Summer Skin 101: Get that GLOW.
Summer Skin 101
Want bright, fresh, summer-skin?? You might be much closer to it than you think!
My skin used to suck like, all of the time. When I wanted to achieve the glowy look, I would run straight to a new foundation that offered extra moisture, or a glow-like finish. Most of the time, I looked more like an oil slick than a girl with pretty, fresh skin. Annnnd with breakouts to boot. I realized that me achieving the glowy-look would take way more than one foundation application. No bueno. The facts:
I’m acne prone.
I’m dry.
I’m a big-pored girl.
And I’m mad about it.
However, after years of playing with COUNTLESS combinations of products to correct my skin-drama, it plateaued. I’m not entirely sure its because I found the right combo or more that I let it SETTLE and started getting educated about what was going on down in all of those rambunctious pores and lines on my face. I realized that:
I was using SO many products at once and came at my skin-issues from SO many angles, that I had no idea what might actually be working and what was possibly just clogging my pores more.
I NEVER exfoliated. Ever. I bought into this lie that because I had dry skin, exfoliating it would only make my dryness worse. And in tune, make me AND my zits a flake-fest. Barf.
After a reality-check with a brilliant friend, (with brilliant skin, mind-you) she caught me up to speed. I learned that Exfoliating would be the BEST way to achieve that GLOW. Exfoliating causes:
Acne and Breakouts to cut back, uhhh-lot:
Acne-prone skin sheds extra skin cells more than other type of skin, but the cells don’t fall off. Yuck. Instead, they stick to the skin, clogging pores and hair follicles. As this dead cells build, the skin produces excess oils—which leads to breakouts, blemishes and tiny face demons. Think of regular exfoliation as a deep-clean. And if you do it once or twice weekly, your acne will cut down substantially.
Large Pores start to SHRINK:
It’s great to think that washing your face will remove all of the dirt and grime from deep within your pores. But it really doesn’t. When your pores aren’t being cleaned appropriately, they get clogged and appear way larger. Obvi, nobody wants this. By deep-cleaning your pores, it actually allows them to shrink. And smaller, cleaner pores means a cleaner, brighter, glow-ier face.
Better texture/brightness:
Exfoliating dead cells speeds up the skin’s renewal process, allowing new healthy cells to come front and center. This takes your complexion from dull and dry to bright, smooth, young and fresh! And if you needed more reason to hit the exfoliator, doing it regularly reduces fine lines and wrinkles and keeps your skin softer than normal.
Extras:
Lastly, once your pores have been deep-cleaned and your dead-skin cells have been sloughed away, your face will actually absorb and embrace any serum, moisturizer or product that you apply to it. Think about it. More stuff fits in your closet once you clean out the junk!! I LOVE applying my anti-aging serum after I exfoliate because I know that it’s actually getting into the areas that it’s supposed to, and doing work on my pre-handbag skin.
Exfoliating masks are my FAVE. They feel good, they make you look good, and it feels so tween-ish to watch the E! Network with a mask on my face. Some of my favorites are:
Glam-glow: Powerful skin-clearing mud draw out dirt and oil like crazy. And you can VISIBLY watch it happen. It’s both startling AND awesome. Available online, at Sephora for $70 ish OR at Costco for $35. Cha-ching!
Bjore Self-heating One minute mask: This mud mask is thermal. Which means it heats up right when you apply it, it draws out dirt and oil, then 60 seconds later, (after a quick rinse,) you’re left with a cooling-tingly sensation. (A good one.) Drugstores, $6-7.
There are many many more, but those are my two faves!! When in doubt, go with a clay option.
Start exfoliating now and say hello to fresher, brighter, SUMMER SKIN!!
Xx
