To hear the beauty industry tell it, having beautiful, flawless skin is an expensive and time-consuming endeavor. It's true that you can spend as many dollars as you can afford on your skin and spend hours and hours of time in the pursuit of a flawless complexion. It is also true that you don't have to do either. Here are five easy and inexpensive steps to beautiful skin: Step 1: Know your skin type. There are basically three skin types - dry, oily, and combination. Determining which skin type you have isn't rocket science, and you don't really need an expert to tell you if your skin is dry, if your skin is oily, or if you have both dry and oily areas of skin on your face. Knowing what skin type you have will tell you what kind of skin care products that you should purchase. Step 2: Wash your hands thoroughly before you clean your face. Germs from your hands can be easily transferred to your face. It's amazing how often people don't think to wash their hands before they start their facial cleansing. Step 3: According to your skin type, clean your face twice a day (morning and evening) with a facial cleanser that is right for you. If you have very, very oily skin, you will need to clean your face three times a day. Don't "scrub" your skin. Use your fingers to wash, and don't apply a lot of pressure. Use a gentle, circular motion and then rinse your face and PAT it dry...don't rub your face! Step 4: Use tepid water to clean your face. Hot water isn't going to make your face any cleaner than warm water, and hot water tends to dry the skin. Cold water doesn't clean as completely as warm water. Step 5: Apply moisturizer each and every time you wash your face. Don't skip a time, and be generous with the amount of moisturizer that you apply. There you have it. These five steps will give you beautiful and healthy skin! Dante Rambaldi is an guru in the field of Skin Care and has helped thousands of acne sufferers cure their condition. He runs a highly popular and comprehensive Skin Care web site. For more articles and resources on Skin Care related topics, Acne Treatments, Natural Skin Care, Oily Skin Care, Skin Beauty Mineral and much more visit his site at: skincare.explore-me.com