5 Simple Self-Care Tips to Boost Your Skincare Routine during Exam Season

Late-night mugging, rushing endless assignments and waking up early to do it all over again with a mug of coffee beside you... These are arguably the hallmarks of the finals season approaching. For those of us who are facing immense stress and pressure during this busy period, it's pretty easy to neglect our health and well-being for the sake of catching up on studies.

With that in mind, CNMTypes is bringing you 5 quick and easy tips to practice beauty and self-care during this hectic time, so you can pamper yourself while getting your work done!

#1: Create a Personalized, Easy-to-Follow Beauty Routine

When one thinks of beauty routines, they often imagine troublesome procedures with numerous steps and products involved, but it doesn't have to be that way! Beauty routines can be short, simple, yet effective, as long as you use the products that are most suited to your needs.

According to this article by The New York Times, a skincare routine should consist of 3 basic steps: 1) Cleansing and washing your face, 2) Toning and balancing our skin's pH level, and 3) Moisturizing to hydrate and soften one's skin. This means that you should select a suitable facial cleanser that matches your skin type (oily, dry, combination), an effective and refreshing toner, a light nourishing serum, along with a suitable moisturizer.

By applying these products from thinnest to thickest (Toner, serum, moisturizer), you will be able to create a daily routine that nourishes your skin and troubleshoots problem areas. Contrary to popular belief, you don't really need all the fancy stuff in your daily skincare routine!

Personally, my daily skincare routine takes only about 10-15 minutes doing these few steps. While it doesn't give me a perfect complexion, it definitely helps with regular maintenance during busy or hectic periods!

#2: Overnight Face Masks

Rushing assignments throughout the day means very little time to care for your skin, but that's what overnight face masks are for! Such products usually come in a cream/moisturizer format for easy application just before you go to bed so that you can soothe your skin after a long, tedious day of work.

By leaving it on overnight, these face masks are designed to help ingredients penetrate more deeply as we sleep to give your skin the care and hydration that it needs. A light coating of the mask limits dirt from clogging your pores while locking in the active ingredients in the mask itself, increasing its absorption into your skin for better results.

The best part? You'll wake up to fresh, dewy skin that looks brand-new! 😉

#3: Get Enough Sleep. Your Skin will Thank you for it!

You may wonder, "How do I get enough sleep while trying to finish this huge pile of work I have in front of me?"

Getting enough sleep is important to prevent skin from aging or looking worn out. When we're sleeping, our skin's blood flow increases and helps it to rebuild its collage and repair damage from exposure to UV rays, reducing wrinkles and spots. If you have a night-time skincare/beauty routine, the increased blood flow would also help to enhance the absorption of products into our pores to make sure we're getting all the goodness from the skincare solutions that we're using!

It may be tough getting 7-8 hours of sleep a day while you're rushing to submit an assignment (trust me, I know how it feels), but getting about 6 hours of rest a day with power naps in between will definitely help you (and your skin) recharge and rest.

#4: Start Your Day Right: Use Face Serums packed with Nutrients

I recently discovered how using serums packed with nutrients and extracts at the start of my day really helps my skin - not only do they serve as a barrier against harmful UV rays and pollutants, they also target common skin issues such as acne, hyperpigmentation, dullness, and fine lines.

Simply add a few drops of the product to the 4 main areas of the face - forehead, cheeks, nose, and chin and pat it gently into your face. This ensures that each part of your face is well-protected all day long from harmful UV rays or air pollutants that could cause aging or acne breakouts!

#5: Use an All-in-One Facial Cleanser

If you are truly hard-pressed for time, you'll definitely need products that are value-for-money - which is why using all-in-one facial cleansers as a one-stop solution to address your skincare needs!

A good facial cleanser packs plenty of nutrients and skincare goodness to address general skincare problems while freshening you up. On top of that, it will help to cleanse your pores from dirt while maintaining your skin's pH balance to reduce acne breakouts.

If you don't have time to tone, moisturize or exfoliate, having an effective cleanser that targets a variety of skincare problems is definitely half the battle won.

After reading this article, we hope that you've found our small tips and tricks useful! Do try to incorporate them into your daily skincare routine - we promise that you'll see a difference even while hustling for your exams and submissions! If you have any other beauty or skincare tips that you'd like to share with us, leave them down in the comments section below. We'd love to hear your thoughts! 😉