Transitioning Your Winter Skin Care Routine Into Spring!

It’s Time To Start Thinking About Transitioning Your Winter Skin Care Routine Into Spring!!!

After so many months of just plain old gloomy, chilly and sometimes downright cold days and nights, It’s always inspiring to clean out our closets, skincare cabinets and makeup drawers! When we do that, we start to feel the enthusiasm about what’s to come….SPRING! This means, breaking out the softer colors for our finger and toe nails, sundresses and fancy sandals! It also means, time to start transitioning your winter skin care routine!  If you are anything like me, it changes with every season!  I usually sit on a given Saturday or Sunday and go through all of my skin care products both face and body and really focus on a positive switch up for the new season. Normally in the winter months is when I do my heavy skin repairing from the damage that may have occurred during the summer. So, I immediately reach for the products that contain hydroquinone as well as the heavier moisturizers to heal and repair my skin. Now I certainly do not want to get rid of these products because I will for sure be using them again and I will say that I do hold onto my serums to ensure an ultimate moisturizing treatment at night from time to time as well as a hydrating mask. The seasonal changes in skin care such as my Melamin/Melamix + Tretinoin regimen get put aside for a few months and I move on to a more stabilizing product like ZO C-Bright, Ossentials Growth Factor and occasionally the ZO Radical Night Repair.  Now that I’ve given you a tiny peek into what I do, check out some other great ideas below to kick things off the right way this spring for your very own skin care routines!

Spring Skincare Ideas

As in my past blogs, I’ve told you all about the Basic 5: Cleanse, Exfoliate, Tone, Moisturize and SPF always and forever. These basics in which I use from ZO Skin Health as well as the ZO Medical line will always stay the same all year through.

For my very first “Spring Forward” idea, make an appointment to see your esthetician. Though I do see many patients on a monthly basis throughout the year, there are some that come to me for a seasonal cleansing facial and a skin check, or some that come in for the random deep pore and extraction facial. I highly recommend seeing your esty either way for the most up to date, trends, treatment protocols, products and skin care information. Find out what he or she has that’s new or what product can be incorporated into your spring regimen. It’s kind of like New Years Day, a fresh start.. a new beginning. When you see her or him, ask questions, your fully licensed and trained esthetician is a book of knowledge! There might be something you’ve always wanted to know about our skin and how it works! During your facial session, discuss your goals for the season, and past products that worked well for you and even the ones that just weren’t a good fit. I can only tell you from my own experience, that I get trained by a ZO Skin Health rep at least twice a year and every other year I am required to do continuing education for credit to keep my license in good standing with the state as well as training throughout the year on various skin care protocols and procedures to bring directly to you!

As I’ve mentioned above, I put away my hydroquinone products and break out my stabilizers. I recommend everyone to at some point get on board with stabilizing their skin. Stabilization prevents acquired sensitivities to treatments and enables skin to renew and strengthen itself. It also helps maintain your natural barrier function, and restores hydration. But what I really like about stabilizers is that we can still control our melanin production! Remember that melanin is the pigment that we see on our skin! The ZO Skin Health line has both medical as well as non-medical stabilizers to choose from, so be sure while you are getting your fabulous facial that you ask…. what’s next for me!?

Reach for those brighteners!!!! It’s perfectly ok to introduce skin brighteners and correcting cremes that contain Vitamin A while transitioning from hydroquinone. My advice is to gradually make this transition by applying every other day at first and then gradually you will discontinue completely.  I absolutely love the Retamax Vitamin A Micro Emulsion in the ZO Medical line. This formulation is a high level of retinol with a rapid delivery system.  It will help promote better skin texture, firmness, and color tone.  It has a beautiful blend of plant stem cell antioxidants and bio-metric proteins to help reverse the signs of aging and prevention of future damage. It is recommended to use Retamax 2x a week and increase as tolerated with 1 – 2 pumps per application. 

SPF should not only be your best friend in the spring and summer time, but fall and winter too! It is so very important to wear your sunscreen to help prevent future damage on your skin as well and protect the progress of great skin you worked so hard to get over these past months! I recommend the ZO Sunscreen and Primer! It has an SPF of 30 and is it titanium based. It has a fractionated melanin component to help protect you from the HEV rays with is high energy visible light. 

I hope this months blog helps you really start to think about what you can do to make some changes in the next month or so. Don’t forget to book your appointment with your esthetician and get on the path to beautiful skin!

Danielle Cios, LE

O’Neill Plastic Surgery 

843-881-2130

A picture of Patrick J. O’Neill, MD wearing his doctor attire.

About the Author

Upon completing medical school at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, SC, Dr. O’Neill completed nine years of residency training. These nine years included a full general surgery and a plastic surgery residency, both at the Medical University of South Carolina, and a hand and microsurgery fellowship at the Kleinert Institute for Hand and Microsurgery. Dr. O’Neill has extensive certifications, training, skills, and knowledge that make him a successful physician who can carry out your next plastic surgery procedure. His expertise and technique will result in the beautiful and natural look you desire post surgery.

Board Certified:
American Board of Surgery
American Board of Plastic Surgery
Sub-Certification in Hand and Microsurgery

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