"What I would teach my children about skin care."

My poor skin has been dragged through so much.

There was the time I was seven and fell off my bike speeding down a hill, scrapping all the skin off my right cheek.

There were my teenage years when I felt left out that I was the only one of my friends who didn’t have zits to complain about. With great determination I scratched three “zits” onto my forehead and felt quite proud until this stupid move developed into skin picking disorder, a habit that continued into my late twenties.

What followed were the exhausted years of motherhood during which I didn’t have the energy to change into night clothes let alone cleanse my skin properly and regularly fell into bed face-first, unwashed, uncleansed, unmoisturised.

Now I am 40 and thanks to a charming combination of ageing and my Italian heritage I have an oily t-zone as well as light wrinkles around my eyes and mouth.

I think the first lesson I am going to teach my daughter is that her skin really tells the journey of her life and that she will wear her deepest issues on her face. The less she stresses about skin issues and in fact everything in life the better her skin will be.

"I am going to teach my daughter is that her skin really tells the journey of her life." Image: iStock.

I'll also teach her that her skin is forgiving and has an incredible ability to recover from hardship, particularly if it's treated with respect through the use of gentle cleansers and products.

I was still using a foam cleanser until recently when I was told that I should have switched to a more gentle cream cleanser years ago. Now I only use cream cleansers but no longer spend hundreds of dollars on perfumed products promoted by celebrities with completely different skin profiles to me.

Instead I stick to products like Cetaphil. They've been around for generations, are readily available, affordable and suit all skin types. There is no stinging in the eyes when it is used as a makeup remover with no water and no tightness of the skin when using it as cleanser with water.

Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser removes all traces of makeup and build-up from your skin and it hydrates at the same time.

I will teach my daughter that cost doesn't mean quality, that her skin needs consistency of care and that she should use the products that have worked for me, just as I have chosen to use the products that worked for my mum. We use products so gentle we can even use them to cleanse our beautiful babies, toddlers and children.

"Never scrub your skin Caterina. Always apply products gently." Image: iStock.

I still get breakouts every month, usually on my chin, but I know that even later-in-life blemishes need gentle care, not the damaging scrubbing of my youth.

Never scrub your skin Caterina. Always apply products gently.

Cetaphil suits all skin types and is a product that will see you through all of your skin issues. If I had discovered it earlier I would have saved myself so much fretting about the state of my skin. Now my skin reflects not only my skincare routine but also my whole philosophy in life.

I’ll teach my daughter to relax, to go with the flow, to never worry about the things she can't change and to let her day unfold. Don't waste time and energy worrying. It's how I've learned to be. I wish I had discovered how enjoyable life can be when you don't attach expectations to everything and just chill. Stress shows on your face, boy does it, and so does happiness.

What skincare tips will you pass down to your kids?