Game-Changers to BETTER your Skincare Regimen
- A.N.I.A
- Feb 7, 2022
- 6 min read
Some you may know, some you may say hell-no, or woah. Either way, welcome to your impending 2022 glow-up:)
Although my days in beauty school are behind me, the knowledge I gained and the continuing education I've gotten with my own experiences/advising others, has only made me an even more passionate advocate for better skincare. As I expanded on previously in this past post, we have to want to do better. And that starts by unlearning the big brands and everything you were doing 5/10+ years ago(or even this year!).
We have to ask ourselves new/different questions as it relates to our health and acknowledging the role we play in our results, for better or worse, or for standstill.
I get regular compliments on my skin and even though I give the largest part of the credit to consistent nutritional choices, there are few new things I've done or used in the last 6 months that I feel have a legitimate wow-factor.
Below are (my) 5 tested, tried, and true tips to level-up your skincare game sooner than later:
1. Sanitization Routine - make it daily
This one I felt is a no-brainer but I let it fall through the cracks for longer then I'd admit.
Being surrounded by so many make-up artists in the production biz, I took mental note of their various routines when it came to sanitizing between clients/gigs/models. The most sanitary thing that was crucial, especially to not spread bacteria and even more serious infections, is to 1. clean your make-up brushes with alcohol and 2. use a new make-up sponge/blender with each person that sat in their chair.
I re-incorporated this habit and have cut my breakouts down to half or less within a week. Prior to this I was only cleaning my brushes once a week....with antibacterial dial soap (yikes).
I was never a fan of sponges/beauty blenders so I focus on my brushes. I take a simple square 2x2 inch alcohol pad(they sell packs at CVS/Walgreens as well) and wipe down each brush I used that day either the night before I need to apply make-up on again or in the morning as soon as I wake up to brush my teeth. The key is to be sanitizing them daily, not weekly, not every couple of days - daily. I have even taken it a step further and replaced any brushes that I've had a bit too long/the hairs have turned rough etc. Rough brushes irritate/further aggravate your skin and can also be the cause of skin flares.
2. The Cleansing Step SWAP
If you're like me, you have a skincare product graveyard or stockpile cabinet that has a product for any issue under the sun. Depending on the day, you use a little of this or that and haven't really adopted a consistent regimen.
And if you're also like me, the thought of not doing your critical Step 1/Cleansing makes you itch just thinking about it. And depending on your skin type, you may be intimidated or cringe at the thought of using oil to cleanse. I know. It felt borderline sacrilegious to me when I considered it.
I'm normally a lover of the gel, cream, and sometimes foam cleansers. My skin is also oily/combination so I was nervous. But after trying several kinds of specifically formulated oil cleansers meant and designed for face/skin balancing, in the morning and a night before bed(yes make-up removal), after two weeks...I was really surprised(and impressed) that my skin didn't react angrily or give me any trouble at all. On the contrary, I had a glow that I never had before (without make-up).
I use 2-3 cotton rounds rinsed under warm water with 2-3 squirts of oil on each. And don't neglect your neck; upward strokes too. I find (and was specifically taught) that it's better to not apply the oil directly to your hands and use that way; the cotton rounds make for a gentler application.
And I've stuck with it! I truly notice a difference. I now oil cleanse 80-90% of the month, unless I have stubborn thick layers of mascara, only then do I use a dab of gel cleanser/balm to clean my eye area alone.
3. Products By Season
Just like foods should be eaten when they're actually in season (to be more earth-conscious/sustainable), our skin would prefer we treat it according to it's own individual season as well as the current environmental season we physically live in.
Spring: This season can either be a neutral one where most skin thrives or one that is irritated along with allergies around this time. I definitely exfoliate the most during this season.
Summer: The heat is on. Generally more sweating and oil production around this time. So I ease back with adding extra face oil products to aggravate/layer on top of my own oil. Lots of cooling type masques too (seaweed, etc.). Lighter moisturizer. And I try to buy products that have SPF already in them (even my make-up).
Fall/Autumn: My best/favorite skin season. My skin is more amiable to letting me be spontaneous with new treatments around this time with my Esthetician.
Winter: Baby it's cold outside! An increase in dryness may occur, so I aim for heavier cream cleansers and hydrating oils. Vit C like crazy.
Our skin is like a fingerprint, unique to the individual. Be intuitive. Observe your skin. Based on how it feels, bump up one product and ease back on another. And when in doubt as it often tends to go, doing less can be the most effective thing.
4. Cool Down
I run hot. Well, at least my face does.
I've found that putting a few of my products (masks/masques, certain serums, undereye gels, beauty tools) in the refrigerator for ready-to-use purposes have been truly heavenly in reward. I may have been indirectly influenced by therapies I've read about that have some clear similarities, just on a smaller scale in this respect.
I've also read articles where some women even have a mini fridge for their products! Although I did consider it at one point, I've managed to keep my product count to a minimum and limited to a small plastic bin in the corner of the bottom shelf of my main fridge.
Highly, highly recommend this type of storage if you're into cooling sensations as part of your wind-down process post-gym or shower. Not only is it super anti-inflammatory for hot-face issues like mine, but it also just calms me overall and makes me feel like I'm at a spa (even when I'm just home laying on the couch like a slug).
5. Ten Day Reset
Simplify. As I stated toward the end of #3 on this list, sometimes less can truly be more.
Do a 10-day reset on your skin at the beginning and end of each season. This involves simply cutting your products in half. So if you currently use 10 products a day, only use 5 of them for 10 days. Or if you use 6 products daily, only use 3 of them etc etc.
I have even gone as far as only using 1 product a day for the 10 day reset (that one product happened to do the 3 most essential things for me - clean/moisturize/repair). Yep. And my skin responded really, really well.
But if you choose to do the 3 or 5, here is my guide >
- Three: A cleanser, a Vitamin C product, and a moisturizer
- Five: A cleanser, a Vit C product(alternate with a Retinol), a Moisturizer, a Scrub, and a gentle serum OR mask of your choice
Keep in mind the whole point of this reset is to be as gentle to the skin as possible. No abrasive or over harsh products that are acid-heavy etc. Once you complete the detox/reset, take note how your skin responds to this reset and be honest with yourself; did you really need more? Can you move forward with less? Is it time to toss 50-80% of your skincare cabinet aka graveyard of products that you only use 25% of anyway or expired/have dust on them. Might be time to let go :)
Be sure to follow Danna Omari on IG @noyskincare for additional resources on the reset. Oh! And the oral routine in her Highlights section is also worth a peek.
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HONORABLE MENTIONS to incorporate for your 2022 regimen in general:
> Hydrocolloid patches for blemishes instead of "spot creams", acids, or .....popping. (What a lot of people don't realize is more often than not a pimple simply may signify an over production of oil/imbalance of our water-to-oil ratio which is caused by the skin either A. not feeling moisturized enough, or, B. build-up from under exfoliation. The solution is not necessarily to dry-out a pimple with alcohol/acids etc but to promote healing/repair/moisture balance. These patches help skin heal from the inside out, enhancing our natural healing process while also absorbing excess fluids surrounding a pimple.)
> Purifying shower filter (You wouldn't believe some of things floating around in our water system. Yikes!)
> Handheld/portable microderm wand (Warning: Addictive. Can't imagine living without one!)
> Balming rashes/breakouts/eruptions with ozonation. (The benefits of Ozone are so endless and this can be so much gentler/effective then Tetracycline, Differin, Accutane etc. - which are all also known hormonal/endocrine disrupters!)
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