When it comes to any beauty routine, different people have all kinds of different ways of doing things. There are routines, techniques and products that are known to be inherently better than others but, at the end of the day, it’s your own skin you should listen to. Your own skin – how it feels and how it reacts to what you are doing to it – is always the first place to start when wanting to change your routine, add in additional products or calm down / ‘reset’ skin that you’ve irritated.
Of course, if you suffer with a skin issue, such as acne, rosacea, excema etc, you should always take the advice of a doctor. When I am talking here of ‘reseting’ irritated skin or skin that’s had a breakout, I’m talking about skin that is normally healthy that you have simply caused to have a freak out because of too many actives or a skincare ingredient that your skin doesn’t like. Last week I left an acid-based peel treatment on my skin for too long because I got distracted. My skin was red, hot and stinging afterwards. I had to put some measures in place to calm this down and ‘reset’ my skin to what it was. I wanted to share a few tips with you on how to do this.
Pick your products carefully
What I did to my skin was essentially burn it. I damaged my skin barrier, opening my skin up to moisture loss and pollution. I had to carefully think about what I put on my skin next to calm the immediate flare up down, but also to reset my skin over a week to re-strengthen that skin barrier and get me back to where I was. There are so many skincare products on the market that trying to rank them all is impossible, even though I try to for you on a daily basis! What I will do here though is tell you about the ingredients you should be navigating towards in this situation and insist that you use no actives! There are so many essential skin rejuvenation products but, first and foremost, you are going to need to dig these out of your stash – a calming or soothing essence/lotion, that might contain things such as chamomile, aloe vera or licorice root extract for example; a healing antioxidant propolis serum/ampoule and a rich ceramide moisturiser to start to build up your skin barrier. Some of my recommendations are the Dermalogica Redness Relief Essence, the Origins Mega Mushroom Relief & Resilience Treatment Lotion, the Dr Jart Ceramidin Lotion, the Tosowoong Propolis Sparkle Ampoule, the COSRX Propolis Light Ampoule and the Dr Jart Ceramidin Moisturiser.
Give your skin a break
Most of us love makeup. It can let you express yourself, build up your confidence and embrace styles that you might not have ever expected. However, wearing makeup constantly isn’t the best for your skin – for example, you’re not allowing it to breathe and you are putting chemicals and formulas on it that might make it dry or irritated. It’s crucial that you take some time a couple of days a week at least, to just let your skin breathe without any products on it. It’s essential that you do not put makeup on your skin for a good few days after irritating it like I did, or if you have a bad breakout. Trying to cover up those spots will only make things worse. Give your skin some peace to heal. The only thing that should be on it is your basic skincare (see above), some spot patches (if a breakout) and your SPF.
Drink lots of water & take supplements
You might assume that the only way to look after your skin is to think carefully about what you put onto it, and sure, that’s a pretty significant part of it, but the truth is that what you put into your body can have an impact too. If you have an unhealthy gut, for example, this can have a terrible effect on your skin and appearance, which is why supplements that support your gut health are great for you. Make sure to read different supplement reviews such as the Gundry MD Active Advantage reviews in order to learn more about how you can help to better your gut health and therefore your skin. Drinking a lot of water can help hydrate your skin at a cellular level – when it’s absorbed into the bloodstream it hydrates the body overall. Not drinking enough water and being dehydrated will show on your skin also. Drinking a lot of water can help hydrate your skin at a cellular level – when it’s absorbed into the bloodstream it hydrates the body overall. Not drinking enough water and being dehydrated will show on your skin also.
You can see more of what i’m loving, and what i’m doing, over on my Instagram.