Everybody’s skin is different, so finding the right skincare for you can feel more demanding than it should be.
At About Face Aesthetics, our skin experts have compiled everything you need to know when it comes to learning what your skin needs, how to properly care for it, and more!
Step 1 | Understanding Your Skin
To find the best skincare in Philadelphia, you first need to understand what skin type you have and your skin needs. The American Academy of Dermatology recognizes that there are 5 different skin types:
Sensitive skin
Normal skin
Dry skin
Oily skin
Combination skin
Sensitive Skin
Sensitive skin is characterized by stinging, burning, and itching sensations, especially when you apply any makeup or skincare products to your skin. While you can have this skin type naturally, many people develop it after excessive exposure to environmental factors like intense cold, heat, sun, pollution, or moisture.
Normal Skin
Having normal skin is typically the goal for those who are looking for skincare in Philadelphia. This skin type is characterized by having skin that is neither too oily nor too dry. It is not sensitive to touch, and while it may turn slightly red from intense scrubbing or sunburn, should not react negatively to the use of makeup or normal skincare products.
Dry Skin
Dry skin is characterized by developing patches of itchy, flaking, scaly, or rough skin. These patches can occur anywhere on your face. While some people have this skin type normally, it is typically caused by repeated exposure to environmental factors like cold or dry weather and sun damage. It can also be caused by the use of harsh soaps and over-bathing. Many people confuse this skin type with dehydrated skin, which is a completely separate skin condition.
Oily Skin
Oily skin is a common skin condition that is characterized by the appearance of shiny or greasy skin. The overproduction of sebum, or “oil,” is the main cause of oily skin, which can create issues with acne and enlarged pores. Anyone can be born with oily skin, but it is often developed after repeated exposure to heat and humidity, as well as certain makeup and skincare products.
Combination Skin
Combination skin is just that—a combination of oily and dry skin. You may experience oily skin in certain areas of your face, like your cheeks or your “T-zone” (around the forehead, nose, and lips). While this skin type is purely genetic, it can change with seasonal or hormonal shifts.
How to Determine Your Skin Type
While the best way to determine your skin type is to come and visit our skin experts for a consultation, there are certain tests you can do at home to discover your skin type. While these tests may not be as accurate as a professional consultation, they will help you gain a better understanding of your skin.
There are 2 main tests you can do to find your specific skin type, which can help you determine the best products for your skincare in Philadelphia.
The Day Test
For some, the best way to determine your skin type is to see how it works within a 24-hour period. In the morning, you wash your face with a mild cleanser, but otherwise do not apply any other skincare products or makeup. Then you go about your normal day, and once it is time for you to go to bed, you examine your skin to determine your skin type.
The Wash Test
The wash test works very similarly to the day test, but is accomplished in a much shorter time frame. If you cannot go a whole day without skincare products or makeup (or if you take a shower in the middle of the day) this test may work best for you. You wash your face with a mild cleanser then wait about 30 minutes. Then, you examine your skin to determine your skin type. It is best to try this test when your skin is calm, meaning you have not undergone any specific skin treatments, scrubs, or have experienced a sunburn.
Results
Your Results After The Test
Your Possible Skin Type
My face feels oily and looks shiny.
Oily skin
Certain areas of my face are oily (like my nose and forehead) but the rest of my skin looks pretty normal.
Combination skin
I have minimal oil or flakiness, and my skin does not look inflamed or red.
Normal skin
My skin feels tight and is flaky.
Dry skin
My skin is itchy, red, and inflamed.
Sensitive skin
If you complete these tests but still find it difficult to determine which skin type you are, then we suggest visiting our providers for a consultation. We have certain tools that will help you receive an accurate skin type diagnosis, which can help us find the right product for your skincare in Philadelphia.
Your Age Affects Your Skin, Too
As we age, our skin produces less and less collagen, elastin, and hyaluronic acid. These proteins and compounds are responsible for many aspects of our skin health, including:
Elasticity
Cellular turnover
Moisture retention
Statistically, our bodies produce 1% less collagen, elastin, and hyaluronic acid each year after we turn about 20 years old.
That is why our goal at About Face is to increase your skin’s natural production of these essential components in order to maintain its healthy structure and appearance. We customize your plan to include treatments and products for your skincare in Philadelphia. We recommend either visiting our team for a consultation or using our virtual consultation tool to find the best options for your skin.
Step 2 | Finding In-House Treatments
Caring for your teeth requires consistent care. You go to the dentist once every 6 months for thorough cleaning and check-ups, then maintain the health of your teeth by flossing and brushing daily.
The same idea applies to your skincare in Philadelphia; you visit our team once every few months for an in-house treatment and then maintain your results with a daily skincare routine. We offer a variety of treatments for your concerns to help you feel confident in your skin. To find the best options for you, we recommend scheduling a consultation with one of our providers, but here are our most popular skin rejuvenation services and what concerns they address:
Skin Tightening
At About Face, our skin tightening services provide the perfect base for your at-home skincare in Philadelphia. These treatments are designed to drastically increase your body’s natural production of collagen and elastin, while also delivering additional benefits based on your specific goals. We offer Thermage, SculpSure, and Morpheus8 microneedling as options to tighten skin, shrink stubborn fat, and create smoother, healthier skin.
