Epicuren Blog
Best Skincare Routine For Men
Although women make up a large portion of the market for high-quality skincare products, it’s no secret that men need quality skincare as well. The benefits of learning the best way to nourish and protect skin include having a youthful, healthy glow, as well as preventing the common signs of aging from developing prematurely. However, the sheer number of great skincare products out there can be intimidating, especially for those who aren’t as familiar with skin care. That’s why we’ve rounded up the essential products to help you make the best skincare routine for men. Cleanse The first step in any good skincare routine is cleansing the face from daily (or nightly) oil buildup, debris, and dead skin cells. For most skin types, a gentle, mild cleanser works best, as you don’t want to overly dry out the skin, which can cause irritation or increased oil production. For men’s skincare products, we recommend our top-rated Citrus Herbal Cleanser for a luxurious daily cleanse. Tone A step that many people neglect in their normal skincare routine is using a professional-grade toner to help clean pores and prepare the skin for deep moisturization. Our Metadermabolic Enzyme-powered Protein Mist Toner is a great way for men to step up their game both during their morning and nightly routine as well as throughout the day. Age-Correct For men who are concerned with the aging process, it’s this stage of the daily skincare routine that specialty products, should be applied. Our potent Pro Collagen and Serum Amplifier is a great product to help soften the appearance of your skin while boosting the effects of your other skincare products. Moisturize Many moisturizers out there can lay thick on the skin, feeling greasy and promoting the development of blemishes by clogging pores. On the other hand, others use synthetic chemicals and fragrances that can cause irritation to sensitive, dry skin, so a balanced, natural alternative is often the best choice for men of all skin types. Epicuren offers many hydrating moisturizers for people with dry, combination, or oily skin, but a no-fail product that offers both hydration with a powerful antioxidant blend is our Nourish Antioxidant Moisturizer. SPF Protection Perhaps the most important step in the best skincare routine for men is sun protection. No matter how high quality your products are, the sun can still harm skin and gradually lead to signs of aging such as hyperpigmentation and wrinkles. Epicuren Discovery’s Zinc Oxide SPF 27 is a great daily sunscreen that goes on transparently and helps skin appear bright, well-hydrated, and radiant. Exfoliate Now, for a normal daily routine for most men, simply cleansing, toning, and moisturizing is a great foundational skincare regimen. Taking it to the next level involves adding an exfoliant, like our Micro-Derm Ultra Refining Scrub, which can be used on a weekly basis to help the skin look clean and smooth, and free from unwanted debris. Professional Skincare Products From Epicuren Knowing your skin type and using the science-backed products recommended here can put you on the path toward healthier, more resilient skin. You can even find our three foundational products bundled in the Kick Starter skincare kit, which saves you money compared to buying all three individually. Browse more of our collection and find out what products can help you take your skincare up a notch by taking our Skin Quiz today.
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What is the Best Anti-Aging Skin Care Regimen?
We know there’s a million different products and advice vying for your attention when it comes to anti-aging skin care, so we thought we’d condense the science and the best products in one helpful place. A high-quality anti-aging skincare regimen is an investment in your appearance no matter what your age. We broke it down into the steps you need to take in the morning, evening, and on a weekly basis. Morning and Night Step 1: Cleanse The foundation of any skincare routine is daily cleansing both in the morning and at night. Our gentle and silky smooth Citrus Herbal Cleanser is a great way to wake up and refresh your appearance in the morning, and our high-performance Clarify Cleanser is an effective way to clean up at the end of the day. Step 2: Tone When you’re looking for potent results from anti-aging products, toning every day is essential to ensuring products sink in deeply by balancing skin’s pH after cleansing. Our Protein Mist Enzyme Toner can be used throughout the day to activate the proteins and enzymes your skin needs to stay healthy and strong. Morning Step 3: Serum For instant results and long-term wrinkle reduction benefits when used regularly, an anti-aging serum is a powerful tool in your anti-aging skincare regimen. Use our Bio Peptide Complex Serum in the morning to create a firm, plump complexion that will nourish your skin with a peptide-rich formula. Step 4: Facial Oil As we move into the hydration stage of your morning routine, there’s an opportunity to introduce another potent product proven to hydrate and smooth your skin. The Defy Age Corrective Facial Oil not only hydrates, but also brightens skin and helps reduce inflammation. Step 5: Moisturizer Although you may think that moisturizers don’t come with anti-aging benefits beyond the essential need to hydrate skin, this isn’t the case with our Skin Rejuvenation Therapy cream. Lock in the effects of the previous powerful products while Epicuren’s Metadermabolic® Protein Enzyme Complex and growth factor work to strengthen skin and