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Hey hey!

So, like I mentioned in my last post, doing the 30 day yoga challenge at my studio really showed me that I shockingly have some willpower and motivation hidden somewhere inside my body and can actually do something when I put my mind to it.

Amazing, right?

So, one thing that I have always been bad about is skin care. Like, I know that washing my face and all that jazz is super important, but I’ll admit I can definitely be lazy. I’ve noticed recently though, that when I’m looking at pictures of people close to my age or even younger, that I’m constantly worrying about looking older than I really am. And since I’m turning 35 this year, I decided that it’s time to get serious about a skin care regime.

Cue awkward selfies-

A couple of notes on these photos. As you can see, I have uneven skin tone, hormonal acne breakouts on top of regular old acne, super clogged pores, emerging lines and wrinkles, and of course, bags under my eyes that rival the size of  my suitcase. Also, this is the face that has endured 18-ish hours on planes and in airports, sun, sand, and salt water, and a 7 hour puke-a-thon during deep-sea fishing so I’m dehydrated AF.

I’ve tried several different cleansers, with and without my Clarisonic the past couple of years and just haven’t felt wow’d with any of them. Plus, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m kind of on the lazy side most days. So a forty step cleansing plan is not in the cards for me. That being said, while on vacation, we were strolling down Waikiki strip and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to stop in the massive Sephora located there. SO MUCH MAKEUP!!! A helpful associate kindly listened to my concerns and suggested a few products to try out. I put them into rotation yesterday and I’m excited to see how well they work over the next 30 days.

THE NEW LINE UP

The stuff that I already used and loved are the Trader Joe’s Rose Facial Oil, the FAB Coconut Moisturizer, and the Sephora Coconut Cleansing wipes. I recently added the Murad moisturizer and the two newest additions are the FAB Facial Radiance Pads and the PTR Cleansing gel.

Morning Routine

I am generally really slow-moving in the mornings before work. I’d love to be someone who pops out of bed and gets right to it, but I haven’t been able to master that one yet! So I need something simple and quick to make sure that I will actually clean my face in the morning versus just rolling out with whatever I put on my face the night before.

I’ve also read/heard that if you wash your face at night, you don’t really need to go through all the same steps in the morning, especially if all you did was go to sleep. So I opted for these face wipes from the Sephora Brand Collection. They aren’t super scrubby, they don’t have an overpowering scent, and they are super affordable. All wins in my book. I also use these to remove my makeup before washing with a cleanser, if I chose to wear makeup that day.

Overall, due to my thyroid condition, I have very dry skin on my body. Which causes my face to go into super oil production mode at times. That can make wearing foundation tricky, because as the day goes on, even with primer & blotting papers, my foundation breaks apart. A) that’s frustrating as hell and b) it’s never a good look to have patchy foundation especially when you have a complexion that turns red very easily.

All that said, I like to opt for a light moisturizer for the day time. And this one from First Aid Beauty is top-notch. It works as a primer too, although I don’t use it for that purpose. The only thing I wished that it had was an SPF, but I generally either mix this with a small bit of my favorite sunscreen brand or use foundation that has a SPF in it. This one is nice and light, while providing a good amount of moisture for the skin.

Night Time Routine

Since I keep my morning routine so simple, I step it up a little bit in the evenings. Since my face goes into oil production overload, I get massively clogged pores. So I needed something that would really get down in there and get the junk out of my pores. The associate told me that this product, since it has glycolic and salicylic acid in it would do the trick. I’ve been using it in the evenings with my Clarisonic. It does say that it’s suitable for all skin types except for sensitive skin, and so far my face has been liking it! The price did seem a little high at first, but with that big bottle, I probably won’t have to be buying another bottle any time soon.

This cleanser has a light, citrus scent

Another product that she recommended, because skin aging is also a concern of mine, were these facial pads by First Aid Beauty. Basically like little peels that you can use every day. I haven’t noticed any stinging or burning with them, but my face will turn a little pink when I use these after washing. So far I’ve used them every day on my face, neck, and upper chest area with no excessive drying or other adverse effects.

