Starting an AM Skincare Routine to Enhance Your Day

Own Your Mornings by Making Your Skin a Priority

Starting the day on the right foot is a goal that many of us set out to achieve as we roll out of bed, but it’s easier said than done.

You may plan and eat a healthy breakfast so that you’re giving your body everything that it needs to fuel you up and face the day head-on. Or, you may be trying out a 21-day detox routine, to give your body some assistance in processing/disposing of your own natural toxins.

However, one of our most important features tends to be something that’s left to the wayside – our skin. You may even be trying to do the best skincare routine for your face, but if you don’t think about the rest of your body too, you could end up with issues.

With that in mind, we’ve got some wonderful suggestions that you can add to your AM skincare routine that applies to your whole body, not just your face.

Before we jump into our suggested AM skincare routine, let’s talk about why caring for your skin is important, as well as how to prepare and stay consistent with a new morning regimen.

Why is an AM Skincare Routine Important?

There are a lot of different reasons why you should take the time to properly treat and care for your skin, but perhaps the most important of all is that good skin care helps your skin remain healthy and strong.

Dry, cracked skin is not pleasant for anyone, and for people that naturally have dry skin issues, not taking care of their skin can make those problems exponentially worse.

This is about more than cosmetics, as well. When your skin isn’t healthy, you’re more prone to cuts or tears of skin, which can lead to painful infections if left untreated or unprotected.

Of course, things don’t always get that serious for everyone, but if you’re starting to notice dry or cracking skin somewhere on your body, treating the issue before it becomes severe can save you from dealing with these types of painful problems.

How to Prepare for Your AM Skincare Routine

Routines don’t just happen when we want them to. There’s work and preparation that goes into adding a new type of routine to our morning tasks.

For an AM skincare routine, you’ll need to invest time in determining the types of products that will be more beneficial for you, based on your type of skin.

Depending on your skin type, you may even want to talk to your doctor to see what they would recommend you try before you start blindly buying products off the shelf.

In some cases, if you’ve already got a lot of skin problems, you may even want to talk to a dermatologist, who specializes in helping people manage/overcome serious skin issues.

No one wants to waste money, and you certainly don’t want to buy products that will work against your skin, instead of for it.

Once you’ve done your due diligence, you’ll be invested in the outcome, which will also make you much more likely to follow through with your AM skincare routine each morning.

Things to Consider When Starting an AM Skincare Routine

Because this is an AM skincare routine, you’ll want to be sure that you’re not mixing up your processes or products with those that are meant for nighttime skincare regimens.

Mixing up these two types of products can cause issues, which could ultimately reduce the effects of your whole routine.

For instance, a product for the night may tell you to apply liberally and leave a layer on while you sleep. The same product applied midway through an AM skincare routine could negatively impact other products that you’re applying afterward, or worse, cause reactions with your skin.

Another major factor to consider is the conditions in which you’re sleeping. If your room has a lot of dry air, you may find that you wake up each morning with a dry mouth or scratchy throat.

If this is happening, you may want to consider investing in a humidifier for your room while you sleep. This will not only help you sleep better in these types of rooms, but in turn, it will alleviate some of the issues facing those who already struggle with dry skin.

How to Stay Consistent with Your AM Skincare Routine

As we’ve discussed in regards to many different types of new morning routines, one of the best things that you can do for yourself is to set alarms to remind you when you should be switching from one task to another.

Without these reminders, it’s easy to lose track of time, which can make you feel panicked or frantic as you try to race your way through the remainder of your morning to-dos.

There are other tricks you can use to try to stay consistent with your new AM skincare routine as well, such as:

• Tracking your progress throughout
• Setting small achievement goals
• Making it fun & rewarding yourself

7 AM Skincare Routine Steps for Your Routine:

1.) Wash Your Skin

This may seem obvious, but especially if you’ve been using a nighttime routine in tandem with an AM skincare routine, you’ll want to make sure your skin is completely clear of all products before you start your new regimen for the day.

You can do this either with just water or with a mild cleanser, the choice is up to you. For those with dry skin, just water may be the best option, while those with oily skin may want a cleanser to help remove excess oil from their pores.

2.) Apply a Body Toner

While you may think of toners as something that’s used exclusively for facial skincare, the truth is that there are actually plenty of body toners out there as well.

These are designed to help manage your skin’s pH levels, as well as provide the first layer of protection that your skin needs to stay healthy throughout the day.

Because this is such an important layer of protection, we’d suggest that you invest in a high-quality toner, because it really does set the tone for your whole routine.

3.) Use Serums or Actives

These types of products are the step in your AM skincare routine that many people like to call ‘brighteners’ or ‘correctors’, because of the visual impact it has on our skin.

The truth is that there’s an active ingredient in many of these products called salicylic acid that’s designed specifically to help your skin achieve a radiant glow.

Since these types of skincare products take a few minutes to really do their work, it’s a good idea to let them sit for their recommended time frames before moving on to the next step in your AM skincare routine.

If you’re unsure how long that would be, be sure to check the packaging. It should be listed clearly within the usage instructions.

4.) Use Specialized Creams

For facial skincare routines, many people think of eye creams that are applied on the thin skin around our eyes and are designed to protect that specific area.

However, when we’re talking about our bodies as a whole, you may want to consider things like medicated hand and foot creams at this point in your process.

Since these are two of the areas that take the most punishment throughout the day, it’s important that you give them a little bit of extra love and protection before you put them to work.

5.) Moisturize Your Skin

Arguably the most important part of any skincare routine, moisturizing will help keep your skin hydrated and healthy.

Moisturizing will help your skin feel smooth, avoid cracking, reduce dry patches, and lock in moisture, so that skin stays well-hydrated throughout the day.

If there was any part of your AM skincare routine you shouldn’t skip – this would be it.

6.) Add Spot Treatments

Just like on our faces, many people actually experience acne breakouts across their bodies, so it can be valuable to take the time and do some spot treatments on those areas each morning.

This will not only reduce the amount of pain you experience but will also lessen the length of time it takes for breakouts to fade.

Just because you can’t see hidden pimples, doesn’t mean you should ignore them. They can get quite painful if left untreated.

7.) Don’t Forget Protectors!

Of course, no AM skincare routine would be complete without the all-important skin protectors – especially if you’re working in an area with lots of sun exposure.

A bit of sunscreen goes a long way, and you’ll want to make sure that you use it whenever you can. Apart from serious health risks like increased chances of cancers, unprotected sun exposure can lead to painful burns that are severely damaging to the skin.

After all the work you’ve just done, don’t let a bit of sunlight ruin your skincare regimen.

Morning Routines Can Be Enjoyable & Beneficial

Taking Joy in Your Morning Regimen is Good for Your Mental Health

It’s important that you find your AM skincare routine enjoyable because otherwise, you’ll have a hard time staying motivated to do it every day.

Bask in the fact that you’re pampering your skin. Take time to enjoy how nice the treatments feel, and how bright and vibrant it makes your skin appear.

This isn’t all just visual. Healthy skin means better confidence and could even improve the state of your mental health.

When you walk out of your home each morning knowing that you look as good as you feel, you’ll be ready to own your mornings and rule your days – no matter what life throws at you.