Home Skin care Part I

Today I thought it would be nice to put up a fun home spa recipe for all to try.  I pulled out my mountain of papers and recipes and began to sift through looking for THE recipe of the day.  UGH!  Who makes these things up?!?  Either they have ingredients that wouldn't possibly be readily available in someone's home (seriously - who keeps dried yarrow on hand?).  Or they are recipes that I am convinced the author never tried on their own face but still decided to recommend it.....yikes!
For today I decided to change gears a little, let's talk about proper face care steps. 

These three steps should be done twice daily, make it your personal time, even if it is only 5-10 minutes that you get.
 Remember to include your neck in this process as it will age just as fast as the skin on your face and is often forgotten.

1. Cleanse: this will rid your skin of dirt, makeup and oils

2. Tone: this will close pores after they have been cleansed, making them appear smaller, toners also help to balance the pH of your skin.

3. Moisturize and sunscreen: to replenish and protect your skin

Let's talk about the daily routine and discuss a little further.  While you want to cleanse your face and rid it of the grime of the day you don't want to completely strip it twice a day of it's natural protection, also known as sebum.  Find a gentle cleanser that makes you feel clean without your skin feeling too tight and dry, the more harsh the cleanser the harder your skin will have to work to re-set to its proper pH causing more issues in the end.  A personal favorite of mine are cleansing milks.  I didn't like them at first because they weren't bubbly and I thought therefor not cleaning my face, but after a trial period of using them I realized that my face felt great, it was less dry and just felt nice to the touch after.

An example of cleansing milk

Toner is one of the great unsung heroes of skin care.  Although there are many ways toner can be formulated most toners help to close pores and re-balance pH which is very important for the health of your skin.  The healthy pH of skin is about 5.5 but cleansers usually have a more alkali pH so the skin needs to be re-set afterward so it does not go into overdrive.  When skin goes into overdrive the sebaceous glands work extra hard to re-coat your face sometimes they overshoot causing your skin to feel oily soon after washing your face, and who wants that to happen?  I like to put my toner into a little spray bottle for good coverage on my face and neck.

Toner in a spray bottle

Now the final step of your regular regimen, moisturizer.  A good skin appropriate moisturizer will help to cover and protect your skin from daily wear and tear.  Of course a sunscreen should also be used or a moisturizer with a sunscreen for daytime.  If you live in a cold climate you may find that a lighter moisturizer works better in the summer and a little bit of a heaver one helps in the winter.  Don't mistake oily skin for moisturized skin though and don't skip moisturizer in the summer just because your skin gets oily.

Moisturizer

There are always additional steps that can be done to further improve your skin and keep it looking young and healthy.  These things would not be done on a daily basis, maybe a couple of times per week but you will have to listen to your skin and its needs to really know.

They are:

Exfoliate

Steam

Mask

All of which can be done at home periodically which we can discuss in another post.

Bubble on my friends
~Your Soapsmith