Importance of Cleaning, Toning and Moisturizing - the CTM Routine!

Make up is something that attracts us girls towards them like magnet but what about skin care? Though we do take necessary care of our skin, most of us just neglect it, call it laziness or anything. You don't need a lot of effort to take care of our skin if done right. For instance, we often hear people talking about the CTM routine, in spas, beauty counters, on the net etc. You might be thinking why people talk about it so much wherever you go and every time you talk about your skin. Today I'm going to tell you in detail what CTM is and how does it benefit your skin.

What is CTM?
CTM stands for Cleansing, Toning and Moisturizing.
This procedure is helpful for people of all skin types i.e. normal skin, dry skin, oily skin, sensitive skin, acne prone skin, combination skin - normal to oily and combination skin - normal to dry. Phew! So many skin types and one common routine? Yes it is and no I'm not kidding :D. The secret here lies on the product you choose for your particular skin type and that's it, you are ready to start your simple regime towards a beautiful healthy looking skin!

Cleansing:-

Cleansing helps you get rid of all the excess oil, dirt, dead layer and previously applied makeup from your skin. Choose a face wash best suited for your skin type. For all you makeup lovers out there, you might want to use a cleansing milk or oil before using a face wash just to ensure that all the makeup products that you have used comes off your face preventing the clogging of yours pores.
The steps to be followed for efficient cleansing are:

• Wash your hands clean. You tend to collect dirt and bacteria on your hands very easily and you would not want that dirt and bacteria to transfer to your face so clean hands is very important. 
• Take some cleansing milk or oil on cotton and apply it to your face and neck evenly and remove it with a dry cotton. The other way to do this is by take some cleansing milk or oil and applying it to your face and neck evenly, wait for some 15-30 seconds and then remove it with a cotton. This is called as double cleansing.
  This is step is majorly required for people who wear makeup.

• Use warm water as it would open up your pores. Now use the cleanser gently all over your face in circular and criss-cross motion. Use cold water to wash the cleanser. Cold water helps in closing the pores. 
• Pat your skin dry with a clean towel. Don't rub it hard, remember you don't wanna peel your skin off. 

Exfoliation:- 

Exfoliation is an effective way to remove dead skin cell and eliminate dirt. This should be done once or twice in a week after cleansing.The best way to exfoliate your skin is to use a mild gentle scrub and use it after cleansing your skin. 

You can also use a peel off mask for exfoliation of the skin. This works best with girls who have normal skin. 

Toning:- 

Toning is a step that most of us are generally tempted to skip. We find it a bit more complicated a procedure while we are in a hurry or we feel that toning is not as necessary as cleansing and moisturizing is or we could just blame our laziness :P. 

Toner helps in maintaining the pH level of the skin, helps to balance the skin after cleanser and before moisturizer and clams the skin and helps the skin to prepare for the serums and creams, day/night, to follow. not only this, it helps in removing residue such as chlorine and minerals in tap water when used after cleansing. You will be surprised to see the toner taking off the excess dirt and left over particles of cleanser from your face. Wow! So many benefits in one thing and we thought toning was not a necessary step and we could skip it! :D 

Steps to be followed: 

• Take a toner and spray some on plain cotton or cotton pad and apply it all over the face in upward and outward motion avoiding the eye and lip area. 
• Pay extra attention to your nose, chin and forehead areas as they tend to frequently get oily. 
• Do not rinse. 

You could also use natural toners if you don't want to use the once available in the market. some of the natural toners that you can use are:

• Rose Water:- Rose water is one of the best effective natural toner that you can use. It is loaded with benefits like it maintains the skin's pH balance, fights acne, hydrates your skin and makes it smooth, regular use gives you a glowing skin, it offers anti-bacterial properties while toning the skin.

• Green Tea:- Green tea is another effective natural toner. All you need to do is boil some green tea or take 2-3 bags of green tea and dip it in hot water. once the green tea is ready, transfer it into a spray bottle and store it in the refrigerator. You can use this as a toner. Green tea contains antioxidants in abundance and these antioxidants help in keeping your skin smooth and supple. 

• Apple Cider Vinegar Facial Toner:- This is another natural toner that you can easily make in your house. Apple cider vinegar maintains the skin's pH balance, is rich in alpha hydroxy acids, helps in curing sun damage and spots, lightens age spots, improves acne and acne scars and also minimizes the appearance of pores. To make this facial toner all you need is apple cider vinegar and normal distilled water, you can also use rose water (we recommend). Mix 1 part of apple cider vinegar with 3 parts of rose water. Store this in a spray bottle and shake it a bit before use.
  If you have sensitive skin you can try mixing 1 part of apple cider vinegar with 5 parts of water.
  in both the cases, once your skin is used to the apple cider vinegar you can increase the quantity of it part by part but be sure the maximum you can go is mixing apple cider vinegar and rose water or distilled water in equal ratio (1:1). 

Moisturizing:- 

This is the final step of the CTM routine. No skin care regime is complete without this step. Though all of follow this step but most of the oily skinned beauties skip this step because they feel that it can make their skin extra but this is not right. There are a lot of light oil free moisturizers available in the market which would provide you the necessary hydration while controlling the excess oil of your face. A moisturizer helps in restoring the natural moisture of your face making it soft, supple and glowing. These results can be long time if used regularly. 

You can pick up a moisturizer as per your skin type or as per the concerned issue like anti aging, dullness, brightening etc. Few people use different creams for the face and for the under eye are depending upon the particular concern like dark circles or puffiness around the eye area which is totally fine. 

Always try to use a moisturizer with a SPF but if not then you can always layer an SPF over the moisturizer.
Steps to be followed: 

• Squeeze a small amount of moisturizer onto your clean finger tips and gently massage it into your skin in circular motion with upward strokes. 
• If your skin still feels a little tight then you can apply a bit more but if it feels oily then blot it with a tissue. 
• Make sure to try and use the right amount of moisturizer as excess use would end up making your face oily and greasy and might just end up clogging your pores giving way to blackheads and pimples.

So this was the basic skin care regime, the CTM routine. Follow this twice a day, once in the morning and once at night; you will see the change in your skin and your skin will thank you :). Not only this, it will also help your skin years down the lane.