• Beauty The journalist turned 'cream cook' after being diagnosed with cosmetic acne
  • Entrepreneur The Spanish behind a cosmetic brand created with the grounds of the wine grape

I get lost with the order, does the serum or cream go first? If I apply sunscreen, do I need moisturizing? Can I share the toiletry bag products with my partner? But does vitamin C go in the morning or evening? And can it be mixed with retinol if I have sensitive skin? What do I do with my rosacea or acne?

We have been watching ads for perfect faces full of creams all our lives, reading magazines with the best beauty productions and gossiping profiles on social networks that make us want those cosmetics that feel so good to celebrities and influencers. It seems like the simplest thing in the world and yet we still feel lost when it comes to creating our beauty routine. And we say ours because no, the one your friend wears is useless, no matter how good it is and how well it goes to her.

A PROJECT WORKED ON

Her biggest beauty tip is not to smoke and avoid sunbathing.

Although she can boast of a specialized audience that follows all her tricks in TELVA, aware of all these problems, the beauty journalist Paloma Sancho wanted to simplify the steps once and for all.

"Since I joined the magazine I was fascinated by the world of cosmetics and I learned a lot from Paloma Artola, who was my mentor. After interviewing so many dermatologists, pharmacists and makeup artists for years, I dived into that knowledge and, having access to so many products, I already knew the most effective ingredients and that they did not have to be more expensive, "he says.

What was originally going to be a retinol serum that sensitive skin like yours could use became a complete four-step routine. SkinRoutine by Paloma Sancho, her signature cosmetics firm made hand in hand with a Spanish laboratory, Mabo Farma, has taken her two years of work and is present in all pharmacies. "It is part of a natural evolution for my work, without any pretension to discover anything that does not exist but doing it from beginning to end to my liking: with the best possible formulas and textures that were a joy".

It's not formulaic or chemical, but it does have an intuition of what works. It's an exercise in honesty, she describes, because the result is everything she believes in. "If you ask me what my routine is like, literally like this: a double cleanse, first in make-up remover oil and then purifying and soothing water-based, a day serum with vitamin C 10%, a serum with retinol 0.3%, bakuchiol and niacinamide and a moisturizer with hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and ceramides. I wanted to value the prescribing figure of the pharmacist, the channel where I have always gone and asked for advice, and the journalist who can give it blindly and trust ".

VITAMIN C BY DAY AND RETINOL BY NIGHT

View this post on Instagram

Let your readers not be afraid. She will continue to lead the beauty direction in the magazine. He believes that these are two completely compatible tasks, as other publishers abroad have shown. Of course, it has been more complicated than I thought, "like a master's degree, especially achieving the balance between aromas and textures," he acknowledges.

The basic routine, very minimalist, is numbered as Sesame Street, so that no one gets lost. The products have a QR code where she appears on the mobile phone explaining how they are used. And there is hardly any flourish in the packaging. "Without marketing, clean and as simple as possible."

YOUR ADVICE

View this post on Instagram

Can men use it? "They should take care of themselves just like us, because their skin has the same needs even if they don't put on makeup. We need more pedagogy, but a minimum of washing your face because of pollution and sweat." You also notice a spike of sensitive skin. "Many people have become sensitized by erroneous cosmetic self-prescription. They put on kilos of acid and spoil it more. This is about basics."

The skin, in fact, is a reflection of what happens to us. "If I drink alcohol or spicy I get red. Nutrients are also food for the face and if we have stress it springs up through the pores, "he says. That is why it has not joined fashions. "We are in a time of active ingredients that generate a lot of confusion and noise, so I return to the dermatologist's base to go with your healthy skin."

Who knows if your brand will grow, since it lacks a sunscreen. "I love Heliocare, which is my basic." The CC cream from It Cosmetics is another of its essentials. "I die for a Hermès lipstick, which makes me look good, and I use masks and scrubs once a week."

If he had to give some recommendations to take care of himself, he advocates "not smoking or sunbathing, especially on the face." Aesthetic medicine yes, "but with head" and a daily minimalist routine in which you do not have to spend a fortune. "If you take care of the skin, it's grateful and I attest to that."

According to The Trust Project criteria

Learn more