Skin Care From Yours Truly.
Hey y’all! It’s spring time and along with changing weather and wardrobes, every gal’s vanity could use a refreshing as well! Like I have said in another post, skin and face care have always been super important to me especially since I have had every face ailment known to man. Puberty was a muuuuhhhh and along with living in New Orleans for most of my life, the humid springs/summers did nothing for my acne-prone skin. Prescriptions were too strong, and skin care for .. ahem, others never did it for me either lol. So with this whole wave of holistic health for your skin, I was excited to try something different for my face, and boy did it work! Now I know everyone has different skin-types but here are a few tips that have been literally my saving grace! Hope y’all enjoy!
Washes: With having combination skin, I am constantly having to rotate how and how often I wash my face. Some weeks I’ll have to exfoliate, other’s a simple bar of soap works for the kid. So on oily days I would suggest an exfoliation treatment. My favorite is a basic honey+sugar+olive oil combo. Honey is a natural humectant so it’ll retain the essential moisture you’ll need. The sugar will gently buff away dead skin cells and any dirt/residue from the day. The olive oil helps with moisture but it’s also extremely healing and helps with general skin elasticity so it’s amazing for that youthful glow. This scrub is also really good to use in the shower all over to help your entire body feel awll silky & smooth. Sidenote : If you want to get exxxxxxxxtra fancy with your routine, manuka honey contains antioxidants and will help with breakouts or blackheads, it’s a tad pricey but it’s SO worth it. That’ll take your exfoliating game to the next level. & is also great to use a lip scrub.
Toning: I’ll be honest, I never really got the point of toners. My dermatologist swore that it was the end all be all to my skin care woes, and so I stocked up… partly because he was fine so I listened to everything he told me to do! LOL but the idea of toners closing your pores after cleansing was awesome, plus my skin always felt really good after I used it. But in the spirit hollisticity (that’s not a word y’all) Rose water is an excellent alternative. My momma put me on & I’ve loved it ever since. Very light and smells amazing. Plus, on dry skin days, it’s not as harsh as other chemical toners especially since it doesn’t have salicylic acid. Toners are amazing for getting that gritty stuff your cleanser leaves behind. Besides Rose Water, Clean & Clear’s essential deep cleansing toner is a great alternative for bad break out days.
Masques/Deep Cleaning: I hate blackheads, but I LOVE getting rid of them. The feeling of your skin once you get in them pores honey is unlike any other. I am the queen of looking up DIY face masks but my ALL time favorite is a bentonite clay. It’s versatility has to be why I love it so much: You can cut it with water for your weekly deep clean, or use honey when your skin is feeling super dry. You can use apple cider vinegar if you’re having bad breakouts or to get those stubborn blackheads. It’s so WONDERFUL and it contains minerals that DRAW OUT dirt and you can literally feel your skin pulsate and clearly I love this because I rave about it to errrr’body I know. So go ‘head and cop that, any clay mask will do really but that’s probably my go-to when it comes to deep cleansing. So after your wash, steam your face (sit in a hot bath to open pores OR just place your head over a pot of water with a towel over it) and apply the mask right after. You can can also use the bentonite clay mask on your body and is perfect for homemade pedicures after long days at work.
Moisturizing/Night oils: Now when it comes to moisturizing, I’m not playing around. I’m gonna be up 10-15 minutes longer than I intend to at night massaging all my oils into my face and body because that’s the most important part of my skin care routine. My favorite moisturizer is my Acure Argan oil, which I wrote about before but my next favorite is Castor oil and my third choice is coconut oil. I know, it all sounds pretty greasy but trust me, if you really tryna “wake up like this” & have bae all impressed (says the most single gal ever), use these oils! Not only do they leave you glowing, the literal improvement in skin texture is the most amazing part of it all. Silky smooth ain’t the word, plus you won’t wake up ashy so who can complain about that? I usually use castor oil more in the winter because it’s thicker and a little goes a long way (cold pressed organic is the best for skin, Jamaican black castor oil is great for your hair & edges for styling). Coconut oil is more of my go-to in the morning because it’s very light and argan oil is great for the summer because it’s lighter and penetrates to the second layer of your skin pulling oxygen to your cells. Argan oil is also great for blackheads too because it’ll draw healthy blood to your pores, killing the bacteria and soothes out your skin texture even more.
On days when my skin is dry or really irritated, I try to simplify, I’ll use a soap to wash and keep the argan oil and leave it at that. My favorite soap to use is olive oil soap just because it’ll give me that moisture that I love, but it also leave your skin feeling extremely clean. I have the brand “Kiss my Face” from whole foods & it’s amazing. But before that I used a vegetable soap from Trader Joes, both were about $3. The point being is that there are times when you’re actually doing TOO much to your skin and I learned this the hard way, I would say just minimize make up usage, wash twice daily with a soap and use a light oil or night cream to moisturize.
ALSO: VITAMIN E OIL IS YOUR BEST FRIEND, COP & THANK ME LATER.just use in place of argan oil or any of the other oils named above.
Hope this helps y’all! Any other questions or SUGGESTIONS (which we love) are welcome, just hit up our asks or tweet us dolls!
H, xo.