skincare 101

Since working at a make-up company, I've really tried harder to make sure my skin is being properly taken care of.  From drinking more water and quitting the tanning beds to purchasing products that are right for my skin, I've started a great regimen & I've noticed quite a bit of difference regarding my skin.

A few months ago, trying to balance a new semester, a job, going to the gym while trying to maintain a clean house and spending time with my husband,  I started to stress out (as I'm sure we all do at times!) I started to break out like crazy, and I began purchasing all these regimens and drugstore face washes and products that say they'll do the trick.  I was wrong.  It made it worse, and I began to use benzoyl peroxide like crazy and that only dried out my skin.  I was seriously getting anxiety from my breakouts!  I never break out that bad and so for me, it was traumatizing to say the least.

First of all, I bought some face wipes to make sure I was getting my make-up off completely.  I didn't want any trace of make-up left on my skin so I was sure my pores were able to breathe- every SINGLE pore. ha ha.  I use these face wipes and they are the BEST- they take off all make-up while exfoliating the skin as well. I love them!  They are super cheap, too.

I decided to finally (after many failed attempts) try to let my skin breathe and I stopped using lots of intense products.  I stopped using benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid and just started washing my face with Cetaphil.  And it actually started to clear up my skin.  I realized through this whole process that I didn't need a lot of intense products to help clear my skin.

I also started drinking more water and making sure to use lots of moisturizer.  I know people freak out when they use moisturizer and have oily skin, but really it's like putting water back into your skin- not oil.  Water is necessary for healthy skin and so moisturizer helps a LOT.  I use CeraVe and it is the best moisturizer I've used thus far.

I eventually decided to go to the dermatologist to see if there was any miracle product I was missing in my life.  He prescribed me Retin-A (and if any of you have ever used it, IT WORKS & IS a miracle product.)  It basically increases the cell turnover rate of your skin, so it clears out pores faster and strips away bacteria from your skin.  I started to use that and didn't see a tremendous result at first, but by the second or third week I was noticing a huge difference.

I also like to use an under eye cream to prevent any signs of wrinkles or aging (even though I'm only twenty and don't have wrinkles yet, prevention is extremely important!)  I love Bare Escentuals Renew and Hydrate eye cream and I've noticed a brighter and more hydrated under eye area- I also know it's helping prevent future wrinkles years down the road.

That's it!  My skin care routine, morning and night.

From using proactive to clean and clear to everything under the sun (and wasting tons of $$$), I finally realized what my skin needed.  I realize everybody's skin is different, but if you have really oily skin like me and nothing seems to be working, try backing off the intense products- for me it irritated my skin and made me break out worse.  Also, try Retin-A!  I was really surprised how well it worked and I won't ever stop using it. My skin now is 10 times better than it was a few months ago, and it feels softer and clearer than it has in months!  Yay for healthy skin!

Hope this helped some of you reading. :) xoxo