Updated Skin Care Routine!

Day

Neostrata Oil Free Gel Cleanser

This cleanser refreshes combination, oily and acne prone skin. It contains 4% glycolic acid to slightly exfoliate the skin, removing dead skin cells and built up sebum. It helps with dilated pores and blackheads too! I really love this cleanser because it keeps my skin in check, it's very gentle and I love the way it really lathers and removes all impurities from my skin.

Vichy Normaderm Micellar Solution

This gentle toner is perfect to balance PH levels on the skin. It is formulated without alcohol for sensitive, imperfection prone skin. It cleanses all traces of makeup and doesn't strip the skin of its natural moisture. I love it because it's so gentle!

Neostrata Oil Free Moisture Infusion Lotion

This moisturizer is perfect for dehydrated acne prone or oily skin. It has a light texture, gel-cream consistency. It mattifies the skin instantly and leaves your skin feeling supple and hydrated all day long. It also comes in a convenient pump which is easy to travel with and very sanitary!

Neostrata Eye Contour Firming Cream

This eye cream is light in texture and super easy to apply. It absorbs quickly into skin and a little goes a very long way! I've noticed more hydration and fine lines disappearing (these fine lines are caused by dehydration) love this stuff!

Night

My night skin care regimen stays very similar to my day time one except for I add a makeup removing cleanser and switch moisturizers.

Clinique Rinse-Off Foaming Cleanser

At night all I do is add this makeup removing cleanser to my routine. This is the best makeup remover I've ever used by a long shot! It removes even stubborn waterproof makeup, like concealer and mascara. A pea sized amount lathers up enough to cleans my entire face, neck and decollate. It leaves my skin feeling smooth and hydrated without leaving any makeup residue. I follow this cleanser with my Neostrata cleanser and Vichy toner.

Vichy Aqualia Thermal Riche

I replace my Neostrata Oil Free Moisture Infusion Lotion with this cream for night time. This cream delivers instant hydration in a rich formula. My skin feelings instantly supple and even though it is a super rich formula, it does not break out my sensitive skin. After moisturizing I then apply my Neostrata eye cream.

Weekly Treatments

Clinique Mens Face Scrub

Yes, I know. It's developed for men. But it works for me! It contains man made exfoliator spheres to slough off dead skin. Salicylic acid helps treat breakouts and there is a very minty cool scent and feeling my skin is left with. I use this once a week.

Clinique Acne Solutions Oil-Control Cleansing Mask

This mask is a clay based mask with anti acne benefits. I apply this when I feel that I am very oily and breaking out. I only apply this mask to my forehead, nose and chin. And I also spot treat blemishes with this mask. It can be very drying so I only use this about 1 time a week, or once ever 2 weeks for 5 minutes as needed.

Aveda Intensive Hydrating Masque

This oil free, gel like mask is amazing! It's very cooling, calming and hydrating. It contains natural humectants which draw in and retain moisture in the skin. I use this 1-2 times a week for 5-10 minutes when I'm feeling dehydrated and need a pick-me-up!

Everyday Must Have!

Clarisonic

My Clarisonic never gets put on the back burner when I'm cleansing my skin. I use this tool twice a day, day and night. It is the best investment I've ever made with my skin! My acne scarring has reduced, as well as my break outs. The quality of my skin is better than ever and cleansing with my clarisonic and cleanser it enables all of my products to properly penetrate my skin and do their job. It costs a pretty penny but is worth every cent! It gets your skin 6 TIMES cleanser vs. hand washing. So I can rest assured that every spec of dirt, oil and makeup is cleansed off my skin to perfectly prep my face for skincare, and makeup. A definite must have!

Breaking out? Break these bad beauty habits!

Keep those dirty hands off your face!

Touching your face can lead to an increase of acne for some people, this is because you are transferring dirt and oil from your hands onto your face. Touching your face can cause irritation of pre existing acne and blemishes, which can cause the spread of these blemishes to new places. With irritation, comes redness, swelling, bleeding, flaking...need I say more? The best way to combat touching your face is well...not touching your face! But if you need to remember to wash your hands thoroughly before putting on skincare, makeup or scratching an itch.

Wash your face!

It is very important to wash your face to remove makeup, oil, dirt and other residue off your face before you hit the hay. Cleansing your skin at night will reduce sebum on the skin and the ability for acne-causing bacteria to thrive inside your pores. This means less break outs! Create a clean palette to prepare your skin for your night time skin care regiment. Your skin repairs itself at night, so with a clean face your night time products can achieve their job! Don't have time to wash your makeup off at night before bed? Keep some facial 3in1 wipes by your night table to quickly remove everything. It's better than nothing!

Hair first, face last!

What's your shower routine? Before bed? In the morning? Doesn't matter! Just make sure that the last step in your shower routine is to wash your face. Many shower products contain oils in them, such as your shampoo and/or conditioner. If you condition your hair after you have washed your face you will have residue from the conditioner seeping down the skin, which will most likely be absorbed, and clog pores. It's important to remove that residue with your facial cleanser as the last step in the shower so that you will not breakout from the chemicals and oils that are not meant for the face!

Harsh Exfoliants are a NO-NO!

Think that by using an exfoliator that you're scrubbing away all of your problems? Think again! Stay away from facial scrubs that contain "natural" exfoliating ingredients such as ground up nut shells, fruit pits (ex. St. Ives apricot scrub) as these are too harsh on the skin, and create micro lacerations (cuts) to the skin causing irritation, sensitivity and sometimes infections (and the spread of ance!). Instead of using natural exfoliant particles , use man-made ones such as silicone beads. Silicone beads are sphere shaped and have no rigid edges like nut shells and fruit pits. These beads will not cause lacerations on the skin, but will still slough off old dead skin cell buildup. Do not over exfoliate either! Exfoliating removes dead skin cells, but it also removes the sebum from the skin. Exfoliate skin once or twice a week maximum. Over exfoliating can lead to dryness, and then the over production of sebum, causing oilier acne prone skin. There are also other ways of exfoliating your skin other than with scrub exfoliants. Chemical exfoliants work by dissolving the dead skin cells, sweat and and sebum that have accumulated on the upper layers of the epidermis. These chemical exfoliants contain either AHA's (alpha hydroxy acids) and BHA's (beta hydroxy acids) like glycolic acid, phenol, salicylic acid, lactic acid etc. But be careful! People with sensitive skin may not be able to use these products, and may cause burning. Another form of exfoliants are natural enzymes! These come from some fruits, which digest the skin cells on the surface of the skin. Papaya and pineapple are great sources of these enzymes and have been used for thousands of years as beauty treatments. They are great for people with very sensitive skin, or looking for a natural alternative to exfoliating.

Throw away that old cotton pillowcase!

Switch your pillowcases to satin or silk! Not only is it more luxurious but it's a lot better for your skin....and hair! A traditional pillow case is made from cotton, which absorbs moisture. The moisture comes from your skin and hair! It can leave your skin feeling dehydrated (which can cause over production of sebum) and will absorb the oil from your face and hair onto the pillow, and if you don't wash your pillow sheet regularly can cause re-occuring breakouts. Satin and silk are cool in temperature which will calm skin that is irritated, sensitive and dry. They also help with aging (who would have known!?) because silk and satin have a smooth and almost slippery feel, which will not tug on the skin like cotton will. This will prevent premature aging of the skin, breakage and tangling of the hair! And did you know that Satin is recommended to patients that are receiving chemotherapy because it creates less pull on the delicate hair strands! Now sleep on that!