Skincare can be complicated, this is to help you simplify that.  Your face is the first thing people notice about you, so put your best face forward!  The best thing is to learn what works and does not work for you and then stick with what works.  The hard part is finding those products.

The four steps to a skincare program are: cleanse/tone, treat, moisturize/protect, and eye care.  Skincare programs differ in the type of skin you have (oily, normal, or dry) and in the forms of treatment your skin needs (wrinkles, age spots, acne, texture, discoloration, loss of firmness, blackheads, and/or large pores).  You can add up to three extra treatments to your normal regimen.  You cleanse/tone, use 0-3 treatments, moisturize/protect, and then add eye care.  Eye care is essential to skincare because it is the first place we notice aging and sleep deprivation. 

Determine your skincare program first and add treatments after using your regular program for four weeks.  This will allow you to determine if the treatments are working for you (because they should be the only new thing in your regimen).  So, first you need to determine if you have normal, oily, or dry skin.

Your facial skin type can change so make sure you change your program when it does.  Many people have normal or dry skin in the winter that becomes oily in the summer.  Also, just because you have acne does not mean you have oily skin.  Acne is caused by the pores being clogged, which can happen from oily or dry skin.  There is a simple method to finding out which skin type you have:

Wash your face using your regular cleanser and wait two hours.  At the end of the time take a white piece of computer paper and press part of it against your forehead and part against your cheeks.  Hold the paper up to the light to determine how much oil is on the paper.  If there are less than five spots of oil (and your skin feels tight and possibly is flaking) then you have dry skin.  If there is one large oil blotch or many large spots (and your skin is shiny) then you have oily skin .  If neither of these apply then you have normal skin.  Your T-zone (forehead, nose, and chin) will almost always have more oil than your cheeks - this does not mean you should treat your skin as combination.  Moisturizers are usually made for the in-between groups as well (normal to dry and normal to oily). 

The biggest mistake people make with skincare is using products that are too harsh (because they see results fast) that end up damaging the skin.  Acne medication in skincare should be 2-5%.  Higher than that will cause immediate effects because of the drying of the skin, but will cause more future breakouts.  Many people have experience with this when they are told that their skin "got used" to a product.  That does not happen, if it does than the product damaged your skin and you are seeing the result of that.  Another percentage to keep in mind is in the new facial peels.  7-12% is a high percentage, if you want to try something higher then go to a doctor that knows what they are doing!!  When you use something higher, it might look good for a while, but you are burning the top layer of your skin and that will come back to haunt you.  Everyday products should be even less than that.

Good luck on your search for the skincare program for you!  The link below will start you on your hunt to find the right products.

The First Step - Cleansing your skin!