Facial Skincare Routines?

[reneenee]

I use Cetaphil cleanser to clean and removed makeup. I also use skinscueticals Retexturing serum, then apply a retina-a complex solution that I bought at a plastic surgeons office (where I also get facials every 2months). Since last October I have used the retina-a on my skin every night. I also get flakey skin in the morning and I exfoliate on most days. I alternate between a gentle exfoliating gel (with AHAs) and an Olay battery operated power brush (with Cetaphil). Being in my early 40's I am convinced that using a retina-a or retinol product on most nights is key to help turn over the skin cell process that has naturally slowed down with age.

[Megan Claydon]

baking soda and coconut oil is all I use.

If I'm feeling fancy I will add drops of essential rose oil to the mix. Skin has never been better!

[MyWar]

My acne was much worse in my teens and early 20's, but now that I'm 28 things have calmed down a bit. I mostly just get hormonal acne around my mouth before my period. Even with bangs, my forehead stays amazingly clear. The only thing that has worked consistently for me is Dr. Bronner's tea tree soap and my Clarisonic. On the recommendation of a friend, I picked up Trader Joe's Spa Facewash with tea tree oil, and it's awesome. I follow it up with TJ's Enrich moisturizer and it's perfect. I use Origins GinZing eye cream in the morning, and their Eye Doctor cream at night. Once a week I do the Origins charcoal mask, which has been great too.

[DocIKY]

I "wash" & exfoliate with oil/sea salt.

Fresh lemon juice is a fantastic toner and will clear up a break out in a day or two.

Used to have a cabinet full of fancy creams and moisturizers and now just a little jar of coconut oil replaces them all.

My skin no longer breaks out, it's soft, wrinkles around my eyes are less noticeable, and my friends want to know my secrets!

If you're looking to go natural I highly recommend this book: Clean body, The humble art of zen cleansing yourself.

From Amazon:

Clean Zen, clean green! Clean Body follows the successful Clean: The Humble Art of Zen-Cleansing, by cleaning guru Michael DeJong. As with the first book, this is not merely about washing away the dirt: it embodies a mindset, a philosophy, an alternative to mass consumerism. DeJong draws from Eastern belief systems—especially the element theory in Chinese medicine and Asian cooking—and harmoniously balances five pure essentials in his recipes, using baking soda, lemon, olive oil, salt, and white vinegar as the basis for his all-natural concoctions. Including special, separate sections for men and women, Clean Body has ideas for everything from facial exfoliants and natural aftershave to moisturizers and creams for itchy skin, discolored knees, and smooth feet. EVERY part of the body, from head to toe, is covered.

Show more

Show less

[amyjo]

I've also dealt with acne--was on Accutane in college, Retin-A was definitely too drying for me. I'm having really good luck with Olay Prox Clear lately--I just use it once a day, in the morning, and then remove my makeup with Kirkland wipes at night.

[Sarah Snyder]

x2 for the oil cleansing method! It's dirt cheap and you can modify the oil combination for your needs. I suffered with acne as a teenager and that retin-A can do a number on your skin! I always thought my skin was really oily until I had a facial and the esthetician told me my skin was really dry and over-compensating by producing too much oil. I started using more heavy duty moisturizers (even including oil!) after that and felt a real difference. I think the suggestions given for tapering down the retin-A are great, as it will allow you to determine if you need to keep it for now but at a lower dose.

I also use Miessence certified organic (as in, food grade quality) skin care products (other than the cleanser b/c I love OCM so much). This stuff is pretty amazing so I became a rep for them. Between OCM and Miessence, my skin has never been better, and I'm 33! I don't come on here to sell stuff but please do let me know if you're interested and I can get you some samples/information. No hard sell, I promise. =)

[relliott]

I'll put in another plug for coconut oil as a moisturizer. I've been using it for a few months now and the other day someone actually said my skin was 'glowing' - not something I've ever been told before. I have also switched to washing with honey and baking soda on a Clarsonic and my pores are clearer than ever. I'm in my early 40's and I had been using expensive 'wrinkle creams' for crows feet but I feel with this routine my skin looks at least as good if not better than before. Cheap, chemical free, and effective - not many things you can say that about!

[lulucandoit!]

baking soda and coconut oil is all I use.

If I'm feeling fancy I will add drops of essential rose oil to the mix. Skin has never been better!

I love rose anything! Would you share how do you use the baking soda? It would definitely help make things more alkaline but I'm not sure how to use it.

[Megan Claydon]

@lulucandoit : It's just a simple mix of about 2:1 coconut oil and baking soda plus a few drops of essential oil(depending on how big of a bottle I'm making). I love it and will never go back to purchasing face wash again!

[Robin D]

The signal best thing that helped my skin was getting pregnant. No lie. Obviously, that's kind of an extreme measure to go through in order to work out your skink problems, but I thought I'd throw that out there!

