Yesterday a conversation arose here at the Spa about poor skin care hygiene and its detriment. All too often we see clients (especially women) who come to us looking for instant, one-time, no-hassle solutions for their skin's problems. Unfortunately, even with the best treatments on the market, your results will never be maintained if you suffer from poor skin care hygiene.The first step in conquering your bad habits is to follow the skin care ABC's- or shall we say... CTT's.
Step One: Cleanse
- Gently rub cleanser all over your face with fingertips for about 20-25 seconds AM and PM.
- Splash running warm water on your face several times to rinse off the cleanser until there is no more residue on you skin. Do not direct the stream of water onto your face (i.e.: holding your face under the shower head).
- Take a clean towel and gently pat your face dry.
Step Two: Tone
- Especially if you suffer from chronic breakouts and/or have oily skin, using a toner is crucial to your skin care routine.
- Find a toner that is best for your skin type- there are many options on the market. (Our favorite? Queen Bee's Glycolic Toner, which is great for most skin types).
- Apply a small amount to a cotton ball and gently pat over face after cleansing and before moisturizing. You can also use the toner to spot-treat blemishes as they arise.
- If you have dry skin, test the toner for a day or two. If it exacerbates your dryness, gently rinse it with cool water after applying to your skin, this will lessen its dehydrating nature.
Step Three: Treat
- Depending on your specific needs, treatment for your skin will vary. For someone like me who is prone to breakouts, my treatment consists of salicylic moisturizer, salicylic primer (from ColoreScience), and salicylic mineral sunscreen powder (again, ColoreScience).
- No matter what ails your skin (folliculitis, rosacea, dryness, hyper-pigmentation, sun damage, melasma, breakouts, uneven tone/texture, etc.), there is something we can offer you to help treat it.
- As highlighted above, sunscreen is a must for everyone. Treating is not exclusive to existing problems. It is imperative to include a product with at least SPF 30 into your skin care regimen to prevent unnecessary damage down the road.
These three points -the CTT's- are essential to your new good skin care hygiene regimen. However, there are many more oft-overlooked recommendations to make your skin the best it can be!
Yesterday's conversation brought up many good points that can easily be forgotten, neglected, or missing in one's skin care regimen/make-up bag (AHEM- Women, we mean you!).
- Many of us with overly oily skin believe that compact powder is the solution to masking this problem. Wrong. While the powder may temporarily mask the oiliness of your skin, it is really just exacerbating the problem and guaranteeing more breakouts and more oil. --> Instead, pick up a pack of oil-blotting papers. For one, they are much cheaper than your powder, and they actually remove the oil instead of covering it and pushing it deeper into your pores. Total win-win.
- Again, for those of us make-up wearers, it is so important that your utensils are clean, if not new. If you are using a sponge or brush to apply your make-up (which you should be doing anyway because your fingers are full of natural oils)--> you have got to make sure that you clean or replace these on a regular basis. If you neglect to do this, you are reapplying the same grease and bacteria onto your face everyday, worsening with each application. Hint: we sell a fantastic brush cleaner in the Spa for only $10.00 and most drug stores sell a bountiful bag of sponges for about $1.99
- Make-up has a shelf-life. Not only will your year-old mascara glob up or dry out, it also has been breeding bacteria for quite some time. Especially if your make-up bag is conveniently placed next to your shower. That is über-prime real estate for bacteria- warm and humid. Here's a brief guide to the shelf live of your make-up:
Concealer: Up to 12 months
Powder: Two years
Pencils and Eyeliner: Should be sharpened regularly. Will last up to 3 years.
Brushes: Wash at least every month with a brush cleaner or mild detergent.
Sponges: Change monthly
Foundation: Check the ingredients: A water-based foundation will last up to 12 months, oil based- up to 18 months.
Lipstick: Most say 1-2 years, although apparently you can extend that by storing it in the fridge. I say try that at your own risk, or maybe just in the summer.
Mascara: 4 months. And, please ladies, don't pump it- you are only drying it out and exposing it to more bacteria.
I will leave you these tips for now- but there will certainly be more to come.
And as always, for more information or questions- do not hesitate to call or email!
