Skincare Saturday: Cleansing

It's Saturday night and you guessed it: I'm waiting for 48 Hour Mystery to come on. The problem is it's on at ten, and although I've been going to bed later for the last little while, I enjoyed one too many Vodka Soda's (with lime. always a lime. never a lemon) last night and am a tad tired.

Needless to say, my skin is dry today. Ever notice that the day after a night where you felt really pretty and really funny, your skin is lackluster and dry? It's because the alcohol removes water from your body, therefore taking away some of your skins hydration. Note: my mom's skin is always dry, you do the math. My combination skin proves that I have a good life balance of work and play. It's science.

I started taking good care of my skin when I graduated. All through high school and University I struggled with acne and it was awful. I was so self-conscious and would try a million different lotions, gels, and creams in attempt to have Jessica Simpson skin. Proactiv worked for Jessica Simpson. Proactiv did not work for me. B*tch.

My skin started to clear when I stopped trying to treat just the blemishes, and started taking care of my skin as a whole. I will never forget reading a magazine article on Hilary Duff - her number one beauty tip? Always take off your makeup before bed. I mentioned in an earlier post that I used to leave my makeup on, sometimes for days, in University. As soon as I was at home, that stopped. I made it a point to wash my face earlier on in the evening when I knew I wouldn't be going out after (even if it was 6pm). I found that if I left it until right before bed, I was always too tired (thanks Dad for passing down your fall-asleep-anywhere-anytime gene). Important to note: simply washing your face doesn't remove your makeup, even after using a cleanser there are still traces of makeup deep in your skin that can clog your pores. At night, I took off my eyemakeup and started using cold cream to remove my foundation before I washed my face, and the difference was remarkable.

The other thing that made a difference? Sticking to simple products. I am a sucker for beauty products, but I am very hesitant when it comes to skincare. I am uncomfortable buying anything to put on my face without researching and reading countless reviews, always fearing that my acne would come back. I don't like to push specific products too much as much as let you know what works for me, but I have no problem recommending Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser no matter what your skin type. Cetaphil is a soap free, PH balanced cleanser that can be used with or without water. It's not fancy, it doesn't smell like tangerine, and there are no promises of geisha skin. Cetaphil leaves your skin feeling soft and comfortable. I used to think that the tight feeling other cleansers left meant my skin was cleaner, but they were really harming my skin, causing it to produce more oil since I had stripped all of my natural oils away. I have been using this Cetaphil for 4 years now and it never disappoints. I've bought a couple new cleansers over the years and all are up for swap on MakeUpAlley - I just can't cheat on Cetaphil. The only time I wash my face with another product is when I exfoliate, which was reason number three of my skin turnaround.

Exfoliation is critical to good skin and should be done at least once a week, preferably more. If you are struggling with acne, very dry skin that flakes, or clogged pores and blackheads - regular exfoliation could be your savior. When you exfoliate, you remove a thin layer of dead skin cells that accumulate on your face throughout the day. All skin types can benefit from this, the trick is to pick the right one. I prefer gentle exfoliation using a facewash with smaller beads or particles to using one that feels like sandpaper on my face. I have a great love for three gentle exfoliators - Aveeno's Skin Brightening Daily Scrub, Philosophy's The Microdelivery Exfoliating Wash, and Dermalogica's Daily Microfoliant. The microfoliant comes in a powder form that reacts to the water on your hands and is so gentle on your skin, it is one of the very few products I repurchase over and over. If you are like one of my very good friends and enjoy it rough, Queen Helene makes an Oatmeal 'n Honey Natural Facial Scrub that will definitely satisfy. Queen Helene is found at Ulta stores in the US and it is so cheap and very effective. My all time favourite face mask (not the painful one) is their Mint Julep Masque, which is very, very popular. I'm going to do a post on facemasks at a later date, so I'll save my gushing on this mask for then.

Taking the time to learn about skincare and the importance of proper cleansing really made a difference for me. I stopped looking for fancy labels and stopped buying in to the promises that each product claimed. I don't like to buy high end facial cleansers- lotions and gels okay, but not cleansers. I have a hard time understanding how something that is rubbed on your face for thirty seconds and then washed off can make that much of an impact. Moisturizers, gels, and serums sink in to your skin and work throughout the night or day, but cleansers are washed off quickly. Save your money and invest in a nighttime Retinoid treatment instead (again, will cover that at another date).

My last tip to cleansing is to understand your own skin and your daily habits. For me, I wear foundation during the day and I am guilty of touching my face a lot. Understanding that simply using Cetaphil at the end of the day isn't going to remove all my makeup was a huge help. If you don't wear a lot of foundation, your cleanser may do the job, but if you do, using a cold cream or makeup remover before you cleanse will really help; it will allow the your lotions and creams to get into the deeper layers of your skin instead of sitting on top of left over makeup. I am not suggesting to rub eye makeup remover all over your face. I used Ponds Cold Cream [yes, the classic cold cream] and I loved it. I am currently using Bioderma's Sensibio to take off my foundation before Cetaphil, and its great as well. You can definitely use these in place of your regular cleanser, I just found better results with using them at night to take off my makeup, followed by Cetaphil.

Obviously this is not my entire skincare routine, but cleansing is the first and most important step when taking care of your skin. If you don't cleanse properly, your other products won't work as well because they wont be able to get as deep [that's what she said]. Next week comes toning which isn't a common step in a lot of skincare routines, but can also help your other products to work more efficiently.

Its 9:21pm and I've done my nightly routine, am drinking The Skinny [had a big dinner], and am settled in for 48 hours Mystery. My mom has notified me that she is vacuuming so she won't hear her phone, but she'll be finished by ten to join me for the show.

Sweet Dreams... XxLM


PS - I'm guest writing a post for my friends site Mommy Brain, it's amazing and follows her journey as a new mom. Obviously a topic in which I have a black belt of experience.