Even your skin loves a surprise

Change is good for your skin — here’s how to switch things up.

In Brightening

Your current skincare routine not giving you the glow you want? Try these five additions.

1. Serum

Think of serums like a shot of espresso. These products are a concentration of active ingredients that can penetrate deeply into the skin due to their makeup of smaller particles. Look for serums with antioxidants to protect against free radical damage and boost collagen production in your skin to improve skin texture and strength. Serums go on after your toner, before your moisturizer. As they also help improve the efficacy of subsequent skin products, your skin brightening moisturizer works doubly hard to achieve an even complexion.

2. Sheet masks

Sheet masks are soaked in serum-based formulas, and are effective at delivering an intense amount of active ingredients to your skin. They’re most effective for locking in moisture to strengthen skin. Apply the mask once a week, after exfoliating, for that added boost.

3. Hydrating facial mists

Check a woman’s purse, and you might find a bottle of this in there. As many women sit in dry, air-conditioned offices all day, skin becomes dry and possibly patchy. Facial mists are a portable and convenient way to keep your skin hydrated throughout the day.

4. Makeup primers

Yes, this is a bit of a makeup cheat, and might appear to cause you more pore-clogging problems. But there’s a larger purpose. Primers help to smoothen skin for easier application of makeup, but they also help makeup stick better, so there’s no need to keep reapplying throughout the day. Less makeup means clearer pores, and therefore healthier skin.

5. Glycolic peel

The easiest way for skin renewal and to remove superficial hyperpigmented skin cells is with a peel. If you’re thinking you’re literally peeling off a layer of skin, you wouldn’t be completely wrong. You might’ve seen pictures of celebrities who’ve undergone strong dermatologist-administered chemical peels, which require downtime as skin falls off their faces in sheets. But this isn’t quite the same thing. A glycolic peel is an at-home solution that has a skin-sloughing effect which works harder than a standard exfoliating cleanser to help even out skin tone.