The Art of Double Cleansing

So this is how washing my face usually went. 

Five minutes before bed I would use 2 pumps of my Aquanil cleanser, massage it around my face for 10 seconds fully expecting it to completely remove the 3 pounds of makeup that has been sitting on my skin all day, only to have a smeared imprint of my face transferred to my previously clean towel. 

Forget about my morning routine--pathetic. I would rinse my face off in the shower, maybe a splash of water in the sink-why use cleanser in the morning? Ummm sweat and oil maybe? 

*hangs head in embarrassment*

Thankfully that has all changed.  My half assed attempt at washing my face was definitely contributing to my acne problems. Duh. 

Double cleansing is basically washing your face twice, first with an oil based balm to remove dirt and oil. Remember "like likes like", meaning oil and water don't mix but oil will be attracted to oil and lift it (and any makeup including mascara) right off of your face. Who should do this? Anyone who wears makeup or sun protection. If you have oily skin, do not be afraid. Plant based oils will not clog your pores and are perfectly safe to use. However, I would stay far away from mineral oil. That will clog your pores. 

The second cleanse can be a gentle, non-foaming cleanser (such as Aquanil, Cetaphil, CeraVe etc.) and is done to remove anything that had not been removed with the first cleanse. You can almost consider it an insurance cleanse. 

So here is how it goes now. Since my skin still reacts to products it does not like, I have not found a balm that I love (although I hear Clinique has a fantastic one that I may give a looky loo to), so I use coconut oil for my first cleanse. I used to use olive oil but coconut  works better for me. Take the coconut oil (or whatever you are using) and rub it all over your face, all over your eyes to lift the eye makeup, all over your cheeks, neck, everywhere. Then take a warm, damp washcloth and wipe off all the oil, dirt and makeup. If you don't have a wash cloth (you should go buy some, they are cheap), you can use those little cotton rounds. Next I take a few pumps of my Aquanil, massage it into my skin and again using my wash cloth, wipe everything from my face. There should not be a trace of makeup or anything left on your skin. You should be left with truly clean skin. Slather on some moisturizer and call it a night! I have even started properly washing my face in the morning with cleanser and a wash cloth. If you are going away on vacation and do not want to pack an oil or balm along with your cleanser, that's fine-just cleanse your skin 2 times using the same cleanser. 

As long as you stick to gentle products, you will not over cleanse your skin-we want properly clean, not squeaky clean. 

Everyone should try this! 

Your face will thank you for it

and then you can thank me!

So you're welcome in advance.

Happy Weekend Kittens!

~Jessica~

Montagne Jeunesse Face Masque

OH HI!

As part of my new skincare regimen (that I still haven't told you about besides the retin a), I have decided to add some face mask's  to the mix. I love doing my yogurt mask but stopped that when I started using RetinA because I didn't want too much exfoliation going on.

During the sticky, humid summer, I decided I needed an clay mask to suck the sweat and oil out of my pores. Sounds sexy right?

I decided to try Deep Cleansing Clean-Up Mud with Aloe Juice for Blemish Prone Skin by Montagne Jeunesse. Sounds very fancy doesn't it? I found this in Stop&Shop. It cost $1.59 for .7 oz. I got about 4 uses out of it. I decided to try it because the ingredients were natural without anything that I wasn't familiar with.

Ingredients:

Aqua (purified water), Kaolin (natural clay), Hamamelis Virginiana (distilled witch hazel), Glycerin (plant origin), Illite (mediterranean clay), Bentonite (natural clay), Magnesium Aluminum Silicate (natural clay), Sea Salt (dead sea salt), Salix Nigra (willow)Bark Extract, Glucose (sugar), Romarinus officinalis (rosemary) Leaf Oil, Xanthan Gum (natural thickener), Allantoin, Aloe Barbadenis (aloe vera) Leaf Juice, Camellia Sinensis (green tea) Leaf Extract, Panax Ginseng, Root Extract, Oenothera Biennis (evening primrose) Flower Extract, Citric Acid, Lactoperoxidase (milk origin), Glucose Oxidase (sugar origin), Limonene.

I really liked it a lot-it made my skin super smooth and I did not breakout which is always a big plus!

I liked the clay masque so much, I decided to try a few more. I purchased Fruit Smoothie Deep Pore Cleansing Masque, also A Very Berry Ultra Moisturizing and Cleansing Masque. I have not tried them yet, however I did not read the ingredients list until I got home and unlike the Clay Masque, these two have fragrance and some colorants such as Red Lake added, so I'm not too sure about these two. I'm not particularly pleased and based on that info alone, I don't know if I would re-purchase. 

I am all for purchasing the higher end products and I believe everyone needs a good quality clay or charcoal mask as they draw out the impurities in your pores, however if your pocket can't handle the more expensive ones, then the Montagne Jeunesse Clean Up Mud is a really great buy. The jury is still out on the other two products. 

These products are manufactured in the UK and they have the Leaping Bunny symbol on them which means they do not test on animals. They are also approved by the Vegetarian Society, if that matters to any of you and they are also Green Approved. 

If you want to learn more about Montagne Jeunesse

Click Here

Until next time, 

~Jessica~