Sorry for the late posts, but things have been a little hectic in the world of Michelle these days. I have been feeling bad since yesterday though. I kind of left you with a lacking Cosmetic Tuesday, so today I will extend Cosmetic Tuesday into Make-up Wednesday. I figured I would start with a topic motivated by an article I read.
Since I recognize that I can't blog forever on the products I have and love, some valuable research and article reading comes in handy to spark the ideas. One article I started to read the other day was about ten things people believe we should do, but shouldn't. It covered drinking bottled water and only doing cardio as a couple. However, one caught my eye. It spoke to the way that us women tend to get a little Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde on our skin care routine. You all know what I mean...it's that week it seems like we are so stressed out that crying in the closet sounds like a better idea than going to work. These weeks also tend to be the weeks when we start taking our insecurities out on our bodies and skin. These are the weeks when our skin breaks out, wrinkles seem prevalent, you notice a gray hair or your skin just looks washed out and tired.
These are also the weeks we start blaming our skin care products for being crappy. However, I am here to suggest not doing that anymore! The article I read stated that switching products too often can be harmful for our skin and render our products ineffective. It didn't go into too much detail about why; however, I think I can logicize this one (yes I made up a word, it's one of those days).
Take for instance, a diet. Most of us have probably subjected ourselves to that torture off and on for years. We feel kind of awful and start to lay awake at night thinking about what foods we should eat or how walking to co-worker's desks can be better exercise than twirling around in our chairs and emailing. We stick to our new found exercise and diet plan for maybe a couple of weeks and then all of a sudden we start adding in extra snacks or desserts or we feel busy, so we start emailing more and walking in the office less. Before we know it, we have not lost a pound and we are back where we started. This my dears is what happens when we start changing up our skin care routines often. We never allow our skin care products do their job before we decide that they are not worth the money or time. Instead, we start seeking out the next great claim and we never get anywhere.
So, the question remains. How do I decide whether my skin care product has stood the test of time or I haven't waited long enough? Well, there are a number of ways to determine this, of course no easy answer. First, if your skin is irritate or dried out by the product and you are washing your face the same amount of times you always do, get rid of it. Some products will say use it less often, but I am not a fan of that suggestion. If your product is so caustic that my face looks sun burnt after only one or two uses, I am not going to change my routine because you made a bad product. Sorry, no, maybe as a brand, you should be revisiting the lab.
The second thing to look for is break-outs. If the product claims it fights oil and you are breaking out, don't stop using it just yet. My thoughts are this. One of the jobs we feel our skin care regimen should handle is bringing out dirt and oils in our skin that create acne. While we feel the way it should work is that the soap will bring it out and then take it away, this is not truly how it happens. Generally, your skin will start to extract the harmful oils an dirts, but it doesn't magically erase it. Sometimes what results is acne to clear your skin of the infection. Take for instance a pimple that turns to a white head. Your skin is taking the oil under the skin and pushing it up into that horrific looking blemish. However, what happens next? Either it goes away with a treatment or you steam it and then treat it. Either way, your skin has extracted what makes the nasty thing appear. However, if your skin care regimen is effective, after a week or two of dealing with it, you should start to see a lower level of blemish development. Your skin care product should begin to focus solely on preventing the new development of acne. If you don't see a great difference, then I would change products. However, keep in mind that if you change products, you may end up dealing with this cycle all over again.
The third thing to look for is no change at all. If you have a skin care issue that is not changing, perhaps your product is just ineffective for you. However, make sure that you make this decision after using it for at least half of the bottle. Don't make that decision when you get your period or you are stressed out. Just like arguing with friends or significant others, making choices when you are irrational or going through hormonal changes is not a wise time to make decisions.
Lastly, if you are patient you will follow this advice, just use the products until they run out. Even if they aren't the most effective, if things aren't getting worse, then you really don't have much to lose. By not using products, you are wasting money. If you are worried about your skin looking a little drab, use a facial mask too. If you feel you need extra exfoliant, add some baking soda. Or, just get creative with your make-up. Adding a bit of water to an applicator sponge can make you look dewy and freshen the look of your skin, or maybe even use blush or bronzer if you don't already. If you have acne-prone skin, well, this can be a bit harder to to be patient and I don't really recommend it. Acne is truly an infection of the skin, so you may wish to change products a little sooner than using the whole bottle. However, try adding some greek yogurt to your diet, the cultures are good for your immune system and may help you relieve some of the infection growth. Also, take your vitamins, drink water and try some herbal tea before bed. If you keep yourself hydrated, healthy, happy and calm, you should see that your skin will behave better.
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