A great way to learn is to teach

I have a daughter who’s pretty typical of most young teenagers. So I was surprised (and delighted) recently to see her in action, doing her best to teach her friend and her friend’s mother how to follow a simple skincare regime using botanical products.

Considering she has grown up surrounded by skincare, it would in theory make sense that she embraced the routine with vigour and passion. Of course, it hasn’t been quite that easy. If you’re finding it hard to get your adolescent into following a simple and straightforward skincare regime, I can sympathise.

I’d suggest starting sooner rather than later by getting your daughter (or son) to understand the importance of washing their face. This can be as soon as they can use a facecloth.  Later they can graduate to using a cleanser – anywhere from 11 years of age or when the first signs of skin changes are visible. This is a time to stress the importance of following a skincare routine.

Acne is a timely example of what can happen when they don’t clean their skin: it’s often (but not always) the result of poor cleansing. So start with cleansing and then progress to exfoliating once or twice a week. Do your best to get them to understand it’s about developing a habit, like brushing teeth or making their bed (I know what you’re thinking!). Once they see results, such as reducing acne and inflammation, it will give them a boost of confidence, and a spur to keep going.

It needs to be seen as enjoyable and fun – not a laborious task. Girls love doing things together: why not try putting on a facial event at a birthday party? We’ve had an enormous amount of fun applying the Purifying Mask on each other’s face and my daughter has really enjoyed giving her dad a facial. (So has he!) Remember that boys love a laugh, so if there are boys in the family, get them to join in too.

The Purifying Mask is fantastic for acne and can simply be applied to actual spots and left to dry. Simply wash off with a clean warm wet face cloth. On that note, it’s very important that a fresh, clean face cloth is used each time so there is no contamination.

Our wash-off Creme Cleanser is very easy to use, as is the Facial Exfoliator, so no excuses here. Toning is an important part of the ritual as it balances the pH to it’s natural level and therefore better prepares the skin for moisturising. I recommend either the Moisturising Day Cream for normal/combination skin or the Moisturising Day Cream SPF15. No need for a night moisturiser at this age. It’s often best not to use one at all at night, particularly for oily skin.

A word of caution for those oily skin teenagers; it’s very tempting to over-cleanse, over-exfoliate and over-mask in an effort to reduce the skin’s oil levels. This can often have the opposite effect, where the skin is stripped of its natural oil levels and then overcompensates with excess oil production, resulting in oilier skin than before.

Have fun enjoying watching your adolescent experiment with skincare products and reaping the benefits – I certainly have.