Beauty Tips For Body Care
Hello everyone! I've known this thread for a while but this is my first post - I'm so happy with my new routine/new beautiful skin that I need to share it with other skincare junkies (and maybe help some of you!).Okay so first, how my skin was BEFORE:OilyExtremely sensitive, I have very thin fair skinPIH (mostly from picking)Mild facial acne - I'm in my 20s and I struggle with a bit of hormonal acne, mostly blackheads/whiteheads on forehead, chin and jaw. I had moderate acne during my teensAnnoying, persistent bacneNow, after the change in regimen:Still oily, sensitiveAlmost zero blackheadsJust the odd zit when I'm on my periodBacne is all but goneMy complete regimen:[Skin]AMWash: Eucerin DermoPurifyer Gel Cleanser. I absolutely LOVE this stuff, cleanses well without leaving the skin tight. Personally I think it's because they use Sodium Cocoamphoacetate (a much milder cleansing agent) as the main surfactant and SLES down the list as the 4th ingredient. It's also fragrance-free which is a must for me.Treatments: The Ordinary Alpha Arbutin + HA ** for PIH and **The Ordinary Niacinamide + Zinc for breakouts. From the bottom of my heart, I think The Ordinary is fantastic and I wish them a long prosperous life. I also had their HA + B5 serum, but unfortunately I broke the bottle. All serums were fabulous for everyday use and I will repurchase the 3 of them soon (plus might add some Vitamin C and Lactic Acid to the cart, because why not). I could elaborate more on each one but I don't want to make this too long, so ask away if you're curious about them specifically.Oils: facial oils are a new discovery for me and I really like them. There's a shop here in Paris called AromaZone which sells natural beauty products for really cheap, so I got 5 different types of oils (tiny bottles of 10ml though) for I think 13 euros total (15 USD?). I purposely choose oils with high linoleic/linolenic acid content because after some research I found out that high oleic acid oils (such as olive oil) tend to be comedogenic, plus acne-prone skin tends to have more oleic acid in their natural sebum so it's beneficial to try and balance it out (this article explains it well). The ones I got were: rosehip oil, maracuja oil (most times I'll just use a blend of these two because they're the least smelly ones), safflower oil, kukui oil and evening primrose oil (despite the name, this one smells gross). This has been saving my skin from the horrible Parisian winter, although I haven't tested it in hot/humid weather yet so I can't tell if it works year round. Basically I wake up with glowing and soft skin every morning and any scabs from dead pimples will go away in a matter of days (useful because I'm a recovering picker).Makeup: I don't bother too much with buying cosmetics that are non comedogenic or aimed at acne prone skin, partly because in my experience they make no difference. What I found that actually improved my skin was using less of it - instead of plastering my face with primer, foundation, concealer and powder all over, I decided to just spot conceal or maybe use a bit of foundation MIXED WITH primer (to thin it out) if say there's a large area with redness I want to cover. I know this is not possible for everyone, especially if you have severe acne/PIH, but even in those cases I think sometimes we overapply in areas where the skin is not as bad, and just end up making things worse.As for the products, I currently use Hourglass Veil primer, NARS Sheer Glow foundation, Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage concealer (great stuff) and Hylamide Pore Delete on top of makeup for oiliness (points for Deciem on yet another great product). I'm coveting the Bobbi Brown stick foundation as well because they have good coverage and a perfect color match for me - no easy feat for my very very fair skin.Moving along - when I get back home:PMWash: If i have a lot of makeup on (say, I wore foundation and powder, or mascara/eye makeup), I'll double cleanse with one of my facial oils mentioned above (usually safflower oil because I bought a bigger bottle), then remove the excess with toilet paper and use the aforementioned Eucerin DermoPurifyer WITH MY CLARISONIC. TBH I don't know how anyone serious about washing off makeup can live without one (or equivalent brush from whatever brand).Mud mask: I actually take a long bath every night after arriving home, this is the moment I take to relax, read a book/magazine et cetera. So I mix some Kaolin clay with water, and usually throw some Colloidal oatmeal powder in there as well (it's reportedly anti-inflammatory and makes for a fluffier, smoother consistency in the mask). I use Kaolin rather than any other clay because it's the one with lower pH I have access to, other types such as Bentonite clay are more alkaline and therefore can disrupt your skin's natural pH (which is acidic). More on the subject here.Treatment: if I feel a pimple coming I'll do The Ordinary Niacinamide + Zinc first, but usually I just use my acids at night. I'm currently using Azelaic Acid - which I adore and works so well for my sensitive skin - BUT be warned that you have to take it slow with this one or your face will be in flames. I actually started using it every day or every other day diluted in a bit of water, eventually grew to using it twice a day without water and now I'd say I'm in "maintenance phase" using it just at night undilluted. I think azelaic acid was largely responsible for solving my blackheads issue, it really cleans up the pores like nothing else I've used. I have it in two brands, The Ordinary 10% Azelaic acid and Azelan 15% gel cream from Bayer (a brief Google research tells me Azelan is called Finacea in the US). The one from The Ordinary is definitely milder so whenever I feel like my skin is irritated or reactive I'll stick to it, or conversely if my skin is congested I'll use the 15% one.Oils on top[Diet]Okay so arguably the least exciting part, which I'm sorry to inform is probably the most effective one. I became vegan (don't close the tab), cut down on alcohol and added lots of vegetables to my diet. After that, my bacne is gone - I know that's the reason why because I don't apply any products to my back - and my hormonal zits during my period became ONE single tiny zit which will go away in a couple of days. So yeah, no dairy/meat/eggs + little to no alcohol + almost no refined sugar/wheat (I eat bread or dessert maybe once a week) + plenty of veggies = good skin for life.That's what did it for me! What do you think? Comments/suggestions/questions/complaints?
Girls Blog 2015
Submitted by abw96
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