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~

Airbrush Foundation

I am a foundation whore!

And a restaurant whore but that is another post. 

The one product that I am constantly searching for my holy grail is foundation. I switch and sample different foundations constantly! I have tried, in the past few months alone:

• Eve Pearl-very heavy coverage, texture bordering on oily and clung to any dryness which is not good while you are using Retin-A. 
• Paula's Choice-very good product, full of good skin stuff but I never got around to ordering online. 
• Kevyn Aucoin- I love this line but I really disliked this product. The Skin Enhancing Foundation is definitely not for me and the main ingredient is mineral oil, which will break you out in a blink. 
• RCMA-Fabulous product and in my opinion, the best professional foundation there is. RCMA is made using vegetable oils and waxes with nearly 50 percent pigment, which means high coverage while using less product. RCMA foundations contain no perfumes, animal extracts, mineral oils or lanolin.  
• Makeup Forever- My go to foundation but still not Holy Grail status, still, highly recommended. I also love their Face and Body Foundation, however it is so heavily perfumed, I refuse to wear it on my face. 
• L'Oreal-another really good product, especially for a drugstore brand. It is very reasonable so you can purchase a few different shades to mix and match. This is also a fall back foundation for me. 

I am constantly searching online and then going to Sephora to get samples to try before I buy. It is the one product that if I find and love it, I will stick with it for years. But I have to love it. 

Foundation, unlike color products, have 1 main function: to make your skin look the absolute best it can possibly look by evening it out and covering imperfections. With color cosmetics, you tend to switch colors according to your mood and the occasion. You can purchase a bunch of different color lipsticks, eye shadows, blush etc and they can all look fabulous on you but with foundation, you have to match it perfectly to your skin tone so usually, you are choosing only one-maybe two if you are adventurous with your contouring and blending. Plus, it is the foundation of your look, so it has to be the right texture with the right amount of coverage.

*Quick Tip* You should have a foundation that you use in the spring/summer months and one you use in the fall/winter months, due to changes in skin and weather. 

So after seeing a few makeup artist use airbrush makeup without an airbrush machine, I decided to try it for myself. Now I know that some of you airbrush aficionados are probably freaking out but I am a rebel like that and there are no makeup police here. At least not today.

Airbrush makeup has a completely different texture than regular foundations. It is really thin with a very watery consistency. The way airbrush makeup works is instead of applying foundation with a brush or a sponge and blending it into your skin, the makeup passes through a machine creating a very fine mist, hence the watery consistency, and evenly sits on your skin creating that flawless, airbrushed look that everyone is always chasing. You can control the pressure of the mist with the airbrush dial. 

So applying airbrush makeup without a machine took a few tries for me to figure out what worked best. Two different techniques worked well for me so I combined them together. First is with my very clean fingers. I apply 1 drop to the back of my hand and apply to the skin. This stuff dries pretty much on contact so you have to work fast. I work in sections and use 1 drop per section. 1 drop for cheeks, 1 drop for chin, nose and forehead. It should take around 2-3drops to cover the whole face. The second is putting a drop on a flat foundation brush and again working in sections, patting it onto the skin. I do both, first applying with my fingers and then taking a drop on the brush and patting wherever needs more blending or more coverage. I wouldn't even attempt using a sponge, the foundation would just be sucked up into the sponge and wasted. 

The makeup that I used is Dinair and I must say, Dinair's customer service is fantastic! You can send them a photo of yourself and they will match your skin to the proper foundation color. They then keep you informed every step of the way so you know exactly where your product is from packaging to delivery. This product works well for me because of the formulation. It is not heavy at all, therefore it does not settle into fine lines or pores. It just looks like skin. I know all foundation should just look like skin but I feel like this gives you a better version of your own skin. Foundations in general, should even out your skin tone, cover imperfections and create a smooth texture to your skin, however sometimes it can make your skin look older by magnifying wrinkles and pores. This just does not do that at all. If it looks this good with applying it in an unconventional way, I could just imagine what it would look like if I applied it properly. So this has made me really consider investing in an airbrush machine or at the very least one of those spray foundations in a can.

