You're bound to ask. How? That is pretty simple. Rule #1 realize that all skin out there likely is one of a kind. This makes sense considering there are some people who use salicylic acid cleansers to keep acne free but I for one cannot tolerate that stuff. My face breaks out even more and has an allergic reaction due to that stuff. What works better on my skin is benzoyl peroxide and even then due to the strong chemical only in 3.5% strength. Anything more is too harsh for my skin type.
That down you should probably research what kind of skin type you have so that you are taking care of your skin in a way that your skin tolerates it. I recommend reading up on WebMD's healthy beauty skin types for what skin type you may have. They include normal skin, combination skin, dry skin, and oily skin.
Normal skin type: No skin sensitivity. Near to no imperfections.
Combination (my skin type!): Between oily and normal. Oily areas on nose, chin, and forehead. Drier around cheeks
Dry: Your whole face tends to be dull and rough.
Oily: Shiny complexion.
Among all these I strongly believe within those major categories there exists a potential to have sensitive skin. Like say oily and sensitive skin.
Rule #2. What's important here is that you find the one skin type that reflects you. After that I recommend you ignore what you might have heard before today. You don't need to subject your skin to tons of stuff that will dry it out terribly. The only big things are cleansing and moisturizing your face with a specialized facial moisturizer.
These two things done twice a day, preferably in the morning cleansing your face with a cleanser that may or may not be acne fighting but if so only this once then moisturize and at night cleanse your face again with a non-acne fighting cleanser along with some good moisturizing. In any of these two cases, it is recommended you go with a foaming cleanser since for those with acne prone or sensitive skin these work less abrasively on your skin.
Rule #3. Picking the right moisturizer is essential to beautiful face skin. Therefore this is where it gets tricky. After using a Neutrogena benzoyl peroxide cleanser finding a good non-oily facial moisturizer is hard but the only one that seems to not aggravate my combination skin is the Bliss facial moisturizer ($27.00). That stuff feels soothing and really hydrates my skin. The only thing is that for some that might be expensive. One last thing. When looking for facial moisturizers be sure you read the ingredients. While some products say they aren't comedogenic (as in not pore clogging) a lot of them still contain ingredients that still clog your pores and cause you to break out. If all else fails. Try to look for one that is oil-free but be sure to try several products out there since you may never know until you try them on your skin.
