Caring for Your Skin

And yet, with Australia having a hugely diverse population, with an equally diverse range of skin types and skin conditions, the one-size-fits-all outlook is downright wrong.

So think. If you are not really sure what your skin type actually is, and what are its needs, book a Face Treatment with ZIPT Day Spa.

As the beginning of every face treatment, your therapist will analyse your skin and talk to you about what she finds. At the end of your treatment, she will talk over what’s what about your individual situation and what you should do about it. We’ll even recommend some products that you could consider using.

Visit Treatments > Face

The Basics

A guide to simple skincare activity. Your daily routine should be over and done with in only a few minutes.

Buffing off dead skin cells each week is equally fast. If you use a chemical exfoliating cream, though, there’s the extra bonus of a ten-minute waiting period, which can be usefully spent reading, watching TV or drinking beer.

You should top-up your at-home skincare routine with a professional face treatment every four to six weeks. Compare the way you wash your car at home and the way they do it at the car-detailing place. Get the picture ?

Morning and Night

Cleanse
to keep your skin clean, remove excess oils and day-to-day grime

Tone
‘up’ the absorption and effectiveness of moisturising by using a spray toner first

Moisturise
add and seal in extra moisture to maintain hydration and protect your skin

Eye cream
specifically designed for the eye area’s needs

Morning

Sunscreen
Don’t forget to top-up your sunscreen application at regular intervals if your are going to be outdoors a lot

Weekly - or twice a week, if you find it helps

Exfoliate/scrub
keep your skin smooth, brighter, fresher

Once In A Blue Moon - every few months, perhaps

Kick-start your skin back on-track by considering the use of a booster. Talk to ZIPT if you are in any doubt.

Understanding More

Skin tends to get drier as we get older. But life is tough. So, at any age, do something about it by drinking enough water : it genuinely helps to keep skin moist and healthy.

Cleanse
Clean is clean. Okay ? So face skin needs to be cleansed twice a day. That’s basic. Different skins need different types of cleansers, so get some advice. Skin is your largest organ for eliminating toxins from your body, so proper cleansing is also vital for maintaining its overall role in the maintenance of your health.

Tone
Toners serve to cool the skin after cleansing, reducing any feeling of overheat that may over-open pores. Use a toner after you cleanse and before you apply your moisturiser. Toned skin is cooled and slightly damp, allowing a more even absorption – and therefore greater benefits - of the moisturiser that you should be using next.

In the past, toners earned the thumbs-down because most of them were alcohol based and claiming to ‘tighten’ the pores. Unfortunately, they were much more effective in drying and generally messing-up the skin for many users. So avoid alcohol-based toners.

Moisturise
Driest continent on the planet, Australia. Right ?
Moisturisers protect against the skin’s natural tendency to lose moisture and against the drying effects of the environment. Moisturise skin while it is still damp - ideally after using a toner/conditioner – for greatest effect in sealing in moisture that you have added.

Moisturisers can bring a whole range of benefits for your skin. Depending on your skin type and concern, they can eliminate shine, relieve tightness, repair damage, reduce irritation, nourish and soften the skin.

Exfoliate
The objective here is to remove dead cells from the skin’s surface. The result? A fresh healthy glow. Over time, regular exfoliation increases your skin’s ability to absorb moisture and reduce fine lines. Unless you have very sensitive skin or a skin disorder, almost everybody will benefit from regular exfoliation.

Exfoliation can be achieved by physically scrubbing the skin with a mild abrasive scrub or chemically by using a non-abrasive cream with ingredients that dissolve dead cells and the oil that holds them.

Masques
Using a masque once or twice a week can enhance your skin, helping it to overcome some common skin issues. Masque functions range from a deep cleanse or a super-exfoliation through to an intensive moisturising.

Eye Creams
Considering that the eye area has no oil glands, we should not be surprised that it needs specific care. Think of all of that blinking, rubbing and squinting that your eye area puts up with. Sadly, if we don’t look after it, the eye area tends to be the first to show that you aren’t eighteen any more. Tragic, but true.

The good news is that, although the moisturiser you use for the rest of your face is not going to cut it for the eyes, there are a number of perfectly workable eye creams that will do the job.

Boosters
Boosters can greatly help you to take control of fluctuations in your skin’s condition. They are ideal for super-charging your usual skincare programme, perhaps to help compensate for changes in climate, hormonal balance or lifestyle. They are highly individualised and each has a specialised role in supplementing your existing skincare system to target specific skin concerns.

Sunscreens
Without a doubt, the sun is your skin’s enemy, bombarding it on a daily basis with UVA and UVB rays which promote premature ageing and are a recognised trigger for skin cancer.

Sunscreens come in all forms - sprays, wipes, lotions, oils and creams, so there is bound to be to suit you. So DO use one.

Australia is perfectly designed to be a skin-damaging land. Do not take the “it’ll never happen to me” attitude to the serious skin problems that can be caused by the sun. Be scared. Be very scared.

Body Exfoliating
Just like your face, your body’s skin can experience a build-up of dead skin cells. Exfoliating the body gives just the same healthy glow to the skin that the process achieves on the face.

The build-up of a layer of dead skin cells can cause ingrown hairs: nasty, uncomfortable and hugely unattractive.

Most body exfoliating is done with a scrub that is used pre-shower and rinsed off under the spray of water. Most scrubs are in a cream or paste base, with seeds or salt being the common ingredients to help achieve the ‘sandpaper’ effect.

Gentler body buffing cloths for use in the shower are a more comfortable option and are great for reaching those hard-to-reach places like the middle of your back.