Good Skin - Part 2 - Exfoliating

Meeeeeerry Christmas!!

Okay so I had to split this whole thing up into a couple of posts because I have so much to ramble on about. Like I said last time, I exfoliate my skin in a mild way every day with my cleanser and muslin cloth. But some days skin just needs that kick up the butt to make it look like skin again.

I'm not completely adverse to scrubs as long as the grains are tiny and the formula isn't too harsh, but to be honest, I've found a much more effective way in the form of chemical exfoliants.

Chemical exfoliants work by microscopically eating away and dissolving the dead layer on the top of your skin. This sounds scary but it's actually a much gentler way than abrasion. There are two types.. AHAs (alpha-hydroxy acids) and BHAs (beta-hydroxy acids). They both pretty much do the same thing but BHAs penetrate the skin more deeply (waheeey). You might have heard of salicylic acid in the treatment of spots.. it's well known for being anti-bacterial and able to go down into the pore to clear it out, this is a BHA.
So AHAs are recommended for less problematic skins as they improve moisture content and only affect the surface layers of skin. BHAs are good for clearing oily, spotty, red skin, although any exfoliation in general can clear up spots.

The first ingredient that I look for is Glycolic Acid, an AHA. The thing is, companies have cottoned on to the instant results and like to charge a bomb for it, so what I use issssssssssssss.... 

...a humble old pineapple!

Glycolic acid is essentially a fruit acid, so I like to get a chunk of fresh pineapple, rub it on my face, let it eat my dead skin, and wash it off. DO NOT leave it on for more than 5 minutes tho.. unless you want chemical burns. 

Another is lactic acid, more gentle and found in soured milk. It's more suitable for sensitive skins as it penetrates the skin less readily and can't cause irritation because it increases production of your skin's natural barrier lipids.. basically hydrating the skin. You can find lactic acid in natural yoghurt, so just chucking some on your face and leaving for 10-15 mins should do the trick.

I wouldn't use these any more than once a week for fear of sensitising the skin.. The skin to an extent also gets used to the new rate of cell turnover so you wouldn't see so much of an effect. It's also important that you wear a moisturiser with sunscreen in as new skin gets sun damaged more easily!

If you're a bit scared of the sound of those, I got something in last month's Glossybox that I've been testing out and also loving so far. This one is safe to use every day.

It's the same principle as a chemical exfoliant, but instead uses the enzymes found in rice. An added bonus jonus is that it also has Salicylic acid to fight spots. It comes out as a very suspicious white powder, but when rubbed into a wet face forms a paste. The bottle says not to leave it on for more than a minute, which I can lay testament to because any longer will dry out your skin.

I think I have quite sensitive skin but none of these methods have caused me irritation. As long as you don't go overboard and follow instructions you will be amazed at the difference if can make to the appearance of your skin, it's really improved the scarring and uneven skin texture I had, made it look healthy and I hardly get spots now.

As you might have guessed my next post will be about moisturising :)

P.S. I've got my eye on this.. A wipe of this before bed every other night is *supposed* to work wonders. A bit pricey but I've been impressed by the reviews of it!

Image from beautybay.com

Good Skin - Part 1 - Cleansing

Hi guys,

I just wanted to get started with a post about the skincare I use daily. I've tried out so many products that claim to perform miracles, but taking into consideration the active ingredients/product you get for your money, this is what works for me.

Now it's winter my skin isn't as oily, but generally I have combination normal/oily skin that gets congested quite easily. The main thing I want to talk about is EXFOLIATION. It's something I do in some form every day and has had a wicked effect on my skin.

Exfoliation as we knew it as teens involved using foaming cleansers with scrubby beads or ground up seeds. (Yes- Clean & Clear, St. Ives Apricot Scrub, I'm looking at you!!).
This is the WORST THING I EVER DID to my skin. I never had reeeally bad spots, just blackheads. What felt like squeaky clean skin was actually the alcohol in the foaming cleansers stripping the epidermis of oils it needed, leaving it shiny and dry, making it produce more oil. Not helping spotty manky teen skin at all! The granular scrubs are highly abrasive- especially when you're rubbing them in like there's no tomorrow to obliterate the blackheads- and damaged my skin, leaving it thin, sensitive and prone to redness. 

Exfoliation is key to preventing spots and giving you glowing skin- it lifts away dead skin cells, preventing the pores from blocking and revealing the glowing new skin cells below. It also evens the skin tone- reducing the appearance of the scars and discolouration from any previous spots. But trust me, there are much more efficient and gentler ways than those I've just mentioned!!