prevent the signs of aging. Step 6: Sunscreen The main cause of the visible signs of aging such as fine lines and hyperpigmentation is sun damage over time. As UV rays hit skin cells, they damage their ability to produce collagen, elastin, and other proteins vital to smooth, youthful skin. Couple this with the body’s natural loss of collagen over time and it becomes imperative to protect your skin every day with a non-greasy, high-SPF sunscreen like the ones from Epicuren Discovery. Nightly Step 3: Retinol Powered by key ingredients like Vitamin A and glycolic acid, our Retinol Anti-Wrinkle Complex is a powerful way to create a firmer, less wrinkled appearance. This formula is so powerful we recommend only using it up to five times per week, and only at night. Step 4: Serum Nighttime application of serum helps you double down on the anti-aging benefits of our science-backed products. Either use the same serum that you used in the morning or one designed to address a specific issue, like our ever popular Eye Alive Serum. Step 5: Moisturizer Depending on your skin type, you may want to use a different moisturizer in the evening to prepare and protect your skin. Our Evening Emulsion Enzyme Moisturizer is specially formulated to provide deep moisturization with a proprietary enzyme complex to help skin rejuvenate itself as you sleep. Step 6: Eye Treatment The skin around the eyes is the most sensitive skin on your face, and the cause of many concerns of wrinkles and fine lines. To keep the windows to your soul surrounded by a healthy glow, our rich Eye Cream helps keep skin moisturized and full while helping you appear more alert and radiant. Weekly Face Mask You may already know and practice this but doing a weekly face mask can be more than just a treat-yourself habit you do on the weekends. A professional formula can help hydrate and restore the skin, going deeper than your everyday routine does. Our Hydrating Mineral Mask provides deep moisture and establishes a protective barrier to help keep your skin smooth and silky. Professional Anti-Aging Products We covered a lot in this article, and we hope you found it helpful! Learn more about our anti-aging skincare products by browsing our online catalog, and find out which products are perfect for introducing into your routine by taking our Skin Quiz today!
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What Products Are Good For Acne-Prone Skin?
As anyone who has tried and failed to treat their acne with specific products knows, the method of achieving clear, blemish-free skin is never straightforward. Factors like your skin type, the quality of the product, and even the season of the year can affect any given product’s efficacy. So when seeking the best acne products for your skincare routine, it’s best to start at the beginning, analyzing your skin type, assessing your previous results, and moving on from there. What’s Your Skin Type? The first key thing to do in establishing a good acne skincare routine is to identify your skin type. Although people with oily skin are typically considered the most blemish-prone, people with dry or normal skin can still experience breakouts, especially when using products that are too harsh for their skin, leading to increased oil production. To identify your skin type, cleanse your face with a gentle, mild cleanser like Epicuren Discovery’s Clarify Cleanser. This ensures you don’t overdo it and dry your skin out. Wait a few hours, then observe your face. If there’s a lot of oil, you have naturally oily skin, and vice versa for dry skin. Once you know your skin type, you can take our Skin Quiz to find acne products that will work for you. Acne Care Routine Although it’s tempting to want the strongest, most potent products to address your acne concerns immediately, the best skincare process to reduce acne takes time to see results. The essential steps of a routine are cleansing, moisturizing, and protecting. From this foundation, you can also consider adding toners or serums for further cleansing results or other specific treatment. While you can customize your product choice using our skin quiz and product categories, if you’re looking for a quick way to get started on the path toward clear skin, try our convenient Clarify Starter Kit that comes with three discounted products that may be perfect for you. Start with a gentle cleanser that’s formulated for your skin type, followed by your choice of toner. Toners can be a great way to further purify and clear out clogged pores to prevent acne from developing. Then move on to moisturizing with a light but hydrating formula, and end by protecting your skin from sun damage with a SPF 45 sunscreen. Fast-Acting Relief For the days when you can see a pimple appearing and simply can’t deal with its appearance for the next several days, a spot treatment may be right for you. Our Clarify Blemish Eraser is specially formulated with acne-killing salicylic acid while being soothing and hydrating to avoid overly drying out the skin. When used on active breakouts or on areas of blemish-prone skin, this treatment can unclog pores and reduce the inflammation associated with acne. Professional-Grade Acne Products From Epicuren Discovery When it comes to keeping your skin clear, healthy, and radiant, the better your products, the better your results. Epicuren Discovery’s science-backed formulas provide the perfect balance between potency and gentleness, while giving you a spa-like experience with our luxurious scents and textures. Learn more about our company and our history by browsing our website.
