5 AESTHETIC TIPS TO KNOW

Everyone knows that getting spa treatments are infinitely relaxing and beneficial, especially when you’re getting a facial treatment. Besides being a stress reliever, there are a host of benefits to keeping the skin - the largest organ in your body - healthy and getting it the regular care that it needs.

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Here at Upkeep, we offer a myriad of facials for all skin types, including our signature facial treatment that everybody loves. But besides getting pampered and receiving proper care from a professional aesthetician, getting a facial makes a dramatic difference for your skin. Read on to see why you should get yourself a facial, stat!

1 - Get professional advice

You might think you know your own skin but let’s face it, nobody knows it better like a skin expert. When you come in for a facial, a professional aesthetician gets an unobstructed view of your skin up close, without makeup and filters, which reveals your true skin type. The skin analysis allows them to come up with the proper and ideal skin treatment and regimen that’s suited to your skin’s unique needs.

2 - Hydration is key

If you don’t know it by now, hydration is important across all skin types, even for those with oily skin! To maintain a healthy skin and prevent skin concerns that spring from having dry skin such as dermatitis and eczema, it is essential to keep it hydrated at all times. During facials, the skin receives intensive hydration to give your skin a much-needed moisture boost. When done regularly, facials help your skin regulate and maintain the appropriate moisture level.

3 - Always exfoliation

Exfoliating at home can sometimes be a bit too harsh on the skin, leaving it dry and peeling unattractively. But having it done by a professional can make a huge difference on your skin, effectively removing dead skin cells and promoting healthy cell turnover. Facials include the aesthetician performing deep exfoliation on your skin using different methods such as bio abrasion, derma-planing, chemical peels or ultrasound exfoliation, depending on your skin type.  

4 - Clogged pores and blackheads

Perhaps the most important part of having a facial, getting whiteheads and blackheads safely extracted and having clogged pores addressed will definitely help improve and clear out your skin. Paired with exfoliation, extractions leave you with a healthier skin complexion when done regularly.

5 - Anti-aging advice

As we grow older, our skin is subjected to signs of aging such as fine lines and wrinkles, or age spots, among others. Facials offer a host of anti-aging benefits to the skin that you shouldn’t miss out on. Steam and facial massages help improve and increase the flow of blood and oxygen to the skin, which in turn promotes rapid absorption of the nutrients and antioxidants the skin needs, leaving it looking soft, smooth and youthful. It’s a well-known fact that getting regular facials help keep the skin’s aging process at bay.

Most people wait until there’s a problem with their skin before coming in to get a facial treatment. Skin concerns such as breakouts, fine lines and wrinkles, eczema or rosacea are only some problems that can be prevented from happening when you’re getting facials done on a regular basis. Just like your body’s health, prevention is key to ensuring your skin stays healthy and happy.

The 3 Essential Products You Need To Have In Your Skincare Routine

Sometimes, it’s all about going back to the basics.

With an innumerable amount of skincare products out on the market today, it sure is fun to try and experiment, especially if you’re searching for the perfect skincare routine. With new product innovations, trends and superstar ingredients coming out year after year (like the trending 10-step Korean skincare beauty routine), the available options can leave you a little bit overwhelmed.

So what is it that the skin really needs? Do we have to subscribe to every skincare product type that’s being touted as the next big miracle in the industry? Do we really need to have 10 types of skincare products on our bathroom vanity to have the ideal skin?

Of course not! While it doesn’t hurt to have a ton of different skincare product types that help target different areas of concern for your skin, professionals have trimmed the list down to the basics. For your skin to be healthy and well-maintained, here are the 4 essential products you really should have for an effective skincare routine:

1. Cleanser

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Start off your skincare routine with a gentle cleanser that’s suited to your skin type. Whether you’re the type to wear makeup daily or you like to keep your face bare for a more natural look, cleansing your face is an essential step you shouldn’t skip.

2. Moisturizer

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Hydration is important if you want to prevent skin issues. Dry and itchy skin, dermatitis, acne, inflammation and skin irritations can actually be avoided by religiously applying moisturizer right after the cleansing step. It will help your skin look soft and supple, prevents the formation of fine lines and wrinkles and helps improve your skin’s texture and appearance. It’s important to note that your moisturizer should be suited to your particular skin type.

3. Sunscreen

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Arguably the most essential part of any skincare routine, a high protection sunscreen (SPF 30 or above) is a non-negotiable item. It’s the single most effective way to prevent the dreaded skin cancer or to have prematurely aged skin, age spots or leathery-looking skin!

 Your skin is all set with just these 3 essential products, but you can always supplement with more as you see fit. Serums, exfoliators, anti-aging creams, facial masks or acne spot treatments, the list can get quite big! In the end, going right back down to the absolute bare-bones essentials makes your skin healthy with a lot less effort, time and money!

Top 4 Skincare Trends To Hit Before 2022

Trends come and go but when it comes to the skincare industry, you can only expect goodness for your skin. From hero ingredients to new innovations, the skincare industry never fails to deliver what’s best for our skin health.

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And so, here are 4 of the top skincare trends to hit 2021 that’ll most likely be here to stay:

Skinimalism

A play on the term minimalism, skinimalism is all about going back to the basics. With all that’s happening out there since the pandemic started, practicality in all things rose to the top of our lists. And that includes costly skincare products. But scrimping on costly products doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice a healthy, glowing skin complexion either!

Skinimalism focuses on the essentials, the minimum number of skincare products possible to bring out optimum skin results. It is aimed at simplifying with an effective skincare routine rather than having a complex cocktail of skincare products that can possibly damage and disrupt the skin’s PH balance, which often results in a host of skin issues.

Microbiome-Focused Skincare Products

This year saw the rise of microbiome-friendly skincare products that experts see as gaining more traction in the foreseeable future. Microbiome skincare is essentially those products infused with probiotics that add bacteria - the good kind! - to support and maintain the skin’s barrier and optimum health. Be it in a restorative cream, a serum, or a moisturizer, you can expect probiotics to play a huge role, ingredient-wise!

Blue Light Protection

Because we’ve been spending a great deal of our time in front of our laptops or phones this year, we’ve also seen the rise of products that aim to protect your skin from blue light. Also known as high energy visible (HEV) light and can also be found along the sun’s UV rays, blue light is emitted from our screens and can cause similar damage as UV light in terms of photo-aging.

This year saw key ingredients such Niacinamide and minerals with high iron oxide levels become heroes as they are effective at fighting and blocking out the dreaded blue light.

De-Stressing Skincare

We can all agree that stress has seriously taken over our collective lives as we’ve been all forced to stay indoors during the pandemic. This year, we’ve seen an uptick in the number of skincare products launched that aim to eliminate the effects of stressors on our skin and maintain a healthy skin barrier. Products with ingredients such as hydration superstar hyaluronic acid and barrier-loving ceramides are key to de-stressing your skin, as they help repair and restore the skin’s first line of defense. 

As you can see, most of these skincare trends aim to deal with the effects the pandemic has on our daily lives, and ultimately, on our skin. Which trend are you most interested in trying out?