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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at SCSU chapter.

Recently, I was asked by a friend what I do to keep my skin clear, or at least as clear as it is. So I thought I’d put together everything that I do to keep my face clean and hopefully help you all out with your own skin problems!

Here’s a compilation of everything I do to keep my skin clear:

Take off my makeup every day

Makeup, especially foundation and concealer, can clog your pores. If you wear makeup daily and don’t remove it it will begin to irritate the skin and can cause black heads and eventually white heads. So before you go to bed just wipe it all off with a makeup wipe.

Tip: Make sure you’re not allergic to any of the ingredients in the makeup remove wipes you use. Although wipes with pretty scents can be more appealing they may irritate your skin, which definitely will not helping the original problem. Regardless of scent, they do their job!

Wash/cleanse twice a day

After you take off your makeup and right after I wake up, I wash my face. Washing your face is super important, so if you’re going to use any of this advice, use this.

When you first wake up in the morning any sweat or dirt acquired during your beauty-sleep is stuck to your face and you can’t see it, so just wash your face with soap or with cleanser so you can start your day with a fresh, clean face.

For some extra deep cleaning use a cleanser. Cleanser works a little bit better than soap and water and can sometimes include other chemicals that will even reduce acne or oily skin. There’s so many different cleansers, you just have to find the one that works for your skin!

Use Toner

Once or twice a day, I apply toner to my face where acne is most popular. Toners can also cleanse the skin and reduce the size of your pores. Similar to cleanser, there are different toners for every type of skin, so just find what will best help you!

 

Apply Lotion

Some toners and cleansers can dry out even the oiliest skin. After applying toner or washing my face I apply a light layer of lotion all over my face.

Similar to your lips, your skin will dry out, especially in cold weather. With winter just around the corner, hydrating your skin is essential to glamorous skin. I recommend Cetaphil Moisturizing lotion, but there are plenty other kinds.

Weekly Face Mask

Every week, sometimes even twice a week, I apply some kind of face mask. Sometimes I use the cheap sheet masks from Ulta or I buy a bottle of peel-off masks. There are so many different kinds of masks each with their own purpose and scent. Depending on your skin that week or your natural skin you can find a mask that will cleanse and rejuvenate your skin.

Bi-Weekly Black-Head Strip

The grossest but most fantastic thing ever is peeling off a black-head strip and seeing all of the gunk that came off your nose. I don’t know why but seeing everything come out of my pores is a great feeling. It’s really gross, but it’s really great.

As much as I clean and exfoliate my face, my pores remain clogged. So every other week I use one of these pore strips to rid them of gunk and get a fresh start.

Clear skin, here we come!

 

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Pictures: Vittoria Cristante

Sophomore in the Honors College at Southern Connecticut. I'm a theatre major and aspire to be on Broadway.