Create
A Clean canvas

Need some tips on skin care for your skin type? How about tips for skin care that helps your makeup go on easily and look its best? Here are some of my top suggestions for you!

When you’ve been in the beauty industry for five years as a makeup artist, you naturally start to gain a strong respect for your starting canvas, the skin. It’s our largest organ! We should be taking care of it. Before I jump into product suggestions, there are a few lifestyle changes you need to consider that personally helped me reach where I am today with my skin.

What worked for me

Growing up, I always had excessively oily and acne-prone skin. I was called “mountain face” by even my best of friends. This is probably where my love for makeup evolved. I’ve always been artistic, but having beautiful skin with lovely makeup was something that seemed out of reach for me. When I turned 18, I stopped tanning, started using a regular skin regimen morning and night, started working out at least four times a week, upped my water intake drastically, stopped drinking soda and, for two whole years, I rarely-to-never drank alcohol.

That, my friend, is when I noticed a huge shift for the better in my complexion, hair and overall body. It wasn’t a miracle product; it wasn’t facials or trips to the dermatologist. It was a lifestyle overhaul.

From my personal experience, I truly believe that lifestyle changes equal lifelong results, while skin care products (mostly) maintain and balance your pH levels. Don’t get me wrong, there are lots of reparative products out there. And if you want to spend a pretty penny on the best of the best, you will see some amazing results. But start with the basics.

Obviously, we all need a great cleanser and moisturizer for morning and night. Moisturizing is the number one step you should never skip in your regimen! And for all the pesky skin conditions we wish to treat, such as redness, rosacia, acne, sun spots, wrinkles, and more, it’s nice to know there are some treatment products out there that have our backs, like these miracle workers.

Oily/combination skin

• Avalon Organics Lavender Luminosity Facial Cleansing Gel: This gel washes away dead skin cells, and leaves skin feeling calm, clean and luminous.
• Claudalie Vinosource S.O.S. Thirst Quenching Serum: This serum is good for all skin types but for oily skin use only at night before your moisturizer. This gentle oil-free serum restores moisture balance in the skin and leaves skin feeling refreshed, moisturized and soft.
• bareMinerals Purely Nourishing Moisturizer: Combination Skin: The feeling of this moisturizer is my favorite. It’s silky smooth, refreshing and wears great with makeup.
• Olay Total Effects 7-in-1 Tone Correcting UV Moisturizer: Fights 7 signs of aging! This anti-aging moisturizer with SPF 15 provides a sheer tint for younger looking skin.
• bareMinerals Intensive Glow Pads Brightening Treatment: This product should not be used on sensitive skin. These are amazing for a quick exfoliation for smooth skin. It helps remove extra gunk from your busy day from your skin, after you’ve used one of the cleansers listed above. They also help your skin look fresh and bright.

Normal to dry skin

• Bare Minerals Deep Cleansing Foam: A small amount of this cleanser goes a very long way and foams up when activated with water. Not only does this foam deep clean your skin (even the pores!), it refreshes the skin, promotes healthy skin cell turnover and offers a great amount of moisture for dry-to-normal skin types.
• MAC Cleans Off Oil: This is an ultra-gentle makeup remover that removes cosmetics and excess dirt and oil from a long day, while providing moisture without feeling oily!
• Jason Natural Cosmetics Ester-C Creme Anti-Aging Moisturizer: Has multi antioxidant effects and helps firm and tone the skin.
• First Aid Beauty Dual Repair Eye Cream: Strenghthens the skin and reduces the appearance of under eye puffiness and dark circles.

Sensitive skin

• Bare Minerals Pure Transformation Night Treatment: This product is great for all ages, but I strongly recommend this product for those with sensitive skin or who suffer from excessive dry skin, acne or rosacia. I consider this a cure-all product, and I’ve used it personally for years.
• Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser: Soft enough for daily makeup removal, this cleanser is fragrance-free and doesn’t throw off your skin’s natural pH balance. Plus, you can find it in many grocery stores.

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