BBL
The BBL photofacial targets fine lines, sun spots, hyperpigmentation, superficial blood vessels, and more. This uses broadband light to target deep within your skin, removing damaged cells to create a more even and smoother complexion. This process also stimulates your body’s natural healing response, which increases collagen and elastin production.
IPL
IPL works very similarly to BBL, but whereas BBL can target one or two issues deep within your dermis, or the deepest layer of your skin, IPL can target a wider variety of concerns within your epidermis, or the top layer of your skin. We typically provide IPL treatment for those who have more mild skin issues and BBL to those who are needing a more intense and targeted treatment.
Laser Resurfacing
Laser skin resurfacing is an exceptional aesthetic treatment that gently removes the uppermost layer of skin while heating the underlying layers. This stimulates the body’s natural healing response, increasing the collagen and elastin that is in your skin. This process focuses on correcting texture concerns like wrinkles, fine lines, scarring, and more.
Chemical Peels
Chemical peels are a minimally invasive treatment that uses a mixture of chemical compounds to peel away the top layer of your skin. This process removes dead and damaged skin cells and stimulates your body’s healing response, increasing collagen and elastin production. There are a wide variety of chemical peels available to target unique concerns, so you and your provider can talk to determine the best peel for you.
Custom Facials
These facials use specific serums and products depending on your individual needs. While facials can be considered as a “once-in-a-blue-moon” luxury, we actually recommend receiving facials about once a month as part of your regular skincare in Philadelphia. This is because they deliver compound results over time, improving your skin’s health and appearance.
Step 3 | Establishing an At-Home Routine
At About Face, we make caring for your skin simple, so we’ll break down the basic steps of what you should be doing for your skincare in Philadelphia:
Cleansing
The first goal of any skincare routine is to remove toxins and debris from your skin. The best way to do this is by first wetting your skin with lukewarm water, then using your fingers to apply a gentle, non-alcoholic cleanser to your skin. You gently rub the cleanser into your pores for about 30 seconds to 1 minute, avoiding the temptations to scrub, as this will irritate your skin.
Once you are done, you rinse your face with lukewarm water and then pat your skin dry with a clean towel or washcloth. Make sure to limit the amount of time you wash your face to 2 times a day, as over-cleansing your skin can impact your skin’s health and cause you to develop dry skin.
Toning
Toners are a water-based lotion or tonic that helps remove residual impurities in the skin after cleansing. While cleansing is a vital part of your skincare in Philadelphia, cleansers remove protective oils and proteins from your skin. Toners are used to increase the water content of your skin, which supports the absorption of products that will come after you apply your toner.
However, while toners do not contain alcohol, they do contain ingredients like alpha hydroxy acids, beta hydroxy acids, lactic acid, salicylic acid, and glycolic acid in moisturizers. These work to restore the pH balance of your skin, which will help you achieve and maintain a normal skin type.
Moisturizing
There are 3 different kinds of moisturizers: occlusives, emollients, and humectants.
Occlusives work by creating a barrier over your skin, preventing water from evaporating and keeping your skin moist.
Emollients penetrate the skin and make it softer and more flexible, helping capture and maintain moisture in your skin.
Humectants are made of molecules that help keep water in the epidermis and increase the production of ceramides, which are molecules that prevent water evaporation from your skin.
Most moisturizers have a mixture of all three, so you can receive the benefits of all their moisturizing methods, but all of them have one goal in mind: keeping the water in your skin!
Treating Specific Concerns
Acne
On top of our popular in-house AviClear acne treatment, we also offer at-home products to help with your acne. There are many products available that you can include as part of your skincare in Philadelphia, but finding the right one depends on your needs.
Some acne products target the acne-causing bacteria in your skin, while others may remove excess oil or speed up cellular regeneration. Other products try to accomplish all these goals. Our skin experts can help you find the best products based on your unique needs during your consultation.
Redness
For redness, which may also be diagnosed as rosacea, you can apply specific creams or gels that constrict the superficial blood vessels within your face. These creams can address mild-to-moderate rosacea, but severe rosacea may need to be treated using prescription creams and possibly laser treatments. Our providers can help you determine the right course for your concerns.
Wrinkles
The most common ingredients in wrinkle creams are retinoids, vitamin C, niacinamide, bakuchiol, tranexamic, and azelaic. All of these products work to brighten skin tone, deliver and maintain skin hydration, reverse sun and pollution damage, and increase collagen and elastin production. Products containing these ingredients can be helpful for your skincare in Philadelphia.
Dark Spots/Sun Spots
When searching for products that treat sun spots or dark spots, you’ll want to look at options that contain ingredients like aloe vera, licorice extract, vitamin C, vitamin E, acetic acid, green tea extract, lactic acid, honey, glycolic acid, hydroxy acid, kojic acid, or deoxyarbutin. All of these work at lightening the skin and creating a brighter and more even tone.