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Skin Type Quiz: Identify Your Ideal Skincare Routine
When it comes to achieving and maintaining healthy, beautiful skin, knowing your unique skin type is an essential place to start. Not using the right products for your natural skin state can lead to poor results that can lead to blemishes and, in the long run, accelerate the signs of aging.
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Understanding Leaping Bunny Certification and What it Means to Be Cruelty-Free
Doing the right thing should be a no-brainer. Give more than you take; use sustainable resources, like solar power; decrease your carbon footprint; and respect all living things. From our inception, we’ve adopted practices, not because they were trendy, but because they aligned with our overall philosophy. Being a cruelty-free brand is part of that commitment. We source the finest ingredients possible and never test our products on animals. In fact, we have dual certification, making us as cruelty-free as possible. Although great strides have been made to educate consumers on policies and practices involving animals, many of those changes have been in place a mere 20 years. The Birth of Leaping Bunny If you’re looking for cruelty-free products, then you’re probably familiar with the various symbols that grace the packaging of items made by companies that take extra precautions with their formulations. Most consumers recognize the Leaping Bunny logo, but it didn’t always exist. Before 1996, phrases like “animal friendly” and “cruelty-free” were adopted by manufacturers without a standardized definition of what those words meant. Recognizing the need for consistency – and a way to ensure consumers wouldn’t be misled – eight animal protection groups joined forces and created the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics (CCIC). These entities work together to protect animals by: Ending experimentation practices; Eliminating cosmetic testing on animals; Increasing awareness about animal cruelty and abuse; and Lobbying for change at the national level. Consumers Increasingly Prefer Cruelty-Free Products When setting out to market a product, companies make choices based on their values and those that matter to their customers. According to a Statista poll published in November 2020, “32 percent of consumers reported that they would very likely stop purchasing from their favorite brand if they tested on animals.” With more than a third of respondents embracing the cruelty-free approach, even companies with strict animal friendly policies seek Leaping Bunny certification to show their commitment to their customers. The Little Logo That Means A Lot While having a recognizable brand logo will tell consumers who you are, the Leaping Bunny logo tells them that a company has committed to a lengthy set of standards regarding ingredient sourcing and testing as well as taking a stand against new animal testing. The logo takes the guesswork out of purchasing and eliminates ambiguity about a company’s stance because all Leaping Bunny-Certified companies must follow the same rules and recommit to their promise yearly. And for the sake of transparency, companies that recommit are listed on the Leaping Bunny website, which consumers can use to vet their favorite brands to see if something has changed during the course of the year. All Bunnies Are Not Alike As much as it pains us to point this out, there are companies that prey on less informed consumers by making unsupported claims. To date, the FDA has “no legal definitions” for phrasing such as “‘Cruelty-Free’ or ‘Not Tested on Animals.’” To make matters worse, truly unscrupulous manufacturers create their own bunny logos, which often fool consumers since there are a variety of third-party organizations that certify products and use different images. Take a look at your Epicuren products, and you’ll see either the Leaping Bunny logo from the accredited by PETA. These logos serve as a visual reminder that we never test our products on animals nor do we test individual ingredients on them.
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Vitamin C and Retinol: Skincares Power Couple
If working from home or spending countless hours on Zoom has taught us anything, it’s that maintaining an anti-aging routine is more important than ever.