I give Dinair and applying airbrush makeup without a machine 2 thumbs up! 

Try it out and tell me what you think! 

Until next time kitty cats!

Spoiler Alert-September Birch Box Reveled

Look what's here!!

Yay! My favorite time of the month-BirchBox time!

So these are the goodies that I received this month:

As you can see, very generous sized samples!

• Davines Sea Salt Spray
• Elizabeth Arden Beautiful Color Lip Gloss in Precious Petal
• Ruffian Nail Lacquer in Fox Hunt
• Paula's Choice Resist BHA 9 ~what a coinkydink, no?
• Pearly Wipes Clean Up Your Kisser

So I would say on a scale of 1-10 this box is a 5/6. I'll explain why.

First, I have never used a sea salt spray for my hair, I would've probably loved to have tried this at the beginning of or mid-summer but coming into fall, I am picturing a little more sleekness in my hair styles. Also, the products in the box had a bit of salt on them so I am wondering how this is going to work in my hair. 

I will follow up on this one for all you kitties that are waiting on the edge of your seats. 

I am quite excited about the Elizabeth Arden lip gloss, it is a gorgeous shade of pink with a heavy dose of gold shimmer in it. This gloss looks like it was made for me and me thinks gold makes everything look better! Next, the nail lacquer is ok-I don't generally get worked up over polish as I never do my own nails. The Paula's Choice BHA 9- one of my favorite products but I have a full bottle of it-maybe I will pass this one to my momma. Finally, the Pearly Wipes--wiping your teeth is not exciting at all. Enough said.  

So I will let you all know how these products work out for me. Maybe I will find a Holy Grail product in the mix! 

We shall see~

Until next time, 

Big Kisses to All!!

Paula's Choice and Skinetica

Oh hello there pretty kitties!

Just a heads up-this is going to be a long one. 

Regular readers of this blog know that I am fanatical about protecting my skin with the proper sun protection and that I treat my skin with my favorite acids-AHA's and BHA's. You would also know that I have very reactive skin and struggle with breakouts. 

I have recently upped my skincare game to include Retin A (this will be a separate blog post) and a topical antibiotic to help banish the breakouts and generally improve the health of my skin. At the same time that I started this new skincare regime, I had discovered an AMAZING blog written by Caroline Hirons (carolinehirons.com) that has changed the way that I take care of my skin. All of this will be a separate blog post as there is just too much to write.

What I do want to tell you about are two products that you may be interested in trying. 

The first one is from Paula's Choice (paulaschoice.com). Reasons I love Paula's Choice: good products with good, quality ingredients, very reasonably priced, fragrance free, you can try it before you buy it, and she takes on the big named companies who sell sub par products with basic ingredients at ridiculously expensive prices. 

So earlier this year, Paula's Choice rolled out their Resist BHA 9 for Stubborn Imperfections.

Click here to read my post on BHA's

Now usually the highest strength you can find for a BHA product is 2%. The good folks at Paula's Choice have managed a 9% formulation that is very gentle on the skin. The texture of this product is like a serum bordering on an oil. I am on my 2nd bottle of this product, however I had to stop a few month's ago as per doctor's orders, when I started using the Retin-A. According to Paula's Choice website, Resist BHA 9 is effective for: Acne Breakouts, Anti-Aging, Blackheads, Brown Spots, Enlarged Pores, Keratosis Pilaris, Redness, Rosacea, and Wrinkles. 

It:

• Reduces clogged pores-Yes
• Diminishes enlarged pores-Yes
• Reduces white bumps (milia)-Not Sure
• Minimizes flesh-colored bumps (sebaceous hyperplasia)-Yes
• Softens rough, dry, and flaky skin-Yes
• Calms redness and irritation-Yes
• Fades marks from past breakouts-Yes
• Reduces wrinkles and fine lines-Yes
• Dissolves stubborn blackheads-Nope
• Clinically proven non-irritating-Definitely non-irratating
• 100% fragrance free, no added dyes-Yes
• No animal testing
• Reduces Breakouts-Yes

Pros: A well formulated product that definitely makes a difference in the skin's appearance and helps with controlling breakouts.

