When it comes to quality skin care, there are a lot of solutions that claim to offer quick fixes.
But often, the best results for treating acne, dryness, and other skin conditions don’t come instantly. Lasting results take time and often require long-term routines and a consistent skin care program.
The best way to get personalized recommendations is to contact a dermatologist and schedule for information about skin care programs that can best meet your needs. But don’t expect your skin problems to be fixed overnight. A dermatologist will put you on the path to long-term healthy skin.
Increasingly, patients aren’t looking for a quick fix when they go to the dermatologist. Instead, they want a long-term routine and solution that will create healthy and beautiful skin for life. It’s less about fixing things in the moment and more about establishing healthy habits and a skin care routine that provides lasting results.
Healthy, glowing skin for life doesn’t come from following trends or social media hacks but by following a doctor-recommended program.
Here are five benefits of following a long-term skin care program:
Slows Signs of Aging
As skin ages, it naturally dries and loses some of its elasticity, plumpness, and moisture. Aging leads to fine lines, wrinkles, dry skin, uneven skin tone, and more. The best way to slow the signs of aging is with a consistent skin care routine. The sooner you start in life, the better your results will be.
Following a skin care routine in you 20s and 30s can greatly improve the look of your skin in your 50s and 60s. A long-term skin care routine from an early age protects your skin and slows how quickly your skin loses its strength and bounce.
A simple, ongoing skin care routine protects and strengthens your skin, which can reduce fine lines and wrinkles and give you a more youthful appearance. Consistently cleansing and moisturizing your face helps your skin stay clear and fresh, and wearing a daily sunscreen of at least SPF 30 protects your skin from harmful UV rays that cause a number of skin issues, including skin cancer.
Establishing these habits from an early age boosts your skin’s defense and sets you on the path to a lifetime of youthful skin.
But that doesn’t mean all is lost if you haven’t started a skin care program in your 50s or 60s. It’s always a good time to take care of your skin, and you can still protect your skin and even reverse some of the signs of aging with the right routine at any age.
Provides Consistent Results
Like most things in life, consistency is the key to skin care success. A common adage of dermatologists is that skin care is a marathon, not a sprint. Consistent results require the consistent effort of a quality skin care routine.
A nice facial or spa treatment can replenish your skin’s moisture and help it look and feel great in the moment, but if you don’t take care of your skin in other ways, those results will be temporary. Building consistent habits gives your skin time to adjust and heal for long-term results.
At-home skin care routines are only effective if you stick with them. In most cases, it takes four to six weeks (and sometimes up to 12 weeks) to see the full benefits of a new product or habit.
Don’t get frustrated when you don’t see results overnight, but stick with your routine to see long-term results. Changing course or trying new products every few weeks can actually harm the skin and not deliver results.
As a bonus, once your routine is established, it is easier to maintain. You don’t have to keep trying the latest products and treatments once you’ve found what works and you’re now in the habit of taking care of your skin every day.
Encourages a Healthy Lifestyle
Most people think of a skin care routine as the products they put on the outside of their skin, including the cleanser, lotions, and serums. And while these products are extremely helpful in cleaning and moisturizing your skin, they don’t show the full picture.
People with the best skin almost always follow healthy habits in other areas of their lives, including eating a balanced diet, drinking plenty of water, exercising regularly, and getting good sleep.
Getting in the habit of good skin care naturally leads to a healthy lifestyle in other areas. Even if you only adopt healthy habits to clear your skin, you’ll also see their impact in other areas of your life.
Eating a healthy diet with whole grains, lean proteins, fruits and vegetables, and healthy fats does more than just improve your skin. It also leads to better gut health, a balanced intake of vitamins, and a healthy weight. Similarly, drinking plenty of water, exercising, and getting good sleep encourage overall health and can build your immune system and reduce the risk of other health conditions.
The health of your skin impacts the health of your body. Healthy skin protects your body from heat, cold, germs, and other diseases and conditions.
Boost Confidence
A lasting skin care routine builds lasting confidence. People with acne or other skin conditions often feel insecure about the appearance of their skin. Studies have linked having acne to feelings of depression, anger, and anxiousness.
It’s common for people with skin conditions to feel that other people are focused on the appearance of their skin instead of seeing their deeper personality and talents.
Clear, healthy skin boosts confidence and improves your mental health. But for that confidence to be lasting, it requires a long-term skin care routine and not a single treatment.
A great product or quick fix can give you a short-term confidence boost, but real results come from a long-term routine, which creates beautiful clear skin.
Sticking to a routine helps you love what you see when you look in the mirror, which can boost your self-esteem and confidence in all other areas of life.
Can Adapt To Changes
A common challenge of people looking to improve their skin is constantly having to adjust their products and treatments. You might have to experiment with a few products to treat acne.
Once the acne is cleared up, your skin care routine may slide until another issue comes up, and then you have to experiment with treatments for that condition.
The benefit of having a long-term skin care routine is that it builds consistency and can easily adapt to changes. As you age and your body adjusts, your skin care products will likely change.
But when you are already in the habit of taking care of your skin, it’s easier to swap in some products for mature skin than starting from scratch to fight aging.
Similarly, if your skin condition changes, you have a better chance of seeing faster and longer-term results if you are already taking care of your skin instead of just looking for a quick fix.
When you follow a long-term skin care routine, you set yourself up for a lifetime of healthy, clear skin, regardless of what life throws your way.
And for an added bonus, you won’t waste money trying the newest treatments and products because you’ll already have a basic understanding of what works for your skin.
Skin Care Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated
A long-term skin care routine clearly brings numerous benefits, both to your skin and to your overall health and wellbeing. But just because a skin care routine is long-lasting doesn’t mean it has to be complicated or overwhelming.
Following a skin care program is effective because it becomes a habit and skin health becomes a focus of your everyday life.
Even a basic skin care routine can be effective long term because it protects and enriches your skin and gets you in the habit of taking care of your skin every day.
The most basic skin care routine has three steps: cleanse, moisturize, apply sunscreen. These three steps alone, when done consistently, can transform your skin.
You can also add to a basic skin care routine with additional treatments or products to further protect your skin or treat specific conditions. Adding serums and night creams can boost your skin to add more moisture and vitamins that promote collagen growth and increased elasticity.
When a basic skin care routine becomes a habit, you can add additional treatments and products as needed and based on the recommendation of your dermatologist.
When you’re in the throes of dryness, redness, acne, or other skin conditions, it can be tempting to want the quick fix that gets rid of your problems right away. But the best and most consistent results come from following a skin care program that sets you up for a lifetime of healthy, beautiful skin.
Visit your dermatologist for personalized recommendations and to get on the path towards healthy skin for life.