Once my period returned (I went from January 2011- October 2012 without it) I had little while where my really nasty cystic acne seemed to start rearing it's ugly head again (which makes sense if you think about it; my acne was definitely hormone related and there was an adjustment to my hormones when I was pregnant and breastfeeding) The two things that seemed to help were going back on Retin-A and reducing the amount of dairy I was eating. Obviously when I was doing my Whole30 I wasn't eating any dairy, and that did help my skin, but I found Retin A really made a huge difference. I also have to apply moisturizer to my skin after using Retin A, especially in the winter!

[brizi]

I too use coconut oil as a moisturizer. I put it on every night and just feel so much butter using it. Also put it all over my body not just on my face. I've never had acne issues, but I've always had crazy dry skin and rashy issues and the coconut oil really seems to help.

[simonec]

i like to dry brush my body...i'd like to try dry brushing my face as well, but need a separate brush for that, and i oil cleanse once or twice a week, for my face. i use coconut oil as a moisturizer for any and all dry areas. i never had really bad acne even as a teenager, but i have large pores and do get occasional breakouts, however, and the oil cleansing seems to work great at getting the gunk out of my pores.

[lauramarie]

I started breaking out at the ripe age of 22 and haven't looked back since. I've been on numerous medications, topical and otherwise. I'm currently 28 and my skin is looking FANTASTIC for the first time in a long, long time. Here's what I do:

• Clarisonic - I absolutely recommend investing in one of these. It's the only thing that really cleans out the gunk in my pores - and I have some crazy deep pores. And my skin feels like a baby's bum afterwards which is really nice.
  
• Dermalogica brand - I believe that certain products are worth their luxury item price and this is one of them. I'm currently using the normal/dry skin starter kit and I LOVE IT! Great face wash, toner, moisturizer and eye cream. I use all products once in the morning and once at night
  
• Jojoba oil - Best. find. ever. A tiny bottle of this will clean off your eye makeup, mix well with your face wash to breakdown leftover makeup on your skin and gives you a dewy finish when combined with lotion. This is particularly great for sensitive skin. A little bottle will last you forever.
  

I'm also on the nuvaring which I'm quite sure as helped tremendously.

[KristiW30]

I make a face scrub that is a combination of olive oil, sugar, honey, and lemon zest (I use it on my body too). As a moisturizer I use coconut oil. Witch hazel I use as a toner. I am going to try the above mentioned coconut oil and baking soda combination it seems like a better face scrub than my sugar concoction which can be a bit harsh on my face. Thanks for the tips ladies!

[annnewjerz]

Just piggybacking on what a few others have posted about using coconut oil on your face. I've suffered from acne starting in my early teens and through my whole adult life so far (I'm 28). It's not horrible anymore, but on any given day I definitely have multiple blemishes. For the past few years I've been using Neutrogena Grapefruit Face Wash and Neotrogena Healthy Skin moisturizer / Burt's Bees undereye cream for fear of a break-out if I tried something new. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, so to speak.

About a week ago when researching why I felt so sick after eating straight coconut oil, I started to read about positive effects it has on skin. So, over the weekend I started putting it on before bed. It made my skin feel so soft. Today I woke up and my skin looked a little glowy --- something I've NEVER experienced before without a highlighter makeup pen. And my acne was better than it has been in a few weeks. A fine line under my eye seemed less visible. At work today, someone asked me if I switched foundations because she said my skin looked so radiant. Whaaaat?!

So, from now (or until I get some serious break-out as a result of using it) on I'll spend $8 on a jar of coconut oil that'll last forever compared to $15 on a little bottle of moisturizer that I go through monthly.

I'm thinking I'll try a coconut oil mask on my hair tonight. Shinier hair never hurt anyone, after all.

[annnewjerz]

@lulucandoit : It's just a simple mix of about 2:1 coconut oil and baking soda plus a few drops of essential oil(depending on how big of a bottle I'm making). I love it and will never go back to purchasing face wash again!

Megan --- I guess this wouldn't be something those of us up North can make until summer, right? My coconut oil has been solid since I first started purchasing it in October of last year. I can't imagine being able to make it with solid oil, but I could be wrong! Maybe heat it up enough to melt, add the baking soda and then let it solidify again?

[Robin Strathdee]

Megan --- I guess this wouldn't be something those of us up North can make until summer, right? My coconut oil has been solid since I first started purchasing it in October of last year. I can't imagine being able to make it with solid oil, but I could be wrong! Maybe heat it up enough to melt, add the baking soda and then let it solidify again?

Yep, just warm it gently (I run my closed jar under hot water for a little while).

I have drier skin, so I've taken to using 2/3 coconut oil and 1/3 cocoa butter on my face and hair. The extra oomph of the cocoa butter makes all the difference.