My Favorite At-Home Facial Routine

Happy Monday y’all! I don’t know about y’all, but my Sunday evening routine regularly consists of a sort of at-home spa night to help me feel rested and at my best for the upcoming week. For me, that means washing my hair, probably doing some sort of hair mask, self-tanning, and doing an at-home facial!

I love to experiment with different beauty products, but I almost never deviate from this routine. Sometimes I’ll try out a few new products, but I definitely have my favorites. The next time you are in need of a little pampering, give it a try! The routine is three main steps:

Step One: Dermaplane (Physical Exfoliant)

Once you’ve washed and dried your face, the first part of the routine is an at-home dermaplaning treatment. I fell in love with dermaplaning as a spa treatment, but after some experimenting, realized I could bring that treatment home to myself for a fraction of the cost. Dermaplaning at the spa is still my favorite since it’s a deeper, more thorough exfoliation (see a blog post about it here). However, I can use these (less sharp) disposable facial razors to get a similar effect.

To perfect the treatment at home, hold the razor at a 45 degree angle, use moderate pressure, and be careful not to go in the same spot repeatedly. Smaller, moderate strokes work best (from personal experience). If you’ve never seen/had it done before I’d recommend checking out a youtube video. There are tons out there!

After I shave my whole face, I rinse with water (or a mild cleanser if you have more sensitive skin), pat dry, and move on to step two.

Step Two: Chemical Exfoliant

So the dermaplaning treatment in step one should have removed any vellous hairs (peach fuzz), as well as some yucky, dull, dead skin. The next step in the routine is to take exfoliation even deeper. In this step, we will use a combination AHA/BHA exfoliant to loosen up the “glue” that holds your dead skin cells together (AHA) and an oil-soluble exfoliant (BHA) that has the ability to penetrate your pores and dislodge any black/whiteheads.

**Note: if you have never used any kind of chemical exfoliants, this might be a little too intense for you to start with. I’d recommend starting out with either ONLY step one or ONLY step two. As your skin gets a little tolerance with the acids, you can bump up to adding the two steps together or using the acids for a longer time frame.

I have two go-to products for this step. My longtime favorite is The Ordinary’s 30% AHA 2% BHA Peeling Solution. It’s an awesome, powerful exfoliant with a VERY affordable price point- less than $8 for the bottle! This is a mask you leave on for a short time before washing off. If you are new to acids, I’d recommend starting slow, with only a few minutes, before bumping up to the full ten.

The corresponding high-end version I first fell in love with the Drunk Elephants T.L.C. Sukari Babyfacial. This one separates itself from The Ordinary in two main ways. The first: price point. The DE product rings up at $80 a bottle. Not cheap at all, but a freaking incredible product. The second way it differs is soothing ingredients. The DE formulation includes powerhouse acids but also contains impressive soothing ingredients that keep skin from becoming overly sensitive from the acids. That being said, if you don’t have particularly sensitive skin, and follow up with a soothing formula next, you should be fine. Speaking of which- that brings us to step three.

Step Three: Soothing/Hydrating Face Mask

Much like step two, I have a few masks I enjoy for this step. The main thing here is to soothe and hydrate your skin- it’s just been through a lot with your physical and chemical exfoliation. I love sheet masks for this step because they really trap the moisture on your skin until you have a real chance to absorb it. My favorite sheet masks are the Dr. Jart Ceramidin Masks. They are incredibly hydrating, soothing, and nourishing.

My other favorite mask is Peter Thomas Roth’s Cucumber Hydrating Mask. It’s soothing, and also great for use after a day out in the sun. Unlike the Dr. Jart mask, this one is wash-off. I usually follow this one up with a facial oil, or my regular moisturizer depending on how my skin is feeling.

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I hope you’ll try out this routine! You won’t be disappointed. I always wake up with fresh, glowing, smooth, hydrated skin the next day- there’s a reason I’ve been doing it for over a year!

Until next time,

Amanda Kennedy

Follow along on IG: @amandadev4

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