6 Must-Have Skincare Ingredients For Glowing Skin

Finally! The sun is shining and the weather is heating up a smidge! Sunshine is an instant mood booster, we’re sure you’ll agree, but there’s another reason why we should all be grateful for this uptick in the weather… the quality of our skin is sure to improve, as well.

Winter can really take its toll when it comes to our skin, leaving it dry, chapped, sore and very dehydrated - but it’s no match for the freshness of springtime, which can restore its vitality and vivacity, with increased humidity helping to keep us hydrated and the warmer temperatures helping to encourage skin cell turnover.

Of course, you can’t just rely on spring to give you that beautiful glow you’ve been missing over the last few months - you’ll also need to make sure that your skincare routine is on point.

Now, while you might be tempted to splash the cash on a bathroom full of new products, it’s important to remember that quality is always better than quantity. You need to think about what your particular skin concerns are and choose the ingredients that will help you address these head on.

Everyone’s skin is different and what works for one person might be completely ineffective on you… so take your time, get to know your skin and build your routine around this newfound knowledge.

Reading up on the different skincare ingredients is a great place to begin, so with that in mind here are some of the absolute essentials to consider using. Take it slow, introduce products one by one, see what works, see what doesn’t… and before you know it, you’ll be feeling fresh-faced and fantastic, no matter what!

Vitamin C

One of the true-blue stalwarts of any solid skincare regime is vitamin C, helping to maintain a smooth, glowing, even complexion. It’s safe for use on most skin types, can help provide hydration, reduces redness and hyperpigmentation, can brighten your skin, helps support collagen production and can help reduce the appearance of under-eye circles.

It’s also effective at reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, can potentially protect your skin against damaging UV rays, can help with acne scarring and can reduce the appearance of dark spots, so it’s really something to consider using if you’re not doing so already.

Hyaluronic acid

Another skincare powerhouse is hyaluronic acid, a substance that occurs naturally in the body’s connective tissue, giving your skin its structure and making it look plump and hydrated. As you get older, natural levels of hyaluronic acid will start to fall, but you can counteract this through wise investment in certain products.

Benefits associated with hyaluronic acid include reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, moisture and hydration, improved skin elasticity, helping with eczema and facial redness, and wound healing.

Retinols

Retinol is a form of vitamin A that is widely used in different products for skincare, with some of the main benefits including acne treatment and successful ageing effects.

It works by increasing skin cell production and unclogging pores, increasing collagen production to reduce fine lines and wrinkles, helping you exfoliate and giving your skin a beautifully fresh and plump look and feel.

However you choose to use it, morning or night (or both!), just make sure that you use SPF as part of your skincare routine and stay out of the sun between 11:00 and 15:00, as vitamin A can make your skin more sensitive to sunlight.

And make sure that you introduce retinols slowly, perhaps applying them every other day at first, as you may experience irritation, redness and itching. Just listen to your skin and adjust your routine accordingly, scaling use up and down as appropriate.

Niacinamide

Niacinamide is also known as vitamin B3 and is yet another must-have skincare ingredient for your arsenal. It helps to minimise enlarged pores, even out your skin tone, soften fine lines and wrinkles, strengthen the surface of your skin and work to get rid of any dullness you might have, repairing past damage and making it look more radiant day by day.

Anyone struggling with acne might find niacinamide particularly beneficial as it’s a very effective anti-inflammatory, helping to reduce swelling and redness, while regulating the amount of oil and sebum being produced by the glands in your skin.

Glycolic acid

If it’s exfoliation and hydration you’re looking for, then glycolic acid should be part of your routine for sure. What’s particularly great about it is that you can just sit back and let it do all the hard work for you, so if you’re looking for an easy and efficient regime that doesn’t take up too much time, this would be a great addition to the product list.

It’s an active exfoliator, which means it gets to work as soon as it’s applied to the skin, unclogging your pores, sloughing away dead skin cells and reducing breakouts.

Peptides

One of the most recent skincare discoveries in recent years is peptides, short chain amino acids that serve as the foundations for proteins like collagen and elastin, helping to make your skin strong and resilient.

Increasing your use of peptides in skincare can help improve your skin’s barrier, improve the look of fine lines and wrinkles, help make your skin feel more elastic, minimise breakouts and reduce irritation, redness and inflammation.

Check out our student skincare discounts today!

Building up your skincare collection can take time and, inevitably, money. But it doesn’t have to break the bank when you’ve got TOTUM’s student skincare discounts helping you out.

We’ve got offers available from brands like LookFantastic, Charlotte Tilbury, Boots, Eve Lom, Cult Beauty, Nuxe, Harvey Nichols and many more… so have a browse and see what you can find!