We often think of the nighttime as down time when everything we do comes to a stop. Not so with our anti-aging regimen. In fact, we can make our hours of rest produce better results than a full days work. How? Your body regenerates and detoxes throughout the night as it removes toxins through the pores of your skin. With the right products and cleansing, you can boost your body’s ability to diminish the signs of aging.

1. Begin with a cleanser designed for use with your skin type and skin problems. One boost you can give is to wash your face as early in the evening as you can. This removes the pollutants and irritants that are caught in your makeup and held against your face. It also loosens clogged pores and removes dirt and excess oil.

2. Next exfoliate to remove the surface dry skin cells. Your skin sloughs off dead skin with a natural process, but the skin`s oils can act like a magnet to some of those dead skin cells and prevent them from flaking off. The removal of dead skin cells help products to penetrate deeper into the skin instead of just sitting on top. Exfoliation helps to unblock pores and keep them open to prevent blackheads. Do this no more than 2-3 times per week. As a general rule, one or two times for sensitive skin, two to three times for oily skin.

3. After exfoliation, rinse with cool, not cold, water and pat dry. The moisturizer you choose for nighttime is more important than what you use in the day. The daytime moisturizers job is to protect from the environment and prevent moisture loss. The night cream`s job is to rejuvenate, repair and restore the skin. Your night cream should contain ingredients that benefit your skin`s health and skin condition. For example if you have dry skin, your night cream should contain nourishing oils.

4. Be sure to use a night cream for your eyes. The skin around the eyes is thinner than on the rest of your face and is therefore more prone to fine lines. Nighttime eye creams are designed specifically for this sensitive area. An eye cream can also help to reduce crows feet, frown lines and firm and tighten the skin for a youthful appearance. Used at night, eye cream had more uninterrupted time to absorb and be useful to the skin, especially if you sleep on you back and your face isn’t pushed into your pillow.

5. The nights when you don’t exfoliate, before you apply moisturizers and eye creams, consider a specialized mask treatment to treat any skin conditions such as acne, allergies or other minor irritations. This may be as simple as treating oily or dry skin, or more complex like treating aging signs or pigmentation. When you are able to begin your nighttime routine early in the evening, you allow you face to breathe and absorb quality treatments. Specialized masks are usually used once a week, depending on skin type and skin condition. Do not combine with exfoliation.

6. Specialized serums, essences and gels can help with aging concerns such as lines and wrinkles and loss of firmness. Specialized treatments are usually applied under your moisturizer. Consult your dermatologist before use.

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