Most of the comments and emails I get are about skincare and beauty, usually along these lines: what products do I recommend for x, what’s my favorite product of all time, and how did I fix my skin? If you want to really go in-depth, you can comb through the hundreds of posts I’ve written about my struggles and triumphs over acne. But I figured that in honor of spring, I’d do a light how-to get your skincare ball rolling, like a spring cleaning of sorts!
Here’s what you do:
1. Look at your lifestyle and ask yourself questions like:
Do you sleep in your makeup? Do you touch your face a lot? Do you work in a city with high levels of pollution? Do you work out with your makeup on?
2. Now, look inward and ask yourself a few more:
What kind of diet do you have? Are you taking any new prescriptions (they might have side effects)? Do you notice your breakouts happening constantly or are they only when you have your period or eat certain foods? Have you been stressed or upset by any major life changes or issues recently?
This kind of analysis might take some time, so be patient and look for patterns.
3. Visit your dermatologist. If you don’t have one, find one!
4. Find out what kind of skin you actually have; it might not be what you think.
I always thought that I had oily skin, so I tried to dry it out with astringents and I avoided moisturizing. Really, all I was doing was stripping my skin, damaging my pH, making the dry parts worse and forcing the oily parts to produce even more oil. My facialist told me that I actually have combination skin that verges on sensitive.
You might think you have sensitive skin, but it might actually just be sensitized skin. Learn about the difference here.
5. It’s time to make some changes!
Once you’ve educated yourself about your lifestyle, it’s time to adjust accordingly. Personally, I gave up dairy, gluten, coffee, alcohol and as much sugar as possible. I allow myself cheat days, of course, but I feel so much better physically with a clean diet, and my skin has improved drastically.
6. Be Patient.
Testing out new products, medications, diets, it’s easy to be frustrated when you don’t see immediate results.
Shop some of the best skincare products I’ve ever used:
Milky Jelly (read my review)
Vintner’s Daughter (read my review)
Tatcha Camellia Cleansing Oil (read my review)
Drunk Elephant C-Firma™ Day Serum
Caudalie Instant Detox Mask
Love & Water 