When the winter cold moves out and the spring brings in the warmer weather and sunny days, it is a good time to take a look at your skin care regime and do a little spring cleaning of your own. There are a lot of similarities between what nature does to itself and what your body and skin do when the seasons change. This makes the perfect analogy to help explain what you should be doing to move the cold out and get ready for the beautiful days ahead!

Here’s what you need to do:

Spring clean your things.

Throw out any skin care products over a year old if they are in a sealed container and if they are in jarred or open container, throw them out after six months. Skin care products start losing their effectiveness and/or dry out once they are opened so you can’t leave them unused for long periods of time. It’s also a good time to clean your makeup brushes while you’re at it. Your brushes can harbor bacteria and clog pores if they aren’t cleaned regularly.

Make a date to exfoliate.

Winter creates a build up of dead skin cells on the skin so getting a good exfoliant and using it a couple times a week will help get those dead cells off and reveal the fresh new skin that is underneath.

Soak up a serum.

Customize your routine with a serum filled with antioxidants that will keep your skin bright and smooth. Look for ingredients like vitamin c, hyaluronic acid and peptides, they are really good at their job.

Lighten it up.

The skin holds more moisture in the warmer months so you don’t need to be putting on a heavy moisturizer during the day. Oily skin types should always use a light moisturizer but drier skin types should use a light moisturizer during the day and can save their heavier one for night.

Hydrate.

Drink lots of water for less breakouts and perfectly hydrated skin.

Protect it.

This a big one. While the antioxidants in the serum will protect the skin from free radical damage and environmental toxins, you need to protect it from UVA (Aging) Rays and UVB (Burning) Rays. Get a cute sun hat and wear it along with a sunscreen of SPF 30 and re apply every 2 hours if you are out in the sun.

Leona Baisley Vivid Complexion Having been licensed esthetician for over 8 years, Leona has worked for a variety of spas and wax only salons. She is passionate about skin care, waxing and education for both the professional and the client. She has over 4 years of wax training experience for large organizations and is in the beginning stages of creating her own education classes that will help licensed estheticians and cosmetologists grow their businesses and compete with the top professionals in the industry.