Lessons I have learned about my skin that I really wish someone had told me when I was 13.
1. Exfoliate Often
I have exfoliated for years, but I was irregular and I usually used an abrasive exfoliating scrub it didn’t do good things for my skin. I now exfoliate regularly with a gentle chemical exfoliating gel, it has done wonders for how my makeup goes on and stays on throughout the day.
Using an abrasive exfoliating scrub would scratch the top layer of skin, exacerbating the problem. The more I scratched my skin the more pealing dry patches I would get. Using a gentle exfoliating gel gently peels away the top layer of dead skin, revealing the healthy skin underneath. I exfoliate at least once a week, sometimes twice a week and it has done wonders for how my makeup looks!
My favorite exfoliating gel Cure Natural Aqua Gel is available here.
2. Moisturize, Moisturize, Moisturize
This is something I wish someone had explained to me when I was 13 and suffering from teenage hormonal acne. My teenage brain thought, I’m breaking out so there must be dirt in my pores, so I would scrub with harsh cleansers and soap until my face tight and “clean”. I didn’t realize that this was the worst thing I could do for my acne prone skin. The more oils I stripped away with over cleansing the more I prompted my skin to produce more oil. This over production of oil, caused even more breakouts by causing blockages in my pores.
In my 20s I started regularly moisturizing, usually with a light moisturizer with sunscreen that I would wear during the day under my foundation. I have a very oily T-zone and I thought that a heavy moisturizer would just add to the oiliness. At that point, I had invested in an expensive 3-part acne system to combat my regular breakouts. It was not working, partly because it was harsh and abrasive exfoliating cleanser and partially because I was never consistent with any skincare routine and I was not using a really good moisturizer.
My 35th birthday is coming up in a few weeks and I have the best skin I have ever had (well post puberty anyway). Around my 32nd birthday, I finally started reading about how to care for your skin and the answer that always seemed to pop up was, moisturize! If you have oily skin, invest in a really good night cream/moisturizer, moisturizing with oily skin signals your skin that it can slow down on the oil production. If you have dry skin, first exfoliate and then moisturize, invest in a really good night cream/moisturizer. If your skin is dry you are not producing enough oils naturally and you need to add moisture. Exfoliating first will take off the top dead layer of skin and allow the moisturizer to penetrate your skin and do the most good. I have combination skin, so I have dry patchy areas as well as a very oil T-zone. I finally invested in a really good moisturizer/night cream and I liberally slather it on every night before bed and my skin is so much happier, I don’t have dry patches, my oil production had decreased and my makeup goes on smooth and stays on throughout the day.
My favorite moisturizer is Milk moisturizer from Maskcara beauty, you can get it here.
3. Use a gentle face cleanser
This is key, if you are using a harsh cleanser you are probably undoing all the good you are doing by exfoliating and moisturizing. Americans tend to over wash, we have this obsession with being clean and that obsession is causing problems with our skin. Harsh cleansers or over cleansing messes with our natural oil production. I say knock it off! If my face is truly dirty, meaning I have actual dirt on it from a day of gardening or a weekend of camping, I use a Dove Moisturizing bar to wash it. I only ever use this at night, never in the morning. My face is not dirty in the morning, if yours is you must have much wilder nights than I do! The best cleanser is a non-foaming cleanser, non-foaming cleansers will keep your natural oils and keep your face moisturized. I use a non-foaming cleanser at night (unless my skin is actually dirty then I use Dove) and I make my own mixture for the morning, with two ingredients you already have in your pantry. Depending on your skin type and what works best for you, decide if you need moisturizer in the morning. Some days I use a light moisturizer and some days I just put on my makeup without moisturizer.
My night cleanser is Milk cleanser from Maskcara and you can get it here.
My morning cleanser recipe:
¼ cup honey and 1 tablespoon baking soda. Mix in a glass jar with a lid. Let sit at least a half hour before using to let the baking soda react with the honey to make a lovely foam. Scoop out spread on your face, let sit for 60 seconds and then wipe off with warm water on a microfiber cloth.
** I make small batches 3 times a week, because the soda will continue to react with the honey and will only be useable for 2 to 3 days depending on the temperature in your house.
4. Sunscreen Everyday
Suddenly when you enter your 30s everything changes, you go from a sunbathing beauty to seeing your first sunspots emerge and you finally take the advice that your grandma tried to give you when you were 19. “Wear big hats and sunscreen, all the time and even in the winter.” My skin has also changed from going to a beautiful tanned perfection after a nice summer day, to now burning and then going back to pasty white. There are so many great options for fake tanning these days, that there is really no excuse for damaging you skin in the sun.
So, I now wear sunscreen every day on my face, there are some great options out there for sunscreen that make it so easy. If you have your favorite moisturizer or setting spray that doesn’t have SPF and you don’t want to sacrifice your favorite products to slather on oily sunscreen that will cause your makeup to do funny things try Neutrogena Liquid sunscreen, available here. Although the best is a makeup setting spray with SPF! Why add extra steps if you don’t need to, get the one I use everyday here!
Get UltraSheer Liquid Sunscreen here.
Get Stay Setting Spray with SPF here.
5. Correctly color matched foundation
So unless you have a crazy awesome genetics and you are in your 30s chances are you are starting to see fine lines. I hate to admit it but it seems like every time I look closely in the mirror I have aged a bit more, I blame it on the 2 year old monster living in my house. With these fine lines came the realization that my makeup wasn’t up to the task and the 19 year old at the MAC counter had no idea how to help. I would leave the house looking amazing and look in the mirror at 10:30 to see that my foundation was now settled into the lines around my eyes. Let me be the first to tell you, this isn’t the way it should be. If you have the correct shade of foundation It won’t settle! Yep, that is right you just need to find the right shade. There is help, maybe hit it the makeup counter during school hours to get more mature help. Or contact me and I would be so excited to find you makeup that works for you and makes you look as beautiful as you truly are!