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Ingredient Focus, Skin Care Ingredients, Skin Care Tips and Trends, Skin Regimes

How to Simplify Your Skin Regime

Dr Alek Nikolic’s Advice: The Correct Skin Regime for Your Skin Type

Understand What Products To Use and How To Use It By Dr Alek Nikolic. Save time and get better results with your skin care regime with these easy to follow tips and guidelines.

Science has taken a great interest in skin care and skin ingredients so today we have the ability to treat a multitude of stubborn skin concerns that we could not treat topically 10 years ago. Choosing the correct ingredients will make a difference with acne, pigmentation, wrinkles, rosacea, rough textured skin, blackheads and/or large pores, dry skin, oily skin, and even to a certain extent sagging skin.

What You Need To Know:

  1. No one product can do it all
  2. It’s not the price that counts but the ingredients in the product
  3. The concentration or strength of the ingredients are important
  4. Doctor prescribed skin care products have higher concentrations than over the counter skin care products
  5. It is not the number of products you use but rather how you use them

How to Use Your Cleanser, Toner, and Exfoliant

Use a gentle cleanser:

AM & PM twice daily using 1 or 2 pumps with warm water

Rub the cleanser onto the skin with gentle round movements

Do not be tempted to wash more unless after exercise

Toner

Also only used AM & PM: this is an important and often-overlooked step

A well-formulated toner removes the last traces of makeup, reduces redness, helps minimize pore size, and loads your skin up with anti-aging ingredients, such as antioxidants, cell-communicating ingredients, and skin-repairing ingredients

People who suffer from oily skin may find that a good toner provides all the hydration their skin needs

Exfoliate:

With AHA or BHA AM & PM

Benefits Include:

Removes the dead outer layer of skin

Those with acne or oily prone skin will reduce clogged pores

UV damage can also result in a thickened outer layer which will need smoothing with an AHA or BHA cleanser

Wrinkles will improve

Skin tone and glow will improve dramatically

How to Use Targeted Treatments

Targeted treatments may be prescribed by your skin therapist or cosmetic doctor and they are designed to target specific skin concerns such as breakouts, dark spots, and wrinkles.

You can find targeted treatments for your skin concerns here: breakouts, brown spots, and wrinkles.

How to Use Your Moisturiser

Moisturise

AM & PM

One can combine a moisturiser with a built in SPF in the AM as this not only replenishes the skin but also protects it from harmful UV damage. I am a firm believer in a SPF 30 or higher so one may have to add a good sunscreen to the moisturiser before leaving the house.

At night a moisturiser without an SPF is necessary especially if you suffer from dry skin as this will help eliminate those dry patches. Creams and emollient lotions are ideal for those with dry skin.

If you have oily or combination skin consider usning a moisturiser with a lightweight lotion or gel and If you have normal skin use whichever type of moisturiser feels best for you.

At the end of the day a good night time moisturiser should be full of hydrating ingredients such as hyaluronic acid, anti-oxidants and cell stimulating ingredients such as retinol.

How to Use Your Eye Creams

Eye treatment (AM & PM

Please see How to Find the Best Eye Cream

Products for the Chest and Neck

Chest and neck area AM & PM

Here the regime is simple: what you do for your face you should be doing for the neck and chest area including the SPF so no need for separate products.

Some of us may need to add a targeted skin product specific for the neck and chest such as the NeoStrata Skin Active Triple Firming Neck Cream.

Planning Your Skin Care Regime

Primary Routine Guide

This simple, step-by-step routine covers the basic types of products everyone should use and the order in which to use them every day. These steps apply regardless of your skin type.

Primary Routine: MORNING

  1. Cleanser
  2. Exfoliant
  3. Moisturiser w/ sunscreen

Primary Routine: EVENING

  1. Cleanser
  2. Exfoliant
  3. Moisturiser

Next Step Routine

The Advanced Routine is one most people concerned with signs of aging or breakouts will need. It includes targeted treatments that build on the foundation of the Essential Routine to treat your personal skincare concerns, such as acne, red marks, wrinkles, sun damage, brown spots, or rosacea.

For example, if your sole concern is dry skin, you’ll do fine by following the Primary Routine. But if you have dry skin and wrinkles or oily skin and wrinkles and breakouts you will want to follow the Advanced Routine for best results.

The Advanced Routine includes a gentle toner as the second step, morning and evening. If you’ve never used a well-formulated toner before, prepare to be amazed by the results. Learn why toner is such an important step in a comprehensive skincare routine.

Next Step Routine: MORNING

  1. Cleanser
  2. Toner
  3. Exfoliant
  4. Treatment (serum)
  5. Moisturiser w/ sunscreen
  6. Optional: Targeted treatment (applied as needed before sunscreen)

Next Step Routine: EVENING

  1. Cleanser
  2. Toner
  3. Exfoliant
  4. Treatment (serum)
  5. Moisturiser
  6. Optional: Targeted treatment, as needed, applied before or after your treatment product.

 

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About Dr Alek Nikolic

Dr Alek Nikolic was born in South Africa and received his MBBCh (Wits) in 1992 and in 2000 he received his MBA (UCT). He has been in private practice for 24 years and is the owner of Aesthetic Facial Enhancement, which has offices in Cape Town. Dr Nikolic specialises in aesthetic medicine and is at the forefront of the latest developments in his field. He is very driven and has lectured extensively and has performed live demonstrations throughout South Africa and Internationally including Bangkok, Rome, Paris, Monte Carlo, Prague, and Warsaw. Dr Nikolic’s focus is on skin care, skin ingredients and cosmetic dermatology treatments such as lasers, chemical peels, Botox, and Dermal Fillers. He has performed over 20 000 procedures to date and as such is responsible for training numerous medical practitioners both in South Africa and internationally. Dr Nikolic is one of the founding members of the South African Allergan Medical Aesthetic Academy and chaired its inaugural launch in 2012. The Allergan Academy provides essential training to keep up with the latest technology in aesthetics. Dr Nikolic holds the advisory position of Allergan Local Country Mentor in Facial Aesthetics and is the Allergan Advanced Botox and Dermal Filler Trainer. He is Vice President of the Aesthetic and Anti-Aging Medicine Society of South Africa (AAMSSA) and is an Associate Member of the American Society of Laser Medicine and Surgery (ASLMS).

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