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6 Simple Ways to Reduce Acne Breakouts
Remember when your skin was smooth, clear, and perfect? Neither do I. Whether you’re in your teens, 20s, or your perimenopausal years, one thing is for certain: hormones play a role in your skin’s clarity. Multiple things can trigger acne, including hormone-related increases in oil production. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, acne is a “nearly universal skin disease afflicting 79% to 95% of the adolescent population.” And even if you escaped high school with relatively blemish-free skin, hormonal shifts related to child-bearing and menopause can lead to adult-onset acne. Getting to the root cause of your breakouts can take some detective work since no two people are the same. The following tips will help you reduce your breakouts, though, and you may discover that one simple lifestyle change is all it takes to give your skin a fresh start. #1 Cleanse As Needed with the Right Product Many of us have been taught that cleansing twice daily is a necessity. Nothing could be further from the truth. Depending on your skin type, you may only need to wash your face once a day, usually in the evening. Removing perspiration, excess oil, dirt, makeup, and sunscreen nightly gives your skin a chance to rejuvenate while you sleep. In the morning, you may not need to cleanse at all or may find a quick swipe of micellar water is all you need. Remember, you do you. #2 Avoid Overexfoliating and Abrasive Cleansers If you’ve tried the scorched earth approach to treating your acne, you’ve probably learned that stripping your skin of its essential oils only makes things worse. Abrasive facial scrubs can further irritate troubled skin, and astringent toners can leave you with a new problem: oily, dehydrated skin. Keeping your skin clean and your pores clear can be handled with a pH-balanced cleanser that contains salicylic acid along with soothing ingredients, like aloe, perfect for individuals concerned with inflammation and redness. #3 Add a Chemical Exfoliant to Your Routine Harsh scrubs can further aggravate your skin. To keep your pores looking clear, consider adding a chemical exfoliating product to your routine. Alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) remove surface debris and improve skin texture, and beta hydroxy acids (BHAs) dissolve the gunk imbedded in your pores. Use these on alternating evenings after cleansing and before applying moisturizer. #4 Purify that Pillowcase Lifestyle habits, like forgetting to change your sheets and pillowcases, can ultimately lead to acne. Consider the amount of time your skin is in contact with your pillowcase. If you spend 6-8 hours per night with your face on the pillow, you’re going to be trapping heat and skincare products on your skin. Add in a restless night’s sleep and a lot of tossing and turning, and you’ll also have a fair amount of dead skin cells there, too. Get in the habit of flipping your pillow nightly and washing your sheets on a weekly basis to eliminate baked in body oils, moisturizer, and pore-clogging sweat. #5 Embrace the No-Touch, No-Transfer Mentality The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us a lot about hygiene and sanitary practices, but one rule will always remain: avoid touching your face, no matter where you are. From shopping carts to door handles to automated checkout machines in your favorite retail outlet, germs are everywhere. Anything that you touch can potentially be transferred to your face and trigger an acne breakout. #6 Give Your Cellphone Some Serious Side-Eying Using the hands-free option on your cell phone is more than just convenient. It prevents you from transferring germs from your hands to your phone to your face. Don’t think your phone is causing your breakouts? Just look in the mirror and see if those blemishes line up with areas that your phone screen touches when you’re chatting with your bestie. If you’re not already in the habit of using sanitizing wipes or a microfiber cloth to keep the screen clean, start now. And don’t fall for the old myth about sun exposure or tanning beds curing acne. If you overdo it, your existing blemishes may turn into post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH), and a burn can further clog pores with dead skin cells. Plus, a tan is, in fact, sun damage, and no one should put themselves at risk for premature aging or skin cancer.
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Dry vs Dehydrated Skin. What's the Difference?