Cons: Very expensive for a Paula's Choice product. $36.95 for .3 oz. That is not a lot of product.  

This product confused me at first. It was touted as a spot treatment, however my blemishes, wrinkles, pores, etc are located on all different parts of my face so I was applying it all over as a full face treatment. The original pump sucked. This was being marketed as a spot treatment but the pump only pumped out a full face pump. They seem to have gotten that in order with their New Precise Control Pump so you can use it any way that benefits you. 

This is definitely worth a try if you have any skin imperfections. You can purchase a sample to try it first before committing. I tried the sample first and didn't see any major changes until 1/2 way through the sample bottle. 

The next product I've found, I am on the fence about. 

I found Skinetica (http://www.skinetica.co.uk/) while snooping around online and decided to give it a whirl. The reviews looked good and the price was right-around $21 USD. This product ships from the UK.

According to the website, it is:

•    anti-blemish skincare treatment~  for the removal of acne, spots, pimples, blemishes, blackheads and whiteheads
•    a Super Toner – removes virtually all skin impurities
•    a Base to Foundation – prevents make up running even in hot climates

•    With visible results in 2-3 days and no side effects

•    No harsh chemicals, non-toxic, non staining, non greasy and can be used under make-up

•    Safe for all skin types and all areas of the body

It claims to "kill 99.99% of P.Acnes Microbes without using toxic chemicals". The technical explanation from the website is:

 As Skinetica air dries after being applied to the skin, it forms a molecular matrix, attached to the skin surface, which consists of very sharp pointed molecules. P.Acnes microbes cells are negatively charged, whereas the Skinetica molecules carry a positive charge, and when in close proximity the two are electrostatically drawn together. The Skinetica molecule being sharp like a sword, penetrates the outer cellular wall of the microbe, thus killing it. The medical name for this process is “lysis”. 

The ingredients list is short:  purified water, ethyl alcohol (only 18%), fragrance (BOOO-we no likey fragrance in our facial products), quaternary ammonium compound. 

So basically, you would use this product twice a day after you cleanse your skin, just like a toner (this product is a liquid- It is thin like water). Apply to a cotton round (I feel you lose too much product with a cotton ball) and swipe all over your face, neck, hairline, chest, back-wherever you may have a blemish. 

One thing I noticed while reading the online reviews, either people loved it and described it as a miracle product or they didn't see a difference. There was very little in between. After using this for a few weeks, I did not feel it did anything for my breakouts, existing or preventive. It definitely made my skin look and feel much more soft and conditioned in the morning but blemishes were still present and did not disappear, especially within the 3 day time frame. Once Retin A came on the scene, I put this on the shelf for about a month or so. I am now back to using it and like it much better the 2nd time around. My face is much clearer than it has been in a while but I am not sure if Skinetica has anything to do with it or if it is the result of the Retin A/Antibiotic combination. Either way, I am not sure if I will be repurchasing this when the bottle runs out. 

So there you have it! 

Please feel free to post any questions in the comment section below and I will answer as best I can. 

Until next time!

Have a safe Labor Day weekend!

~Jessica~

DIY Sweet Body Scrub

Oh hiii kittens!

 It seems that everyone really enjoyed the DIY yogurt mask post from a few weeks back, so I will try to post more of those for you.

Here is one more thing that you can try at home:

Mix some sugar together with a little olive oil, jump in the shower and scrub away! You will emerge all smooth, glowy and polished. 

Some TIPS:

White sugar, like the kind yo momma used to keep in her cubbard, works better than the raw turbinado sugar that I now keep in my cubbard. Also, this works best if you do this while your skin is still dry, scrub for about a minute or two all over and then rinse off and continue with your regular cleansing routine. 

Keep in mind, your tub will be slippery due to the oil-so be careful!

You can also do this with any combination of the following: salt, shea butter, coconut oil, grapeseed oil, jojoba oil, avocado oil, vitamin e, lemon.

I do this once or twice a week. Happy scrubbing and tell me what you think. Let me know what kind of DIY skincare post you would like to see.