Dark Circles
There are many products and treatments that claim to correct dark circles, but you will want to look at products that specifically contain vitamin C, kojic acid, caffeine, and vitamin K. These products not only brighten skin, but the caffeine will help constrict the superficial blood vessels under your eyes, which will reduce the amount of darkness that appears within your skin.
Dry Skin
Ointments and creams are better than lotions at treating dry skin. Our providers can share tips and tricks on how to change your lifestyle so you can find relief from dry skin, but there are products that can also help. For dry skin, look for products that contain ingredients like jojoba oil, dimethicone, glycerin, hyaluronic acid, lactic acid, lanolin, mineral oil, petrolatum, and shea butter. These products will be an essential part of your skincare in Philadelphia.
Oily Skin
If you have oily skin, you’ll want products that are specifically listed as “oil-free” or “noncomedogenic.” These mean that the products will not clog your pores or cause acne. For your skincare in Philadelphia, we will most likely recommend products that contain ingredients like salicylic acid, retinoids, glycolic acid, hyaluronic acid, and niacinamide. These will help regulate your sebum production to balance out the oil in your skin.
Dullness
Dull skin is typically caused by slow cellular turnover, which leaves your pores congested and full of dead and damaged skin cells. What you will want are products that exfoliate your skin and increase collagen and elastin production. Retinoids typically do this the best, but you will need to speak to one of our skin experts to determine which of our offered products may work best to refresh your skin.
Large Pores
Large pores are usually caused by excess sebum and dead skin cells, which can be treated by exfoliating your skin. When looking for products for your skincare in Philadelphia, you should look at ones that contain retinoids. You should also look at items labeled “oil-free” or “non-comedogenic”, as these products will not clog your pores moving forward.
Not All Products Work Together
When combining certain products, especially retinoids and any acids, you will need to be careful as to which products you use together. Certain products react negatively to one another, so you may need to separate products between your morning and evening skincare routines.
Products That Do Not Work Together
Product
❌ Do Not Mix
✅ Do Mix
Retinoids
Benzoyl Peroxide, AHAs, BHAs
Niacinamide, Ceramides, SPF, Hyaluronic Acid
Vitamin C
AHAs, BHAs, High pH Cleansers, Vitamin C
Vitamin E, Ferulic Acid, SPF
AHAs, BHAs
Retinoids, Vitamin C, Niacinamide
Moisturizers, Ceramides, SPF
Benzoyl Peroxide
Retinoids, Vitamin C
Moisturizers, SPF
Niacinamide
AHAs, BHAs, Vitamin C
Retinoids, Hyaluronic Acid, Ceramides
SPF
Do not combine with other products
Apply by itself
The Best Skincare Combos
Niacinamide + Retinoids
Retinoids are known to be irritating to your skin since they can increase cellular turnover. However, pairing these products with niacinamide actually reduces the irritation to your skin, reduces the signs of aging, evens out skin tone, and improves acne.
Vitamin C + Vitamin E
Both of these vitamins work to reverse the signs of aging and UV damage, but together, they multiply the benefits for your skin, doubling their antioxidant effects.
Hyaluronic Acid + Retinoids
Hyaluronic acid is both hydrating and soothing, so it is known to work well with retinol and other retinoids, working against their irritating effects.
Ferulic Acid + Vitamin C
Ferulic acid fights free radicals within your skin. When paired, ferulic acid extends the life of vitamin C and stabilizes its formula so it is less likely to evaporate before it can effectively improve your skin.
Vitamin E + Sunscreen
Vitamin E works to increase the effects of your sunscreen and prevent UV damage. However, we do not recommend mixing these products together. For your morning skincare in Philadelphia, we suggest applying vitamin E first, and then making SPF the last step of your routine.
Skincare Brands We Offer
At About Face, we understand that variety is important when curating your unique skincare routine. That is why we offer products from 3 different brands for your skincare in Philadelphia. Each one provides high-quality, medical-grade skincare products, but each one differs in how it accomplishes your skin goals.
Colorescience
Colorescience products are designed to meet you wherever you are on your skin journey. Theri products use therapeutic ingredients to cleanse, hydrate, repair, strengthen, and protect your skin. Their products have been proven to deliver clinical results while using natural ingredients.
SkinBetter
Established in 2016, this exceptional brand delivers biotech-based skincare. Their brand is based around 3 main values: scientific innovation, rigorous clinical studies, and a partnership with dermatologists and medical doctors. All of these values are the foundation of their work, creating best-in-class skincare solutions.
Alastin
One of the most popular brands for skincare in Philadelphia, Alastin is one of the fastest-growing physician-dispensed skincare brands in the country. Founded in 2015, they provide a comprehensive collection of clinically proven products that deliver optimal results for your skincare routine.
Discover Exceptional Skincare
No matter where you are in your skincare journey, our team at About Face Aesthetics can help you with every step of this skincare process, from discovering your skin type to curating a unique skincare routine that will deliver the results you need.
Our experts understand more than just skin—they also understand that every patient is unique, and that taking the time to understand your needs will help us deliver results and increase your confidence. Schedule a consultation with our experts today and take the first step towards creating healthier and happier skin.
Schedule a Consultation