Skip 10 steps and follow this practical routine
In the middle of this pandemic, a common skin concern has been sprouting left and right—the rise of maskne. Maskne or mask acne is a form of facial acne or skin irritation brought by skin coverings such as masks and face shields. Then there’s also the lack of vitamin D that we can get from sunlight, for most of us who are stuck at home due to isolation and lockdown.
At the Ellana mineral cosmetics online seminar titled “Skincare Made Simple: Simple Skincare to Help One Achieve Their Skin Goals” dermatologist Dr. Erin Tabana, popularly known as the @TheNerdyDerma on social media, gives four practical tips or step on how we can handle these problems and we can take good care of skin in a practical way, especially, this pandemic. Here are her four tips:
1. Cleanse
For cleaning the face, Dr. Erin’s number one rule is to use a mild cleanser. “For me the most important thing is to use a mild cleanser. You’ll know that it’s not good for your skin if it’s too dry or if you get white flakes,” she explains. With all the cleansing tools available online these days, the good doctor also says that it’s really not a requirement to use any of those. “Just use your hands. Those gadgets, these are just extra steps. Don’t feel pressured to buy those things. You can use the money for something more sulit (important).”
2. Hydrate
Hydrating our skin is important, but she says that the number of times we should apply moisturizers depends on every individual’s case and needs. “If you feel that your skin is already hydrated, but remember that oiliness is separate from hydration, then just dab on the T-zone,” she says. “ But if you feel that just a night time application is okay with you and is okay with your skin, then, I’m okay with that.”
3. Treat
Step number three is for those who have skin problems. Dr. Erin says that it is understandable if some are trying to cure themselves at home, as we are all in the isolation. But she says that if the symptoms persist, it is best to consult a doctor. “If you don’t have anything to treat then you skip it,” she says. “Even if you have 100 skincare , if you are not targeting the concern you can still have severe acne. For example, if you have severe acne, you may need oral medication to manage it. If you don’t have the proper medicine, it won’t go away.”
4. Protect
For protection, Dr. Erin emphasized the need of using sunscreen regularly. She also explained that even though some foundation, CC or BB screens already contained SPF protection, having a dedicated sunscreen is still a must.
“You have to have a dedicated sunscreen, and if you want to add other products that also have SPF that’s good,” she says. She even adds that one should be careful on choosingtheir sunscreen and get the one that at least has SPF 30.
“Number one, if you don’t see an ingredient list, that’s already a red flag. Number two, if it’s not well-packaged that’s probably an indicator that it’s not a reliable sunscreen,” she says. “You can pick either physical or chemical one, as long as the minimum is SPF 30.”