The Starting Off Project - Skincare

Hello!

Today is week one of The Starting OFF Project and this week's topic is my personal favorite:

SKINCARE!

I am a firm believer in taking care of your skin so you don't have to wear so much makeup and so that your skin will be healthy for a long time to come.

Now you should all know that I have been a skincare consultant for Lancome, Estee Lauder and Boots...so I've been around the block on this stuff a time or two.  And I'm 34...so I'm living proof of what taking care of your skin gets you.  And their may be swearing in this post, leave now if you don't want to hear the truth.

So here are my thoughts...

RULE #1- STAY OUT OF THE D@MN SUN! (SERIOUSLY).  Wear sunscreen (at least SPF 30 EVERYDAY) it doesn't matter if it's cloudy out or if you are in the shade, their are UV rays bouncing all around and they hit your face. The sun is the single most DAMAGING factor we face.  

UVA = Ultra Violet Aging  UVB = Ultra Violet Burning  get a sunscreen with both.  Their are plenty out there that are lightweight and go great under makeup, I use a Peter Thomas Roth, but I have used Neutrogena and Coppertone Faces.  SPF only lasts 80 minutes at the most - I don't care if you sat inside all day.  80 minutes and your done - did you reapply for the drive home? Doubt it - now any sun on your face has direct access.  If you value your skin AT ALL stay out of the tanning beds they use only UVA rays - yes the AGING ones.  Just google tanning bed skin damage to skim the surface of what it does - anyone my age (mid 30's) that did it in their 20's regret it SO MUCH now.  And that SPF in your makeup - forget it, it's worthless.

Ok...so now onto my next rant...

RULE # 2 - WASH YOUR D@MN FACE! Even if you just have the wipes (which honestly aren't the best they leave residue - they were created to take the first level of make-up off ) Wash your face every night you need to get the days grime and dead skin off.  You DO NOT need to exfoliate every night - in fact you shouldn't be using the Clairsonic everyday unless you wear a lot of makeup - you don't have enough skin for that!  And please, Please keep the St. Ives away from your face - it's cheap for a reason, the apricot bits are not round so they micro cut your face.  

Oil cleansers are the best in my opinion no matter what kind of skin you have - yes even oily skin!

Lancome Huile Doucer is my Holy Grail product - anyone who had tried it loves it, Dior makes a similar one.  It gets all the makeup and leaves you skin soft and not dried out - so then it doesn't try to produce MORE oil.  Most of the Neutrogena-type cleansers out there (Especially cleansers with salicylic acid) dry your face out and you produce more oil - and guess what then you need to buy a toner to feel clean which YOU DON'T need.  You only need a toner if your cleanser changes the Ph of your face (like cleansers with salicylic acid do!)  If you cannot stand the thought of oil switch to a cream cleanser Boots makes several good ones.  The cream cleanser by Olay are terrible just FYI.  The more gentle your cleanser the better.  Mark my words you will see more and more oil cleanser coming on the market as people realize how badly most the cleansers on the market strip your face - which leads to acne and early aging.

Now as I mentioned you do not want to exfoliate every day - twice a week if you are oily, once a week for drier skin.  You do need to exfoliate if you want good skin getting the dead skin off is important, and makeup application will be much easier.  I like enzyme peels - gentle yet effective!

This mask by Freeman is great!  And cheap!

Rule# 3 - STOP BEING A DRAMA QUEEN!  So many people have come to me and say "oh my skin is so oily!  Oh my skin in so sensitive   Oh my skin is soooo special!"  Get over yourself.  85% of us have normal skin.  The other 15% NEED to see a Dermatologist - you'll know if you fall into that category.  It's what we are putting into out bodies and on our skin that makes it act badly!  If you think you can eat greasy food and candies and not have it show on your face - wrong!  I am religious about skin care but I still get hormonal and "I ate a LOT of bad food" breakouts.  Using drying cleansers causes you to over produce oil leading to acne. Using anti-acne cleanser when your not a 15 year old boy causes you to kill all the good oil and bacteria on your face - and you will get breakouts.  A non gentle cleanser wreaks havoc on your skin, causing it to feel sensitive - and if you are not using sunscreen you are probably always a bit burned no matter what color you are - (yes African American skin burns and it causes severe hyper-pigmentation anywhere they have scar tissue)  Stop using products for all your "problems" and you will have less "Problems".

I have more, but I want to hear your questions and I will be back with PART 2 tomorrow! 

Now go put on some sunscreen!

Jasmine!