I receive a surprising amount of questions about what I do to take care of my skin on a regular basis. Why this is surprising is because so many people claim that I have “flawless” skin and that they’ve never noticed any break outs on my face before. As amazing as having flawless skin would be, this idea, especially for me, is a far shot from the truth. In fact, as I’ve spoke about before on this blog I have decently dry skin that tends to break out under certain conditions, and it can be a complete pain in the butt to deal with. Throughout the years, I have learned how to deal with this problem and how to treat my skin to minimize the break outs because let me tell you, getting dry eczema patches that won’t go away is stressful and it does not help with healing at all!
So today, I want to share with you some of the products that I use and some of the tips I have for skin care. Of course, this is just what I do for my skin care, it works for me, but everyone’s skin is different and your routine should vary depending on your skin type and how your skin reacts to different products.
Foundation
Covergirl Outlast 3 in 1 $6-$9 at your local drug store
Every morning, I wake up and apply my makeup. I don’t wash my face in the morning (I cleanse my face at night before bed); I just get up and apply my makeup. The foundation I use is Covergirl Outlast 3 in 1 in the shade of Classic Ivory. I am really lucky to have found a drug store brand foundation that I love and that matches my skin tone. Honestly, I luck out in the fact that I have a neutral skin tone so I don’t have to worry about undertones affecting the way foundation blends to my skin. Some people aren’t that lucky and foundation can make them look orange if it’s not the right foundation for their skin. I love this foundation because not only does it blend well and last all day, but it’s a 3 in 1 meaning that it is not just foundation it also has a primer and concealer to help with that overall blending and lasting coverage. This product is also spf 20, which is great for my fair, easily burning skin, but in the summer just as a precaution I usually mix it with some sunscreen before applying for some extra protection.
I apply my foundation using one squirt from the pump and using a Mineral Powder Brush, simply because it is one of my favorite brushes in my brush collection and is a good size for me.
Honestly, I should clean my brushes more often than I do. I currently clean my brushes once every month despite the fact I should probably be doing it once a week at a minimum. There is a lot of importance in cleaning your brushes since they can hold all the old makeup, oil, and bacteria for weeks on end until you clean them. This can cause your skin to break out more. I won’t go into details on how to clean your brushes, but I’ll link this video from Michelle Phan that has an amazing tutorial for cleaning brushes at home.
Concealer and other make up
For my concealer, I mostly use whatever I got my hands on when shopping at the drug store; however I am very excited to try the Urban Decay Naked Skin Weightless Concealer in the near future. Not only is Urban Decay a great brand and I trust their makeup for great coverage, lasting ability, and gentleness on skin, but it also comes in a variety of different shades for different skin tones. This means I am able to get a concealer specific for my neutral skin tone. I highly suggest that if you have a skin tone that makes finding foundation or concealer hard to find, checking out this product. They have shades for all colors of skin, light to dark, and for neutral or warm undertones.
Urban Decay Naked Skin Weightless Concealer $28 at Ulta
As far as other makeup goes, I don’t use any specific brands for eye shadow, mascara, or lip stick and it just depends on what I pick up or what’s on sale at Ulta at the time. Smashbox and Urban Decay are some of my favorite brands, but I also like some drug store brands as well, especially for mascara and eye liner.
Cleanser
At the end of each day, I wash my face using Garnier Clean Refreshing Remover Cleansing Towlettes to wash off my makeup and clean dirt my face. What I like about this product is that it is not just a makeup removal; it also removes dirt and revitalizes the skin. It also doesn’t leave my skin dry or oily after using which is always an added bonus.
Garnier Clean Refreshing Remover Cleansing Towelettes About $5 at your local drug store
I cannot stress how important it is to wash your face at night and to remove your makeup. Makeup that stays on overnight can clog pores and prevent your skin from breathing. This, believe it or not, can actually cause inflammation, redness, and premature aging of your skin. You don’t want that. So make sure, no matter what your skin care routine is, washing your face every night is part of that routine. Even if you don’t wear makeup, it’s important to clean your face to help get dirt out of your pores and keep your skin fresh.
Kukui Nut Oil
I’ve talked about Kukui Nut oil in my blog before. I use this product to moisturize my dry skin and help prevent acne and black heads. I use it once a day, usually a night after I shower, or twice a day when my skin is especially dry or breaking out. I only need to use three or four drops to cover my entire face and I focus mostly on the sides of my nose and my cheeks since those areas dry out easiest on my face. I find that this product helps keep my skin looking moisturized and soft all day, every day and I wouldn’t do without it. You can read more about Kukui Nut Oil in the blog I posted a few weeks ago.
Sugar Scrub
Once a week, I use a deep cleaning sugar scrub on my face to exfoliate my skin, remove all the dead skin from on top, deep
clean my pores, and achieve a real deep moisturizing effect. What I like about sugar scrubs opposed to salt scrubs or other exfoliations, is that you can feel it working as the sugar dissolves. Yes, that means it can be a little rough on your skin, but for me that means I know it’s doing something. But I promise you, despite the fact you can feel it working, it’s far from painful
and the as the sugar dissolves the oils leave your skin soft, smooth, and feeling brand new. It’s completely worth doing once a week.
I’ve been using a sugar scrub from the Hawaiian company Moku Pua, which is all natural and made in Hawaii. My favorite thing about this product is that I know where all the oils that are used came from, plus I actually know what each and every ingredient in this product is. If you want to learn more about the Moku Pua products, you can check out the blog I wrote reviewing some of the products I have used by them. They’re a great company and I highly suggest them.
Overall, this is basically all I do to conserve my skin. I don’t use any acne cleansers (any time I’ve ever used them my skin has dried out and it has taken weeks reverse) and I don’t use any actual moisturizing creams on my face. I try to use as close to natural products as I can on my face, foundation and cleanser aside and overall I am very pleased with my personal regiment.
This combination of products works really well for me, and it might work for you as well. Just keep in mind that everyone’s skin is different and we all react differently to different products.
I’d love to know what kind of products you use on your skin and what you think of them, so make sure to leave a comment below. I look forward to reading them!
Until next time,
Kat
Kat Classics 