These are the rules I live by when it comes to my skin, and when I do break them, my skin punishes me. Comment below if you would like more details on how to follow any one of these commandments.
#1. Wash Your Face
Day and night, without exception -everyday. Find the appropriate formulas for your skin type and monitor every 5-10 years if you need to adjust your regime as your skin changes with age. If you find you are often too tired at night to wash your face -do what I do, have facial cleansing wipes on your nightstand. No excuses to not wipe your face off when lying in bed.
#2. Don't Smoke
This is an obvious, but your skin is your body's main filter for keeping toxins out, so you are exhausting and aging your skin by making it work so hard to keep the smoke out.As a makeup artist, if I can't tell if a client smokes by just looking at their skin, I usually can tell immediately by touching it -the changes are that tangible.
#3. Exfoliate
Minimum once a week, with a gentle exfoliating, if your skin can handle it, I would aim for at least twice a week to get rid of dead skin reveal new glowing cells and boost circulation.
#4. Get Your Sleep
People under estimate how important sleep is to your skin; however, it should be one of your number one skin priorities. Sleep is the only time when your skin can focus on just nourishing and rejuvenating itself. It doesn't have to protect the same or filter or fight free radicals and UV damage, it can just repair and nourish.
#5. Moisturize
Every skin type needs some type of moisturizer to form a barrier to keep the natural moisture and water in your skin and prevent it from evaporating. If you have oily skin or a lot of breaks out, then you want to find a moisturizer that works against the oil but protects the water in your skin, like a mattifying lotion.
#6. Wear Sunscreen
How many beauty & fashion magazines and gurus say this, but this is one of the most powerful preventative measures against wrinkles, lines, age spots etc. So do it...you'll thank yourself in 10, 20 & 30 years.
#7.Anti-Aging Ingredients:
Look for creams with retinoids/ retinol/Retin-A/Renova/Avage in them for best anti-aging results so far it has the best track record for helping create the look of younger skin.
#8.Oily skin/Break out Ingredients:
Salicylic acid , at least two percent for people with persitant oily skin, or it can be purchased in treatment form to be used directly on breakouts only. Tea tree oil is also great - just soak a q-tip in a little bit and apply it again directly to the zit to help dry it out.
#9. Dry Skin Ingredients:
Hyaluronic acid: A humectant that helps cells stay plump with moisture & an oil such as Aragan oil, Olive oil etc that creates a barrier to keep water from escaping. Petroleum is said to be the best barrier for keeping moisturizer in the face, and I will apply it to my cheeks a couple times in the winter before I go to sleep if I notice they are getting drier then normal.
#10 Visit A Derm
Sometimes problems, or results wanted, are too big for skincare products. Know when to go see a dermatologist for dark circles, dull skin, wrinkles & fine lines,age spots, acne and sagging skin. There are a lot of non-abrasive treatments that are technically, more affordable the buying products and products that will never be able to achieve what you want.
If you follow these rules faithfully, you will notice a huge turn around. Depending on what you have been neglecting you may see only small differences at first;however, give your skin about 6 months to get through it's cycles and to really see results. This is how I started to approach my skin about 7 years ago, and it has only gotten better.
xx
sj
WWW.BASTARACHEBEAUTY.COM
www.sarahjanes.ca
Photo Credit: Robyn for Kravetz Photographics; makeup by Bastarache Beauty.
