Skin Care

A long post on a topic I know nothing about. Ahhh... things are back to normal. :P

Until recently, skin care to me was washing my face with body wash every morning in the shower. (Can someone please explain to me how I don't look 90??) Anyway...

I decided to start taking better care of my skin and *gasp* wear make up when I read a post on an alopecia message board I go to. The poster was a big alopecia acceptance advocate and also happens to be a make up artist. She mentioned that (paraphrasing here...) people don't notice her bald spots as much when she wears make up and has nice skin. That combined with the fact that I broke out like a 12 year old boy made me say What the hell?! and give it a try.

I have also noticed that my own home grown fatty botox is going away with my weight loss, so I have some me lovely wrinkles appearing.

Wonderful.

(I am really ok with it, because I have lost 36lbs so far. Woot!)

Not knowing anything about skin care, I did what anyone would do and hit the internet - more specifically, youtube. After I found something on youtube, I googled the hell out of it to verify it with other sources. I will save you the long(er) drawn out explanation (because trust me. I spent many, many hours researching this junk that it seems everyone else already knows), but here are some of the things I have found out.

Basically, there are two things you should do twice a day, every day. Those are cleanse and moisturize.

I found one video in particular that was the most helpful. I give you Josh:



All of the other videos I found just listed products but Josh didn't. He just gave the basic information and you can use the products that are best for you.

Josh gives some great information, and even two routines:

Basic:
Cleanse
Cleanse
Tone
Moisturize

Once or Twice a week:
Cleanse
Cleanse
Tone
Exfoliate
Tone
Mask
Tone
Moisturize

Here are the two biggest things I learned from the video -
Cleanse twice. The first cleanse will remove make-up and gunk and the second will actually cleanse. I didn't learn this until after a few weeks and once I tried it I could really tell a difference.

Moisturize while damp. The point behind moisturizer is to lock in the moisture. If your skin is dry, there is no moisture.

Being the cheapskate that I am, you would think that the products I use are the cheapest available. Yes and no. I am still adding to it, but here is what I have so far:
Cleanse - Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser When compared to other drug store cleansers, Cetapil can actually seem expensive (mine ran about $10) but for my sensitive skin, I will pay the extra. Here is a great list of cleansers by skin type and here is a great way to tell what type skin you have.

Tone - Still haven't found one and not sure I will use

Exfoliate - a squirt of Cetaphil mixed with a sprinkle of baking soda. I started off using a something with salicylic acid (for blackheads) but it was way too harsh for me. The salicylic acid worked wonders on the blackheads so I am on the lookout for something with less harsh "scrubbers" in it, or some other way to use the SA.

Mask - Believe it or not, I use good old Walmart Milk of Magnesia. Trust me. Your face will never feel better.

Moisturize - Eucerin Everyday Protection Face Lotion SPF 30 I have been using this at night which I found out was a big no-no. You do not want to use anything with SPF at night. Oops! I will use plain old regular Eucerin for night time from now on.

The bonus for me is that Cetaphil and Eucerin are made by Swiss and German companies so are readily available in Germany. No packing 3 months worth of face junk for me!

I will also mention that I have read on various dermatology message boards that it can take 6-8 weeks for your face to stop breaking out from new products. The breakouts are really your skin purging impurities.

A while ago I bought the Neutrogena Wave but was unable to use it because the cleanser that came on the pads was too harsh for me. (Sensing the theme that is my life?) They say that the vibrations allow the cleanser to go 10% deeper into your pours and blah, blah, blah. I have no idea if their claims are true, but since it was sitting there staring at me I figured I should use it. To solve the too harsh cleanser problem, I just bought a $2 pack of cotton "cosmetic rounds" at Walmart and use my Cetaphil. Even if it doesn't do anything, it feels really good and until I decide if I want to but the $200 Clarisonic everyone raves about, it will do. (Haha! Do you like how I said that as if I were actually considering it? Someday when I am not planning to take three hormonal teenagers to Europe. Someday...)

So there you go. Watch Josh's video and use his techniques with whatever products work for you. You will notice a difference, I promise.

As for make-up... still working on that. I know what I want but I have to drive to Sephora in Jackson and get it. I will let you know how that little adventure turns out.