Foundations to the face

The foundations to our face starts with skin care.

I've always suffered from hormonal acne and my skin loves to produce oils so me telling you that you should use a certain product and it will cure your acne would be ridiculous if not redundant. With that I would like to write a post on the face. Some skin care that I think is truly good. One thing is for sure, see a doctor. Please. Don't watch ridiculous suggestions that ask you to piercing your skin with tools that claim will help rejuvenate it. Whatever you do keep your face in tact as in don't scratch it, pierce it, don't puncture it and don't irritate it. I'm almost 40 years old and I just started using prescription strength retinol for anti aging and it's knocking acne out of town. I use prescription strength but over the counter formulation of retinol called Differin https://www.differin.com.

I love the results that I'm getting and I'll continue to use this over the long haul. It's not marketed as an anti aging medicine but I choose to use it this way. My skin is acclimated to retinol and I experience no irritation from the product. If you don't know how your skin reacts to retinol, you may want to start with an over the counter product like Cerave Skin Renewing Cream Serum.

Use Retinols at night and at the same time. Try not to use retinol products during the day time.

Let your skin breath. I know when it's inflamed and uncomfortable it's hard to consider it, but your skin is a living organism and it needs oxygen. It needs to breath so opt out of covering it up in the early mornings and evenings. Use sunscreen during the day and drink plenty of water.

I think that there are really nice facial cleansers for everyone. I don't know how effective it would be to use something like a brush cleansing devices like Clarisonic (I don't use them) since it tends to harbor bacteria in it's bristles. I just don't trust that putting something that comes in contact with your acne should go back on your face even if you wash it out well.  Wash towelettes that are presoaked don't remove makeup fully either. I tossed those out. So, for a while I used Olay single use wash cloths.

Since I am a major proponent of environmental care, I truly felt bad about using these, but I had to get rid of the acne.  I also use soft washcloths but I wash them well (not with your underwear - yuck!) and let them dry fully before another use. I wash my face with various hydrating moisturizing cleansers like Dove soap, Yes to Coconut Ultra Hydrating Cream Cleanser, Cerave Hydrating Cleanser.  When you have acne or sensitive skin stripping the skin of hydration irritates it more. I would even go a step further to my cleanser and add a few drops of oil like olive oil and castor oil to sooth the skin.