Knowing certain things about yourself is easy. You may like cats better than dogs, coffee better than tea, and being outdoorsy instead of staying at home. But what about your skin? Does it seem perpetually rough, itchy, or dull looking? Deciphering whether or not your skin is dry, dehydrated, or both (yes – that does happen) isn’t necessarily an easy task, so we thought you might appreciate a little insight to make dealing with it a bit easier. First Things First Dryness and dehydration are two different things. The first is a skin type; the second is a skin condition. And to complicate matters further, even oily skin can be dehydrated. *sigh* If your face feels tight, especially after cleansing, this may be the first indicator that your skin is dry. But before you carve that fact in stone, remember that cleansers play a role in how your skin feels. The higher the pH, the drier or more stripped skin can feel immediately after cleansing. Take a look at your cleanser and give it some serious side-eyeing if it makes loads of foam and feels more like shaving cream than liquid. Dry skin can also feel rough or flaky to the touch or just downright itchy at times. Once again, texture alone doesn’t tell the entire tale. Environmental factors, like cold winter air and wind, may also be contributing to your skin’s dryness. This additional symptom may be more reliable than the other two, so take note. Dry skin appears almost poreless, like porcelain. And while your friends may envy and compliment you on that attribute, your skin’s sebum production – or lack thereof – may be the deciding factor in whether or not you truly have dry skin. Shower Your Skin to Simulate Sebum Underactive sebaceous glands are generally to blame when skin is dry. Hormones, aging, and genetics also factor in, and all of these conditions reduce the body’s ability to produce the necessary combination of triglycerides, fatty acids, wax esters, squalane, and cholesterol that keep skin feeling supple. Thankfully, you don’t have to resign yourself to living with that tight, uncomfortable feeling permanently. Try switching to a cream-based cleanser instead of something that foams up. Grain- or seed-based oils, like rice bran or avocado, remove sunscreen and makeup while preventing moisture loss during cleansing. Adding a facial oil to your routine will also keep your skin supple, and it’s a great way to seal in moisture overnight. Squalane, camellia, or jojoba oil work exceptionally well. Dehydration Is an Entirely Different Thing Want to know the easy way to remember the difference between dryness and dehydration? When your body is dehydrated, it’s lacking in hydration – aka water. It seems simple enough, but inadequate water intake is only one of several things that can deplete hydration. Weather conditions, diuretic beverages like coffee, tea, or caffeinated soda, diet, and lack of sleep can zap skin’s moisture levels. You can bet your skin is dehydrated if your fine lines come and go or if your sebaceous glands start pumping out oil like crazy. The skin actually tries to correct dehydration by upping its sebum output, which is why balancing both internal and external hydration can make fine lines less visible and dull-looking skin more radiant. Hyaluronic Acid Makes a World of Difference If you’ve upped your water intake but still need something topical to treat dehydration, hyaluronic acid is your best friend. It grabs moisture from the air and binds it to your skin. Bulgarian Rose Otto oil can also balance dehydrated skin without making it oiler, so don’t be afraid to try a facial oil. You may also benefit from adding a humidifier to your office and bedrooms, so your skin can draw in moisture passively while you work or sleep.
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Toners vs. Astringents: Is There Really A Difference?
If you’re looking to treat a specific cosmetic issue or boost your daily skincare routine, toners can be a great way to address a variety of concerns. But when researching high-quality products, you may come to see a close similarity between toners and astringents, prompting the question: “Is there really a difference?” Let’s find out. Similarities What may cause some confusion is how similar these products are to each other. They’re both liquid-based formulas that come in both sprays and bottles and promote benefits like deep cleansing and evening out skin tone. However, even though their common ingredients, like salicylic acid, witch hazel, and glycerin may seem similar, they accomplish very different tasks. The Difference Between Toners and Astringents Toners, by and large, can be used by a broad swath of people of all skin types, including sensitive skin. In fact, Epicuren Discovery’s Soothe Dermal Repair Mist is a toner specifically formulated to provide long-term protection to help reduce sensitive skin. On the other hand, astringents are designed for people with oily, blemish-prone skin, as it often includes harsher chemicals like alcohol, which can easily dry out the skin of someone with less naturally produced oil. Plus, astringents tend to focus on deep cleaning and removing irritants, rather than the numerous benefits differently formulated toners can achieve. When to Use Astringents and Toners Both toners and astringents can be part of a great, high-quality daily skincare routine, depending on your skin type. Nearly anyone can benefit from toners like our Protein Mist Enzyme Toner that balance the skin’s pH and prepare skin for moisturizing. Astringents are best used by people with extremely oily skin as a way to prevent pores from clogging with excess oil throughout the day. Learning about the ingredients can help direct you to the specific formula that will be best for your skin type and concerns. Ingredients like citric or salicylic acid are typically reserved for astringents, and can be an indication that it may dry out normal skin types. Glycerin and glycol provide effective cleansing while simultaneously hydrating skin, which makes these ingredients better for the majority of people who want the benefits of various toners. Professional-Grade Toners by Epicuren Discovery If you’re looking for a way to take your daily routine to the next level with a new toner, you’re in the right place. Epicuren Discovery’s professional-grade products can give you a refreshed, youthful glow every day, with science-backed ingredients. To find out which products work well with your unique skin type, take our skin quiz today to start looking for your perfect toner.
