The Ultimate Secret to Better Skin
Are you really caring for your skin? What do you use in your skin care regime? What brands and products? Do you use a serum? Coconut oil? Makeup remover wipes?! There are SO MANY brands and products out there and so many opinions as to what the best ones are. But many people have amazing skin, all of which using a different skin care regime. Although the particular products do have a large impact on the skin's health, it's more about caring for your skin in a way that allows it to heal itself naturally the way our bodies are meant to.
The actual "secret" to great skin is washing your face and neck before going to sleep. And the truth is that it's no secret at all! We all know that washing our makeup off at night is good for our skin, and yet, we choose not to. I have been doing some experiments on my own skin as well as asking others about their skin care habits and have concluded that as long as you wash off your makeup before bed, your skin will be in much better condition.
The reason is simply this: the human body does the most "repair" while the brain and body sleeps, including the largest organ of the body, the skin. However, when you have makeup left over from the day before, your skin is not able to properly recuperate after an entire day's damage from the sun, caffeine, sugar, bacteria (think about all the bacteria transferred from your hands by touching your face AND YOUR CELL PHONE), and general free radicals that your skin is in contact with throughout each and every day.
Makeup acts as a barrier to all these damaging factors. The layer of makeup on our faces absorbs all the bacteria and toxins that your skin expels, as well as the bacteria, toxins, and free radicals that come into contact with your face all day, every day. If you don't wash that layer of bacteria off the skin then it sits there all night while you sleep, denying the skin cells much needed recuperation. Your skin is a living, breathing organism that needs tender loving care. And although you might wash your face before adding a fresh layer of makeup for the day, many don't realize that their skin is in dire need of fresh air, sleep, relaxation and recuperation. It needs time to properly heal itself. And it hurts me to say that almost every single client I’ve had as a makeup artist had dehydrated skin the first time I analyzed their face before doing their makeup (yes, if I’ve done your makeup, I analyzed your skin and checked your level of dehydration).
In my self experiment I used multiple regimes, multiple brands and products on my skin on different days and different times of the day. But I did NOT wash my face at night, only before adding a fresh layer of makeup for the day. My skin was not looking great. Some acne, bumps, blackheads, dryness, etc. My poor skin!
So I began washing my face at night. NOTHING ELSE CHANGED (besides my sheets and pillow cases, which are also infested with the bacteria that you transfer from your face by not washing before bed, in case you didn’t know that or just needed a reminder) and... after one week of washing my face every night, my skin looked so much better! Not only did the acne clear up but my skin just looked healthier - softer and more firm! After two weeks my boyfriend even told me that my skin looked better “all of a sudden”.
I decided to ask 18 other women about their skin care habits - I did not personally analyze any of these women’s skin, just asked them to answer some quick questions and looked at their skin from a short distance. I concluded that although each of the participants in my questioning uses different products and routines, the ones who claimed to wash their faces before bed have better looking skin, in my opinion, than most of those who said they didn't wash before bed.
Now there are, of course, some gray areas which I will BRIEFLY touch on. There are cases of women and men having bad skin (acne, bumpiness, dryness, oiliness, redness, etc.) but wash their faces both morning and night. Cases alike are due to other issues, some examples are bad health habits in general (dehydration, diet, smoking etc.), or many medications can have an impact on the skin. There are many factors that can cause a difference in the skin's health. I just read a very interesting article about what your skin is trying to tell you, and it can be found HERE.
Your skin is a two-way barrier that transports loads of bacteria, both good and bad, from inside and outside the body. It absorbs and expels. All the products you put onto the skin have ingredients that are absorbed within seconds, and your body uses the skin to rid bacteria in the form of blemishes. All acne is is bacteria clogging a pore in the skin. That pore becomes inflamed from bacteria and filled with white blood cells that are working hard to fight the bad bacteria. This is why we're not supposed to pop or even touch our blemishes - those white blood cells are our bodies' way of combating that bacteria and it's waste, and we continue to squeeze those white blood cells out of the infected pore and while doing so, ADDING more bacteria from our hands, fingers and face surface to the already infected pore making the healing process even longer! Below is a skin diagram that shows normal, healthy pores as well as pores with blackheads, whiteheads, papule, postule, and ingrown hairs (found this diagram on google images).
Basically, the number one thing you should be doing to improve your skin is washing it before bed. With or without makeup. Washing off the day’s damage will greatly enhance your skin’s health and overall internal glow. If you would like to discuss your skin care habits and combat your skin problems together, contact me and we can set up an appointment to get you on the right track to beautiful skin. Below is a list of the products I personally use on my skin.
My skin care brands/products:
Eye Makeup Removers: Kirkland Organic Coconut Oil, Sephora waterproof makeup remover
Face Cleansers: Make Up For Ever Gentle Milk, Kiehl's Washable Cleansing Milk (discontinued), Arbonne FC5 Hydrating Cleanser + Freshener
Toners: Make Up For Ever Cool Lotion, Kiehl's Ultra Facial Toner, witch hazel
Eye Creams: Arbonne FC5 Hydrating Eye Créme, Arbonne RE9 Advanced Corrective Eye Créme
Moisturizers: Arbonne FC5 Nurturing Day Lotion Broad Spectrum SPF 20, Kiehl's Ultra Facial Moisturizer, Arbonne FC5 Moisturizing Night Créme, Arbonne RE9 Advanced Age-defying Neck Cream, Kirkland Organic Coconut Oil
*my Pinterest account has images of these products
I DO NOT use all these at the same time, or even in the same day. I change my routine within these products because I like all of them and see the benefits they provide for my skin. I’m sure many of you have heard the myth that new products make your skin break out because they are ridding your skin of all the toxins by bringing everything to the surface… well… it’s called a myth for a reason ;)
I hope you enjoyed this read as much as I enjoyed writing it! And if you know someone who complains about their skin, share this post with them!
<3KL
