to skin cancer.

When choosing a sunscreen, go with a broad-spectrum formula. This means that it protects against both UVA and UVB rays. A minimum SPF of 30 is also advisable. 

Remember – this step should be in your beauty routine year-round, not just in the summer!

Don’t Waste Time Over-Cleansing and Over-Exfoliating

Wondering why we’re now about to tell you not to over-cleanse, even though we’ve just discussed how important cleansing is?

There’s a big difference between cleansing and over-cleansing…

Cleaning away all of those impurities on your skin each day is crucial. However, cleanse your skin too much and you’ll also end up removing your skin’s protective barrier. For most people, twice-daily cleansing is recommended – don’t cleanse more often than this, no matter your skin type! In fact, if your skin is sensitive, cut this down further to just an evening cleanse. Sleep on clean pillowcases and then simply splash your skin with water in the mornings before following on with the rest of your beauty routine.

The same applies to over-exfoliating. Again, this will severely damage your skin barrier. If you’ve been exfoliating daily, it’s time to stop. Instead, aim to exfoliate oily skin two or three times a week. For dry skin, once or twice a week will be enough, whereas once a week, or even once every ten days, would suffice for sensitive skin.

In addition to following those guidelines, make sure that the exfoliator you’re using isn’t too harsh for your skin. Find a formula that isn’t going to tear and scratch your skin barrier. Gentle yet thorough should be your aim, which is what the Lionesse White Pearl Facial Peeling provides!

Look For Multifunctional Beauty Products

Just because there are only three essential steps when it comes to every beauty routine doesn’t mean that you can’t add extra products in, so long as they meet your skin’s needs rather than your wants.

Of course, if your skin has multiple needs, then this can get tricky. If you’re hoping to reduce the appearance of crow’s feet, lighten the look of dark shadows under your eyes, and calm the feeling of inflammation, does this mean that you now need to add three extra products to your routine?

No, not if you find a multifunctional product that’s able to get all three jobs done. In this case, the Lionesse Amber Eye Serum would be a great option. Not only will it do all of the above, but it will also hydrate your skin to leave it looking plumper.

Face masks are also a great way to add multi-functionality to your beauty routine. Take the Lionesse Opal Sheer Melting Mask. With its antioxidant-enriched leave-on formula, it’s a great way to tackle the appearance of skin aging. At the same time, it’s also incredibly moisturizing and will leave your skin feeling firmer and more supple.

Use Tools and Devices to Enhance Your Routine

If you’re trying to simplify your beauty routine to save time, then this tip may not be for you. However, if you’re doing it in order to avoid overloading your skin with excess ingredients, then some of the beauty tools and devices out there could be just what you need to enhance your routine without adding in more products.

Jade rollers, for example, are revered for how they calm the complexion and encourage absorption. Gua sha tools have a similar effect and are also known for relaxing the mind.

If you’d like to take things high-tech, LED light therapy devices never disappoint. Pick one designed for the area of skin that you’re hoping to see improvements in. For example, the Photonix-2 Jade Eye Wand will work on a variety of visible skin concerns around the eyes. Meanwhile, the Photonix-3 Neck Solution will tighten up the look of loose and wrinkled skin on the neck.

Be Realistic With Your Expectations

When making adjustments to your beauty routine, it’s easy to let your expectations get away from you. Many are then disappointed when they don’t see a difference in their complexions after a matter of days.

However, when it comes to skincare, new approaches take time to work. This is especially the case when it comes to simplifying your beauty routine. Chances are that you’ll see some subtle improvements almost immediately but it will take weeks for your skin to grow accustomed to the changes. Only after this happens will your skin cells respond accordingly.

Create a Simple Yet Effective Beauty Routine With Lionesse

While there may be some allure behind the idea of a long and lavish beauty routine, this really isn’t necessary. If you still don’t believe us, try temporarily simplifying your skincare routine, following all of the tips that we’ve shared above, and see how your skin reacts. There’s a good chance that you’ll appreciate the improvements in your complexion and will continue down this path for the foreseeable future!

Click here to put together a simple skincare routine with the bestselling products from Lionesse.