The cleanser I've been using for a couple of years is Liz Earle's Cleanse & Polish. This will be no suprise to some of you- it's a British brand that's done the rounds on beauty blogs and is every blogger's saviour cleanser.

  
What is it: 

It's a non-foaming, cream cleanser.You slather it on day and night to a dry face and it breaks down any make-up and grime (even mascara). Then you use the muslin cloth that comes with it to gently buff it all off- at the same time gently polishing away dead skin cells. A little tip is to use your muslin cloth folded up so it retains the warmth of the water to open your pores. I also do a double cleanse- first to remove everything then to deep cleanse with the cloth. Because it's creamy, this has only a positive effect on the skin. It smells very herbal and leaves your skin feeling clean but supple and hydrated afterwards- kind of springy.

Ingredients:

I'm a big fan of using natural ingredients where possible. If you look at the back of the bottle, you can see that there are several active plant-based ingredients. The closer an ingredient to the beginning of the list, the higher the concentration within the product. This cleanser has high concentrations of cocoa butter, beeswax and hops extract. The first two are natural moisturisers, something which in the past I would have avoided like the plague. I thought moisturising = oily, but now know your skin needs moisture to function optimally and balance it's oiliness.
I think I had this opinion because many of the cheaper 'moisturising' products I had tried contained mineral oil and they broke my skin out with spots. Mineral oil is a waste material from the production of gasolene, it's very cheap for companies to obtain and sell to you at a good mark-up, by stamping the word 'moisturising' all over the bottle. It's a heavy oil that the skin finds diffucult to absorb, because it isn't a natural oil. This means that it forms a film over the skin and clogs the pores, causing spots and stopping your skin from 'breathing'.
You will notice the absence of mineral oil in this cleanser, instead being replaced by natural moisturisers. It contains plant-sourced Glycerin which is actually a humectant, attracting moisure from the atmosphere to aid hydration.
The hops extract is a really mild astringent and toner so helps to purify and balance the skin without stripping it of it's natural oils.

The Verdict:

Soo this cleanser works by a) the whole exfoliation bit that's involved, sloughing off the dead skin, and b) not stripping the skin- naturally toning and moisturising to help the skin retain its balance. I think this product is fine for oily skins- I've been trying to counteract my oiliness with natural oils and I really think this cleanser has helped to balance that out.  The gentle daily exfoliation is keeping my skin clear, more even-toned and bright, instead of the pale dead skin I used to have. I think it would be good for normal/dry skins, polishing away the crappy dull skin and moisturising the layer underneath. However, for very dry skins I would recommend the use of a more oil-based or balm cleanser with a muslin cloth for even more hydration.

It costs £14.25 for the starter kit which is the 100ml bottle and 2 muslin cloths. As long as you look after your cloths, washing them and drying them flat, you shouldn't need to purchase them every time. A bottle this size lasts me about 3 months, I haven't replaced my muslin cloths since last Christmas and they still work great. The bottle on it's own is £12.75. This is a reasonable price for a top quality cleanser, compared to some of the pricey high-end brands that use less natural and active ingredients. It's definitely worth every penny, too.
The only downside is that with the pump bottle, you can't tell when you're going to run out. It works out slightly cheaper to get the 200ml tube so I'd recommend going for that once you get into it. There also small sample sizes available if you want to have a try!

Sidenote- I'm hoping to try this baby out after Christmas.. I'll let you know how I get on :)

Image from http://uk.lizearle.com

My next post will be about what I use to do a proper exfoliation.. no scrubbing involved!!

Hello there!

Soo I've been planning to start this blog since I started Uni in September.. but always had something more urgent to do, life takes over sometimes!

My only education in the beauty industry has come from reading blogs and watching product reviews on youtube over the years, and I guess a general understanding of advertising and PR from my Uni course. But despite the warm and fuzzy feeling of materialism I have grown to have a cynical view of the whole thing.. you would never guess how many bloggers do sponsored posts these days and it skews the realism you're supposed to get from reading someone's opinion about something.

This blog might end up as a huge contradiction.. I want to write about products I enjoy and believe in, but will probably moan about how shitty the beauty industry can be at the same time. We'll see how it goes. I can't stand all the PR blurb that companies spew out, so I just want to talk ingredients, price tags and efficacy.. putting the facts out there and let you make up your own mind :)