Break Up With Your Makeup
I used to be the girl who didn't leave the house without a full face of makeup. It didn't matter if I was only running into the grocery store for five minutes; I just couldn't be seen without covering up my flaws. Like every teen, I battled acne, redness, and uneven skin tone. Unfortunately for years I opted to hide my skin problems instead of healing my skin and therefore eliminating what I considered to be embarrassing imperfections.
I've come a long way since those years. Somewhere along the way, I started gaining confidence from my relationships with my family and friends, and the achievements in my life instead of my appearance. Now I feel fully confident without even a touch of makeup. By focusing on my skincare routine and healing my problem areas, I'm able to feel more confident in my own skin. As you can see in the pictures above, even without any makeup on at the beach I couldn't be having a better time. When you're not worrying about your how your skin looks, you can enjoy life so much more! Here are a few tips that have helped me improve my skin's appearance over the years!
Break Up with Your Makeup And Let Your Skin Breathe
Don't apply makeup for a week and give your skin time to repair itself. Focus for at least a week on pampering your skin and helping it heal rather than hiding problem areas. Investing time into your skincare routine will pay off.
Be Gentle With Your Skin
Sometimes it's tempting to want to zap away all of your blemishes or discolorations by washing your face a dozen times a day. While you may get rid of a pimple or two, you'll be left with irritated, inflamed, and dry skin. Over-washing and over-zealous skin care can cause just as many problems as ignoring your skin problems. In my experience, washing your skin and applying treatment products twice a day is all that's necessary. If you're using drying or irritating products to treat a skin condition, be sure to follow-up with soothing or moisturizing products to help prevent inflammation or redness.
Moisturize, Moisturize, Moisturize
Whether you have dry, normal, or oily skin, you need to moisturize. It helps to normalize your oil production (keep reading if you don't believe me!), reduce redness and irritation, and most importantly helps to prevent wrinkles! If your skin is dry, opt for thick and creamy moisturizers or oils to hydrate your skin and prevent flaking. For oily skin types, look for gel and oil-free moisturizers. Even if your moisturizer is very light, the additional moisture will actually help you reduce oil. I know it's counterintuitive, but your skin compensates for what it lacks. When you have oily skin and wash your skin repeatedly to remove the oil without moisturizing, your skin thinks that it's dry...and produces more oil. If you wash your face and then apply a light moisturizer, your skin will become more stable.
Don't Try to Treat Severe Skin Problems at Home
When you're dealing with an ongoing skin condition like acne or rosacea, it can feel like you're in a hopeless situation. I encourage anyone with moderate to severe skin conditions to visit their dermatologist. They make simply suggest a skincare regimen with products you can find at the drugstore, but they may be able to prescribe a specialty topical treatment to help to reduce your symptoms. If your problems are severe or persistent, trying to treat them without professional guidance may cause harm to your skin and leave you feeling frustrated.
So many advances have been made in the world of skincare, and there are now revolutionary skincare products that can significantly improve your condition. For example, Galderma Laboratories, L.P. has developed Mirvaso, a product that helps to treat rosacea or erythema, which is an inflammatory skin condition that causes persistent redness. Mirvaso is an easy-to-use gel that helps to reduce redness for up to 12 hours. It's so amazing to think that there's a simple option to stop the negative symptoms of rosacea. By treating the problem, there's no need to cover up your skin!
Take Care of Yourself
I've saved the most important tip for last. Think about the last time you were really sick. Now that you have that picture in your head- how did your skin and hair look? I'm guessing they looked horrible. When you're not feeling well, it affects your skin. By maintaining a proper sleep schedule, staying hydrated, eating a healthy diet, exercising on a routine basis, and moderating your stress levels, I can 100% guarantee you your skin will improve. In my personal experience, lack of sleep and excess stress immediately causes my skin to break out or look lackluster. Take care of yourself, and you'll feel and look much better.
Now that you've created a plan to achieve picture-perfect skin, you'll want to show it off. Galderma Laboratories, L.P. is hosting a Emmy Awards Show ticket giveaway where you'll get the chance to walk down the red carpet at this year's Emmys! That's basically my dream, so I'll be definitely be entering!
What's your #1 skincare tip? Do you have any skin conditions?
Important Safety Information
Indication: Mirvaso® (brimonidine) topical gel, 0.33% is an alpha adrenergic agonist indicated for the topical treatment of persistent (nontransient) facial erythema of rosacea in adults 18 years of age or older. Adverse Events: In clinical trials, the most common adverse reactions (≥1%) included erythema, flushing, skin burning sensation and contact dermatitis. Warnings/Precautions: Mirvaso Gel should be used with caution in patients with depression, cerebral or coronary insufficiency, Raynaud's phenomenon, orthostatic hypotension, thromboangiitis obliterans, scleroderma, or Sjögren’s syndrome. Alpha-2 adrenergic agents can lower blood pressure. Mirvaso Gel should be used with caution in patients with severe or unstable or uncontrolled cardiovascular disease. Serious adverse reactions following accidental ingestion of Mirvaso Gel by children have been reported. Keep Mirvaso Gel out of reach of children. Not for oral, ophthalmic, or intravaginal use. You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
