Wherever I go I am told my makeup is flawless or I have beautiful skin. I appreciate the flattery but I will be serious and say it's not by accident. With so many beauty products on the market it's often hard to know what is right for you and what's not. My view of skincare is simple yet still versatile for every skin type.
First thing is first...now brace yourself. I wash my face with oil. Now calm down and breath for a minute. I'm going to say it again, I wash my face with oil (i'll list my preference of brands at the bottom of the blog). Oil breaks down oil and dirt in the skin. There is no prior makeup removal necessary as the oil will break down makeup as well. The other important thing to remember is that I rub the oil on the skin while it's DRY and then wash it off with water. I follow with a salicyclic toner only at night. Also for me, the oil is enough moisturizer so I don't use any unless I plan to put on makeup. Next I'll get into the specifics for skin type.
Dry:
If you have dry skin, you can either wash off the oil and just add moisturizer or wipe it off and again add moisturizer if you wish. If you prefer to use a toner after washing off the oil, I must really insist that you choose an alcohol free toner and follow with moisturizer. Alcohol terribly dries the skin.
Also, all that false info about exfoliating away dry patches of skin....DON'T DO IT. Traditional exfoliators with beads or apricot pits are too harsh on the skin (too harsh for anyones skin in my opinion). The goal is to have beautiful soft skin...so an exfoliating type mask is best with lactic acid or salicylic acid. For a homemade hydrating mask use half an avocado, teaspoon olive oil, half cup of milk (it has lactic acid), and just enough flour to make it pasty. Leave on for twenty mins, wash off with water (or more oil and water), and add moisturizer.
Oily:
If you have oily skin, you can STILL wash your face with oil, wash it off with water, and follow with a toner or even medicated acne toner. The point of the toner is to remove the excess cleansing oil. For moisturizing, that is somewhat left up to a personal choice. If you moisturize oily skin (and you do for makeup application) choose an oil free moisturizer or one that moisturizers and controls oil. Also, remember to be gentle with oily skin just as you would with dry skin...they both deserve the same respect and are both subject to loss of elasticity.
As far as exfoliation, the same rule applies as above, no harsh scraping cleanser type exfoliators. A good mask for oily skin is half cup milk, couple tablespoons of honey (don't use if you have an allergy), couple tablespoons of oatmeal, an egg, and again just enough flour to make it pasty. Leave on for twenty mins and oil wash face, toner, and moisturize.
Normal/Combination:
This skin type is the most common and you have the most freedom in what you do for skin care...thank your lucky stars! I know your thinking, "well what about the dry spots and the oily t-zone" and trust me when I say that you will have less oily t-zone and dry patches once you start washing your face with oil. The oil is gentle enough for the dry patches and breaks up the oil in the t-zone. Now what you do after you wash with oil is up to you. You can choose to use an alcohol free toner to remove excess and then use moisturizer. Or you can wash off the oil with water and pat dry with a towel and skip the moisturizer. This is my skin type so I tend to use a salicylic acid toner only at night after washing off the cleansing oil. In the morning I wash with oil and towel dry and follow with moisturizer if I'm going to wear makeup...but if you prefer toner morning and night and it doesn't dry out your skin, it is fine to do so. If you choose to use toner, you MUST always follow with moisturizer otherwise you will end up with unbalanced dry/oily spots.
I haven't forgotten that this skin type tends to get dry in the winter and oilier in the summer. First, you have to remember your skin will go back to normal and be easier to manage just by cleansing with oil, alc free toner, and using moisturizer. For winter if you are dry use a cream (or pot) type moisturizer that is a little thicker, and you can use that morning and night as needed. For oily spells in the summer choose a light oil free moisturizer or skip it all together and carry oil blotting sheets. And yes, I cleanse, tone and moisturize even in the summer and all of us should.
Skin care extras:
If you are interested in using a vitamin or hydrating serum, please only use at night. Also there are hundreds of types of serums to choose from and all of them are best used only at night. Serum use goes as follows: Oil wash face, toner (if preferred), serum, and follow with moisturizer. The serum is thinner and permeates the skin, the moisturizer holds the serum in the skin, and the reason we do it at night is because that is when our skin repairs itself.
Eyecreams are another hot topic that everyone loves to obsess about. The low down on that is, use eyecream atleast once a day no matter how old you are. Any sort of regular eyecream will do. I personally prefer to use eyecream in the morning because I feel my skin is young enough to not need "repairative" eyecream at night. If you want to use eyecream only once a day: morning is the time to do it as it helps to fight off free-radicals and also helps your eye makeup look and stay better. Intensive anti-aging eyecreams should be used only at night as again, that is when our skin repairs. Even aging eyes do not need anti-aging eyecream for the morning (that should be a relief on your pocket book since you can use any type of eyecream you like for daytime).
I would be remiss if I didn't talk about spf. Do we need it? Yes. All the time and every occasion? No. Spf moisturizer is best worn only in the day time. If you wear spf moisturizer to bed you are likely to unnecessarily clog your pores. Also, for certain professional photography, spf moisturizer or foundation are really not a good idea as they reflect light and make you appear pasty in photos.
And to wrap this up with a little heart to heart and insider marketing tips; I must mention that I purposely described morning and night use of each product. Manufactures sometimes embellish and say "use serum morning and night" in order for you to use it faster and therefore buy more. The same goes with anti-aging eyecream...again only for night. If you used it morning and night you can clog up your delicate undereye skin and also need to buy more anti-aging eyecream sooner (in effect screwing you out of great skin and your money!).
As I described in my first blog I really do love to make people beautiful. My quest in makeup is to make everyone in my chair look their very best. Because I take that purpose very seriously, I want to reach out to women and help them with beauty befuddlements as much as I can. I am open to questions and will blog about any and all that are sent my way. I also hope to try out products and report back to all my readers on how to use them or if they are even worth your time. I am ready and willing to take any and all questions and try out and all products. My opinions are always honest and thoughtful; I will never say I like something when I don't. I don't consider myself a guru yet, but I feel my knowledge base is broad enough to be helpful in bringing out beauty. I want this blog to be a learning experience for many as well as myself.
Skincare Products I Prefer:
Palmers Cocoa Butter Moisturizing Body Oil (I use as cleansing oil). I like this because it washes off clean with water and leaves no residue.
Kiehls and Shu Eumura also make great cleansing oils.
Neutragena Alcohol-Free Toner (you can powder an asprin and add to toner for acne fighting effects)
Clinique Mild Clarifying Lotion is a great toner because it is alcohol free and uses .5% salicyclic acid to help minor acne and sluff off dead skin cells.
Kiehls Ultra Facial Moisturizer CREAM (not lotion) is good for dry or winter skin. The lotion is great light moisturizer for oily or combination skin.
Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Body Lotion is actually a great light moisturizer for the face. It has 25% dimethicone in it which is good as a makeup primer and also won't clog pores.
Clinique All About Eyes eyecream is good daily eye cream. They have a rich version or the regular and they both work well so it's matter of texture to choose from and personal preference. This formula also has the added benefit of making eyeshadow more vivid and last longer.
Kiehls Avocado Eyecream is a great daily eyecream that goes on smooth as water.
Estee Lauder Renutriv Intensive Eye Repair is hands down the best anti-aging eyecream. I have seen lifting results with this cream in a matter of a couple uses.
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