The dog days of dry skin (and lips) are over.
Skin feeling a tad dry? Lips a bit chapped? Dry skin woes often rear up in the winter, so let’s solve this forever starting right now! Here is a reliable recipe for quenched, lush skin and lips…
For Your Face~
1) Cleansing: Make sure your cleanser is hydrating (it should leave your skin clean, but also soft and supple, never ever tight and dry.) Make sure you are cleansing your face (and following a complete skin care routine) in the PM. You may want to skip using a cleanser in the AM, but do carry on with the rest of your skin care routine (serum, moisturizer, etc.) every AM.
2) Exfoliating: Make sure your exfoliating product leaves your skin smooth and soft, not dry or irritated. Most exfoliating products work best when used about 1 to 4 times per week after cleansing. (If you exfoliate too much, your skin will probably feel sensitive and dry. If you exfoliate too little, your moisturizer will have a harder time penetrating effectively.)
3) Masque-ing: Do you use a hydrating or moisturizing masque? If your face is feeling dry, add in a masque for sure. Hydrating and moisturizing masques can be used as often as needed -anywhere from 1 to 6 times per week. (Hydrating/moisturizing masques can even be worn in the bath/shower to save time, too!)
4) Hydrating: Now it’s the all-important hydration step…Apply a good quality, deeply penetrating hydrating mist, hydrating toner, or hydrating hydrosol, and apply generously. (This is the crucial first step in helping our skin cells hold onto moisture.)
5) Serum-ing: While your skin is still moist from the hydrating mist, apply a hydrating/moisturizing serum.
6) Moisturizing: While your skin is still moist from your serum application, apply a really good moisturizer as generously as needed.
7) Oil-ing: Last, apply a good facial oil. Smooth in over the top of your moisturizer. (Pro tip…You can apply a facial oil before your moisturizer, along with your moisturizer, or after your moisturizer- any of these options can be effective. Opt for what works best with the specific products you are using.) Use as many or as few drops of facial oil as your skin needs.
*Skin that is highly prone to clogging or highly prone to breaking out will probably do best without adding in an oil. A great hydrating product and the right moisturizer can work wonders with this type of skin.
8) In the AM, apply sun protection as your final layer. Makeup (moisturizing, non-drying makeup) may be applied over the top if desired.
For Your Lips~
* Chapped lips are potentially a sign of dehydration. Make sure you are drinking enough water to keep everything quenched.
* Include your lips when you cleanse your face in the AM and PM (using a super hydrating cleanser that leaves your skin and lips soft and supple, please! Never tight and dry feeling).
* When you exfoliate your face, include your lips too! The skin of our lips can be thin, and may not need to be exfoliated as often as our faces do, but do exfoliate them.
* Do you use a hydrating or moisturizing masque? If your lips are feeling dry, add this step in for sure. (Include your lips in your regular face masque, or just masque your lips alone. Hydrating and moisturizing masks can be used anywhere between 1 and 6 times per week, so use as often as needed. (Plumper, softer lips? Yes please.)
* When you apply a good hydrating mist, a good hydrating/moisturizing serum, a good moisturizer, a good facial oil and good sun protection to your face, INCLUDE YOUR LIPS in ALL of these steps.
* This final step is crucial… Apply a really good lip balm to your lips as the final layer. Do not skip out on a good lip balm! All that luscious hydration and moisture you layered on your lips won’t last without a good lip balm as a final layer. Lip gloss or lipstick may be applied over the top of the lip balm if you’d like. Re-apply lip balm throughout the day as often as needed.
For the Body~
* Make sure the cleanser you use in the shower (as well as your hand soap!) is gentle and creamy- never, ever drying. (This should be true for all the body products you use.)
* For body exfoliation, dry brushing before you get into the shower works great (1 to 4 times per week is plenty) or using a creamy scrub in the shower, or a gentle loofah, exfoliating gloves, or even a wash cloth works great for exfoliation in the shower.
If you have sensitive/dry skin, you will not need to cleanse the driest parts of you every time you shower. Sometimes our shins or other areas can get super dry- they don’t need cleanser on them every single time we shower (unlike our underarms…).
If you get dry/flaky/sensitive/eczema-like skin anywhere, those places generally do not need as much cleansing and exfoliation, but they do need lots of moisturizing.
If you use an exfoliating tool (loofa, gloves, brush) be sure to wash it with soap and water after each use and let it dry fully before the next use.
When you get out of the shower, apply a good hydrating product, then follow with a good body moisturizer and then finish with a good body oil. Be sure to include your hands in all these layers, and re-apply moisturizer to your hands throughout the day as often as needed. (Pro tip…You can apply a facial oil or body oil before your moisturizer, along with your moisturizer, or after your moisturizer- any of these options can be effective. Opt for what works best with the specific products you are using.)
* Skin that is highly prone to clogging or highly prone to breaking out will probably do best without adding in an oil. A great hydrating product and the right moisturizer can work wonders with this type of skin.
Champion Tip for Lush Skin (and Lush Lips)~
* Eating some essential fatty acids, omega fatty acids, and other good quality fats (chia seeds, flax seeds, flax seed oil, hemp seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, hazel nuts, Brazil nuts, cashews, pecans, almonds, avocados, olives, olive oil, edamame, seaweed…) is a very solid way to help moisturize and nourish your skin from the inside out. Eating skin-healthy foods can’t take the place of a good AM and PM skin care regimen, but it is an outstanding companion to one.
“For me, as far as skin, I’m a big advocate of facials. And I moisturize… I listen to good advice from people who really know, and I try to watch what I eat.”
“I’d rather invest in my skin than a handbag.”
“May your skin be glowing and your coffee strong”
“I could be partying or working late, but I’m never too tired to take care of my skin.”
“Healthy skin is always in.”
“I always take my make-up off at night and moisturize.”
“The secret is to moisturize the face. I’ve been doing that since I was 17 years old.”
“My shoots are very much about skin, so I’m an exfoliating and moisturizing nut. I fly so much, so I take my makeup off as soon as I get on the airplane. I look at my watch every half hour and moisturize.”
“Be picky with your time, your friends and your skincare”
“You cannot have a healthy body without drinking a great deal of water. But remember, you can’t just drink a glass of water and tell a glass of water to please go straight to your skin and moisturize your complexion. Water has to be there all the time, doing what it does naturally in a healthy body.”
“I’m not a real makeup girl - you see me in lots of makeup on ‘Housewives,’ but I’m really all about skin. Take it from me: Wash, moisturize, and never neglect the neck.”
Blog written by Marna Herrington with Rich Earth Organic Skin Care Studio
Blog copy editing and polishing provided by Karen-Eileen Gordon (MsGordonLovesWriting@gmail.com)
This blog is not intended to take the place of in-person consultations with qualified skin care and health care practitioners. This blog is for the purpose of education and fun only.
All images and text in this blog are under the legal ownership of Rich Earth Organic Skin Care Studio or are unambiguously in the public domain. Permission is not granted for this text or these images to be copied and used out of the context of this blog, or for commercial purposes. If any part of the text is quoted in an article or other blog for educational purposes, a hyperlink to this page must be included.