I can’t stress enough the need for a good and simple,YES I said simple, skin care routine. After many years working in the beauty industry I still get surprised every time I ask a client how many times a week she exfoliates. The answer is almost always a puzzled expression. Some actually look at me like I have 3 heads and am speaking esperanto.
Hear me out girls and boys, taking care of your skin is one of the most important things you can do if you know you’ll be photographed, filmed and most important wearing makeup at the same time. Not only for these reasons however since the title of this post states 30 days to your skin makeover let’s pretend you have 30 days to prep your skin for an important event, we all have those in our lives right? So I hope.
A lot of women think they can ignore the state of their skin leading to their wedding because they’ve hired a professional makeup artist and she/ he will make it work for them. I hear it all the time: Can you make me look 20 years younger? What about these large pores? Oh my God, look at the lines around my eyes!!!
Darlings, makeup will only maximize any texture that is already present in your skin. If you don’t exfoliate and hydrate, foundation will be on to those old skin cells like it’s going out of style, under eye concealer will bring lines out and you will be saying to the poor makeup artist that his/her makeup is making your look older. Help yourself and your makeup artist out, take care of your skin.
For the models out there, your face is your money maker, don’t dream of ever landing a beauty campaign if your skin is short of phenomenal honey! I know, I know, there’s photoshop but the client will never book a girl whose skin require more post work than what’s standard just because you think so. Take care of what makes you a model: your face, your skin.
How do you start? I can guarantee it’s never too late. I’m definitely not a fan of long routines and regimes and absolutely don’t think that for you to have good skin you need the $600 creams being sold at the upscale department stores. This is totally a question of preference and budget. If money is no object by all means treat yourself to one of the die for La Prairie facials offered at Bloomingdale’s Orlando by Elizabeth Longuette, facialist extraordinaire. If you’re on a budget no problem at all, there are a lot of good quality skin care products being sold in the mass market nowadays that rival their luxe counterparts and do an amazing job as well.
So here is the plan:
1.
Cleanse
: Non-negotiable, every day twice( morning & night) if you’re oily. Once (night time to remove makeup) if you’re dry. I have dry skin so I splash my face in the morning with water and use a cleanser at night.
2.
Exfoliate:
This step needs to be done 2 to 3 times a week. You can use a physical exfoliator also known as scrub, the type that you massage onto your skin and rinse off or you can use a chemical exfoliator which comes in lotion or gel form that you apply to your skin and leave it overnight.
3.
Hydrate face
: During the day you need a moisturizer with spf (also non-negotiable) and at night time a cream or lotion depending whether your skin is oily, normal or dry.
4.
Hydrate eye area
: If you asked me whether you needed an eye cream a year or so ago I would probably say no and recommend that you used the same product that you used on your face for around the eyes, however I’ve noticed that the lotion I was using for my face at night time was not giving me much hydration around my eye area(Did you know that we don’t produce any oil around the eyes?).
I started to use a thicker(more hydrating) product for around my eyes and noticed a huge difference specially when applying my concealer. So I do recommend a separate product for your eye area now just because I experienced the need for it myself and have a completely new take on eye creams.
Yes, it’s this simple! Of course there are many other accessory treatments that you can add to your routine such as peels, facials etc but I’m trying to address the “do nothing crowd” and for them this will be exactly what they’ll need to prepare and possibly keep their skin looking good from here on out.
Here are some product suggestions:
Cleanser
Laura Mercier Flawless skin one-step cleanser
Cerave Foaming facial cleanser
Exfoliator
Alpha Hydrox Enhanced lotion 10% Glycolic AHA(chemical)
Olay Regenerist Night Resurfacing Elixir (chemical)
Nivea skin refining scrub (physical)
Boots expert sensitive gentle smoothing scrub (physical)
Clinique 7 day scrub (physical)
Day time moisturizer
Olay Complete ageless skin renewing uv lotion spf 20
Lab series Daily Moisture defense lotion spf 15
Night time moisturizer
Neutrogena Healthy Skin Anti-Wrinkle Cream night
Roc Multi correction night treatment
Eye cream
Shiseido Bio performance super eye contour cream
What’s your skin care routine? Can you add to the list of products above? I would love to hear from you!
Photography: Betsy Hansen
Hair & makeup: Simone Rosas
Simone–to continue the FB comment discussion 🙂 My current routine:
Shea Terra Organics – Rose Hips Black Soap Deep Pore Facial Wash & Mask. I’ve only been using it for maybe 5 days. I’ve used it as a mask twice now and as a morning face wash.
Day time moisturizer is Burt’s Bees Sensitive Skin Daily Moisturizing Cream with Cotton Extract. I add a secondary layer of SPF30 if I’m going outside.
Undereye moisture (day time and night time): Burt’s Bees Radiance Eye Cream with Royal Jelly.
Night time face wash: Philosophy Purity Made Simple.
Night time moisturizer: Burt’s Bees Intense Hydration Night Creme with Clary Sage.
I use a homemade toner of witchhazel and weakened Tea Tree Oil to help with hormonal acne breakouts. I do this when I remember/closer to when I break out in my cycle. When I travel, I use Burt’s Bees Herbal Blemish Stick, St Ives Medicated Apricot Scrub, and a moisturizer from the Body Shoppe. I use these because they all fit within the TSA’s liquid rules and I had them. Once they run out, I’ll be working on bottling my normal stuff into smaller containers.
I use the black soap during the day because it takes a bit more work than a normal face wash. Its a gel consistency that will wash right off in the shower, so it has to be “worked” into more of a mud consistency before it will lather. Since it takes more time, I put it on my face and hop in the shower where I can lather it up. When I do it as a mask, it stay on for the 5-10 minutes recommended on the label. Philosophy at night is super fast and lets me get to bed quickly and cleanly. 🙂
Hey Jacque,
I love purity by philosophy but I definitely want to hear more about the black soap wash after you’ve used it for about 10 days or so. I’m also going through some hormonal acne right now that is driving me insane, my skin is everything!!!!! Can’t break out!!! LOL
Anyway, I read over your routine and the only thing that worries me a bit is the St Ives apricot scrub, this product is too abrasive for the face but makes a good body exfoliator though so there’s no need to stop using. Loved your visit and post, would love to have you as a regular , don’t be a stranger now!
xox, Simone
Hey gorgeous–I totally didn’t see your reply til now. I’ve stopped using the St. Ives. I ran out and said, “Well.. that’s done.”
I commented on the June post–once I week (or so..maybe every 10 days. It all depends on when I think about it) I use baking soda and some water to exfoliate. Baking soda can be too basic for the skin, so I don’t leave it on for long, rinse it off nice and good, then use my witchhazel/tea tree oil mixture to help restore some pH.
My skin has finally realized it isn’t in Florida anymore, so I’m using different moisturizers. 100% coconut oil has been great for removing waterproof makeup and it doesn’t dry out my skin like other cleansers have been.
I still use the black soap–I’m almost out, so I use it very sparingly. I’ve tried other brands of black soap, they clean well–almost too drying, though, but the Shea Terra Organics Rose HIps Black Soap, is my fave so far.