The advice I'm about to give is simply my personal trial and error. I'm not a skin care professional! And understand that we're all different. What works for me may not work for you.
When I was in high school, I did not take care of my skin. At all. I slept in my makeup...every night. The best part--my skin was flawless. I was blessed with a near perfect complexion. Rarely any breakouts and a bright, even skin tone. Then I turned 20. Yeah, so old. But that's when I started to realize my skin was changing. For the first time in my life, I was faced with major skin concerns. I constantly experienced breakouts and my skin was no longer as radiant as it used to be. My first mistake was misdiagnosing my own skin care needs.
I thought I had adult acne, so I started using various acne products. I didn't realize I was only making matters worse. I tried every brand imaginable. I even tried homemade remedies like honey or lemon, even coconut oil. I saw zero results.
The answer was in front of me the whole time. Lush quickly became my Holy Grail. I had familiarized myself with Lush when I first saw a girl post an Instagram picture of a tub full of pink bathwater. My discovery of the bath bomb was life changing. Lush is much more than luxurious fizzy bath time fun, so I made up my mind to splurge on my skin care and take a leap of faith. The closest Lush shop is two hours from me, but I knew I would be in town so I made a point to visit a shop for the first time. I'd researched their products online and kind of knew what I wanted to try, but the Lush employee was able to point me in the right direction.
I thought for sure I needed to use Herbalism to control my acne. When I was perusing the cleansers in the shop, I was told that I didn't have acne. Huh? What I came to realize is that I have combination to oily skin. I needed a cleanser that would absorb excess oil without drying my skin out--which is what all those acne fighting products were doing to me. I was offered Dark Angels for my skin care woes. This charcoal based scrub purifies your skin, clearing breakouts along the way. Avocado oil leaves your skin lightly moisturized. This cleanser was exactly what I needed. Not only does it help prevent breakouts, but it brightens your skin tone as well.
I pair this with Lush's 9 to 5 (cleanser), Tea Tree Water (toner), Enchanted Eye Cream, and Imperialis (moisturizer) for a glowing complexion. I am obsessed with Lush's products. Especially my skincare set up. My cleansers purify my skin and my toner refreshes. I use eye cream to maintain moisture on my most delicate skin, and to combat dark circles and puffiness. Moisturizers are important for overall smoothness and anti-aging.
Part of caring for oily skin is being careful not to remove too much oil. All skin needs a certain amount of oil. Sometimes your body produces just enough (normal skin), too much (oily to acne prone skin), not enough (dry skin), or varying amounts (combination skin). Your skin care products should work to balance your oil production. With oily skin, removing too much of your natural oils can lead to bigger problems. If your body finds that you've removed too much oil, it will work over time to produce more. Which is why oily skin and acne are so difficult to treat. Even people suffering from acne need to use some type of moisturizer to keep their natural oil production at bay. It's all about tricking your skin (muahahahahaha) into thinking everything is fine.
No matter what treatment options you use, all skin types need to be treated gently. Always be careful with your skin! Don't pick at it, don't even touch it. This is a terrible habit to break...believe me. But I've finally reached a point where I only touch my face if I'm cleaning it or applying makeup. Throughout the day I keep my hands off!!! This is good practice not just for healthy skin, but for a healthy body. Speaking of a healthy body, drinking plenty of water isn't just good for your insides. Keeping your body hydrated will also keep your skin hydrated! Hydrated=healthy
Here's a break down of my routine:
AM: Use Dark Angels cleanser on face and neck. Rinse THOROUGHLY. Pat face gently with towel. Lightly spray Tea Tree Water over entire face and neck. Enchanted Eye Cream gently tapped over entire eye area with ring finger. Apply Imperialis over entire face and neck. Then I apply makeup!
PM: Remove eye makeup with liquid eye makeup remover (any brand will do!) and cotton pads. Wipe off makeup with makeup removing cloths (I do this so when I use my cleanser, there is less work to be done). Use 9 to 5 cleanser (this reminds me of cold cream) with Clarisonic Mia 2 to fully remove makeup and cleanse. Rinse. Pat face gently with towel. Lightly spray Tea Tree Water over entire face and neck. Enchanted Eye Cream gently tapped over entire eye area with ring finger. Apply Imperialis over entire face and neck.
I'll admit...sometimes the PM routine doesn't happen. We all have those long nights and we get in late and we don't feel like washing away the evening. When that happens, I always ALWAYS ALWAYS at least use a makeup wipe. I even keep a pack in my bedside table so I have zero excuse to sleep with my makeup on. These things don't remove all of your makeup, but it's better than nothing. I can't stress enough the importance of removing your makeup before bed. No matter how "tired" you are. Get that stuff off ya face! And tomorrow you can treat yourself to a mask or something (I recommend Mask of Magnaminty).
I like to use a mask at least once a week. If you live close to a Lush shop, check out their Fresh Face masks. I don't get to use these because they are ONLY available in shops since they are made with super fresh ingredients and need to be refrigerated.
If you wear makeup regularly, it's also not a bad idea to give your skin a break for a day or two. I usually give myself one cosmetic free day on one of my days off.
I love my skin now that I've found my routine. It took me a really long time to land on something that works for me. So don't give up hope! If you find yourself struggling to get your skin under control, just be patient. It's not going to happen overnight. It took me years to find the products that work for me. Maybe Lush has something that will work for you. I wish I'd found them a LONG time ago. To me, their products are worth every penny.
Remember, good skin is the start to good makeup! Keep it fresh pretties!
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