Well, it happened again.  I didn?t wash my face last night.  It is the one thing that I should do every night, and sometimes I am so exhausted that the thought of heading into my bathroom to go through the five steps of cleansing, moisturizing, protecting, seems insurmountable.  I don?t know why the woman in this picture looks so god damn happy!

Not washing your face at night, every dermatologist will tell you, is the worst thing you can do.  All of your makeup from the day before just sits there and clogs your pores.  Sometimes I have gone to a party, my makeup great, and the next day I wake up and look like Courtney Love.

So I have to come up with a solution.  Start washing up for bed before I feel my eyes rolling to the back of my head.  If I don’t start doing this, I will really start to break out, and I will look very out of place hanging around with the teenagers just starting puberty.

I am like the Indiana Jones of skin care.  I have spent years on a journey trying the find the perfect skincare routine.  I am not an expert.  I like to think of myself as an overworked skincare research assistant.  My adventures have led me to this routine:

1. Cleanse and Tone.  There are a lot of products on the market that are a cleanser and toner in one.  Murad Clarifying Cleanser and Dr. Dennis Gross All-in-One are two that I have used.  This makes things easy, and because I am always running out of cotton balls,  a separate toner doesn?t work for me.
2. After I cleanse, I put on a facial serum with antioxidants.  This will protect your skin throughout the day.  Depending on your skin type and what you need, there are vitamin C creams, spot corrector creams.  Brightening Creams.  I like Skin Ceuticals products such as CE Feurlic and Philosophy?s Turbo booster C powder.
3. I also like to use a collagen gel.  Really, at age 39, anything in the label that has the word lift in it, I will buy.  I use Dr. Brandt?s Collagen Booster and it makes my skin feel tight and look brighter.
4. Eye cream.  This really does help.  Our eyes reveal how tired we are, how old we are.  Keep that area moisturized and reapply throughout the day.
5. Protect every day with sunscreen.  I break out very easily and had to go through a lot of sunscreens to find the right one.  I now use one called Citrix and it works well for me.

At night, I repeat steps 1 through 4, and use a Retin-A product to exfoliate my skin and protect against wrinkles.

I try a few times a week to use a mask for a deeper clean.  I alternate this with at home alpha beta peel pads from Dr. Dennis Gross.  Can you see why I am exhausted at night and don?t want to wash my face?

My best advice is to consult with a dermatologist you trust and have them put you on a good skin care routine for your type.  Be consistent, and you will feel better in your skin.

There are so many products out there and I get very overwhelmed by the options.  If you like what works for you, stick to it.

Oh, and can you let me know your best skin care tip?  I could always add a few more steps.

Helpful Hint:  I read a lot of magazines and a lot of their skincare tips are great.  They have product suggestions.  I also like to purchase a lot of my skincare from websites because they are always running promotions and discounts.  Try skinstore.com.

Jen Ross, Author, ?Don?t Wear Sweats Or Your Husband Will Leave You?