No burning sensation, but my face does get a little pink with these

I grabbed this moisturizer by Murad back in December. So far I’ve been loving the fact that it is light and cooling on my skin, especially when I mix it with my facial oil for a little added moisture. Not a huge fan of the price tag, but I can really feel a difference between this moisturizer and the brand that I was using before. And in case you were wondering how I could tell, I did half my face with the old brand and half with this new one to test it out!

So cooling!

Finally, my facial oil! After reading about the benefits of adding a facial oil to your routine and that it wouldn’t make your face super greasy, I picked this one up at Trader Joe’s. It is one of their seasonal items, and I may switch brands when I run out of this one, but I have really been liking the addition to my regimen and the extra softness and bounce I feel my skin getting.

Not super heavy like I was worried a facial oil would be

And of course, my trusty Clarisonic brush equipped with the cashmere brush head. Now this model is one of the first brushes that Clarisonic came out with, but since it hasn’t failed me yet, I haven’t felt the need to replace it. But they have several different types of brushes and brush heads now, so it you are interested head to your local Sephora, Ulta, or major department store and check them out!

I switched from the sensitive skin brush head to this cashmere luxe one because it felt like no matter how little pressure I used, it felt like the brush head was sanding off the top layer of skin. I’m happy to report that it doesn’t feel that way with the new brush, and we will see in the weeks to come how effect it is when cleaning my skin.

In a true testament in product longevity-pretty sure this is one of the original Clarisonics! I’ve had this for probably 10+ years

Extra Extra

Of course, those products listed above aren’t the only things that I am trying out! I do have some other things that I am using but either haven’t nailed down a brand I like or just didn’t want to add to the list. I did get a silk pillow case for Christmas, so I’ve been sleeping on that and can tell a difference with my hair at the very least. I’m also trying to cut back on my processed sugar (again! I wish I would have never fell off that wagon!) and drink a shit load more water. I was doing pretty good at getting in at least a gallon a day before we left for vacation, but definitely slacked while we were away and haven’t managed to get back into the swing of it since being back home.

First things first though, eye treatments! The Fresh and Caudalie are both samples that I got with Beauty Insider points. I’m thinking of getting the Fresh in full size, but not 100% sold on it just yet. The First Aid Beauty eye balm is good, but I’ve had that container for a while and don’t really see too much difference when I use it regularly.

Face masks and eye masks are a total guilty pleasure of mine that I love to wear at least once a week. Those Sephora brand pomegranate eye masks are so refreshing and the smell is not over powering at all. I also love those Peace Out acne dots for healing stubborn cystic acne that I sometimes get.

Then we have my favorite brand of sunscreen, Sun Bum! I’ve been using them for a couple of summers now and I love that I can put it on if I start to burn a little and it doesn’t accelerate the burn! I’ve been trying to be more proactive about my sun care since really notice my sun damage on my face and worrying about skin cancer, and this one is light and non-greasy. Also in there is a little bottle of First Aid Beauty Cannabis and Oat facial oil. It came in a sampler set and I’m looking forward to trying it out. I also got a sample from the lovely associate at Sephora. Then I also have the mattifying gel, which I forget about all the time in my drawer. It really helps with oil production and I like to use it under my makeup sometimes.

And lastly, lip care. I love those sugar lip scrubs from Lush! They aren’t to harsh and you don’t have to worry about getting any in your mouth since they use good ingredients. Their Lip Service lip balm is nice because it doesn’t have a strong taste to it, so you aren’t compelled to lick it off your lips and make your dry lips worse. I also like the Burt’s Bees silver topped lip balm in a pinch too. However, my favorite lip balm of all time is Smith’s Rosebud Salve. This tropical one is nice and thick without being goopy and the original one is hands down the best lip balm I’ve tried. I’ve been able to find them at Sephora and Ulta stores.

 

So there you have it! A little on the long side for a post from me, but I’ll be checking back in next week with some more awkward selfies for you to see how this program is working out for me. I hope you like this post and find something helpful in all this mumbo jumbo!