A well-structured daily skin care routine can prevent acne, but it can hard to figure out what needs to be done to keep your skin clear. Any good skincare routine involves cleansing, toning, and moisturizing your skin. The part that I used to forget to do was moisturizing, which is the most important part of all. Without moisturization, your skin either ends up dry and scaly or, as in my case, seems to kick up oil production and feel greasy.



Cleansing, the first step, removes surface dirt and clears your pores. It also removes oil from the top of your skin, which leaves your skin feeling less greasy. I apply cleanser with cotton squares, applying cleanser all over my face once to remove most of the oils, and then again to make sure everything is completely clean. With the second application, the cotton square comes out almost completely clean. If you notice that your second cleansing wipe is still coming back dirty, repeat until the cotton comes back clean, so you know for sure that your skin is completely free from dirt, grime, and oil.

Toning improves your skin's overall quality, making pores less visible and making skin have a more even texture. Depending on how oily your skin naturally is, you want to adjust the alcohol level of your toner. Oilier skin requires a toner with greater alcohol content to remove the oil, whereas drier skin should not be toned with high-alcohol toners. For extremely dry skin, rose water or similar toners do the trick.

If you notice your skin is drying out from toning, switch to a lower alcohol toner or rose water like for drier skin. Make sure not to use toner too often (at most once a day) to avoid irritation and redness. If your skin is excessively shiny, don't try to cleanse and tone constantly, instead use oil blotting wipes to remove the oil, or foundation to cover it up. I keep a pack of oil blotting wipes in my purse, so I can quickly remove excess oil if I notice that my skin is starting to feel greasy.

A water-based moisturizer helps keep your skin from drying out or compensating for dryness by over-producing oil. Without moisturizing, your skin can easily get overly dry and uncomfortable, especially during the winter months. Generally, I use a moisturizer with an SPF rating, to prevent sun damage to my skin when I go out. You should only use an oil-based moisturizer if you have excessively dry skin, as oil based moisturizers can make naturally oily skin extremely greasy and shiny.

You should always moisturize even if you have very oily skin, otherwise you risk drying your skin or causing your skin to produce even more oil, which worsens the problem. Proper moisturizing keeps your skin pores clear while preventing it from drying out.

I'm obsessive about my skin, so I cleanse and moisturize twice a day, only toning in the morning. I feel that going to sleep with oily skin is just asking for trouble, so I make sure that my skin is completely clean and free from oil before heading to bed.