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What To Look For In An Anti-Aging Cream
There’s a seemingly endless supply of purportedly anti-aging products on the market, targeting audiences who want wrinkle reduction without the need for expensive procedures or invasive surgeries. But how can you tell what’s worth it, and what’s just marketing fluff? It’s surprisingly simple but requires an experienced perspective: reading the ingredients and knowing what results you’re looking for. Essential Anti-Aging Ingredients Cost isn’t a good indicator of how effective an anti-aging product is. Factors including your skin type, active ingredients, and even non-active ingredients all affect the results you’ll get from an anti-aging cream. Let’s break down some common ingredients that are proven to have anti-aging benefits and how they work on your skin: Retinoids (Vitamin A) Compounds derived from vitamin A have been shown to be beneficial for tightening skin and reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Look for ingredients such as retinol or retinyl palmitate to know if a product will help. Vitamins C and E Not just important when you have a cold, vitamins C and E are powerful antioxidants that are helpful for protecting skin from sun damage and environmental stress. When used regularly, products like our Instantlift Tightening Serum with Vitamin E can slow the signs of aging by keeping skin healthy and protected. Peptides Some plant-derived peptides are proven to stimulate collagen production, which increases skin’s tightness and elasticity. This can be a great ingredient for specific tightening creams, like our Tighten Up Neck Firming Cream, powered by peptides and Vitamin E for skin rejuvenation and moisturization. Moisturizers Believe it or not, moisturizing skin can give it immediate anti-aging benefits by restoring lost moisture and plumping the skin slightly. That’s why all of Epicuren Discovery’s anti-aging products contain cutting-edge moisturizing compounds, like in our ORAC Age-Protect Serum that treats all three of the major causes of aging. Tea Extracts Something that actually works but may seem like marketing tactics is tea extracts. Specifically, green tea extract contains potent antioxidants that can help reduce inflammation and protect the skin from damage. Anti-Aging Benefits at Any Age It’s a misconception that products targeting wrinkles, loose skin, and fine lines are only for people who need it the most in their old age. In fact, some research points to the benefit of ongoing treatment from a young age, as a powerful, well-balanced skincare routine has preventative benefits in addition to the immediate effects. Plus, key to any good preventative care is proper sun protection, both for your face and the sensitive skin on your lips as well. Powerful Anti-Aging Products You can trust the science-backed products that Epicuren Discovery has developed for powerful anti-aging benefits. Our ingredients are proven to restore and protect skin for the best at-home wrinkle reduction and facial rejuvenation. To find out which of our potent anti-aging products will be best for your skin type, take our anti aging skin care quiz today.
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Tattoo Aftercare: 5 Things To Know
Whether it’s your first or 50th tattoo, it’s always important to take good care of the skin on and around the site not only for the best results, but also to protect your skin from damage or infection. And since it often takes one to two weeks for the skin to heal after being inked, it’s important to keep tattoo aftercare front of mind for the best results.
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The Right Way To Apply Moisturizer
Although crafting and maintaining a good skincare routine can be confusing and difficult, the individual steps are totally simple, right? Just rinse, slather on some products in the right order, and get on with your day. Skincare experts will tell you that’s not always the best strategy. In fact, there are several ways to make your routine ineffective, like applying moisturizer in the wrong way, that prevents you from enjoying the benefits of even the best face moisturizer.
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