Beauty & Wellness Regimen Revisited
Top: Current skincare-makeup arrangement on the bathroom countertop; Middle: Current beauty supplements; Bottom: Current skin condition after cleansing & moisturizing sans concealer or makeup, with only Ilia lip conditioner. No post-processing except for increasing exposure. You can see that my right eye is all droopy and puffy from the steroid/cortisone cream for my eczema.
I apologize in advance for freaking you out with that rare half-awake photo of myself looking like a berk. I realize that it's hard to take a word of stranger online about their skincare regime if you have no idea what their skin looks like; for all you know, I could look like a toadstool (and maybe you still do). My skin has changed quite a bit over the last 18 months though - I'm starting to get adult acne on my neck and chin, dark spots and freckles and wrinkles around my eyes and products that work for me before have been starting to break me out, cause eczema and do not seem to be helping in combating dehydration. As the weather turns drearier and colder, with nasty wind and the cold potentially wreaking all kinds of havoc on my skin and causing a wide ranging list of ailments, I thought it would be apt to revisit my skincare and wellness regimen that I wrote about early last year. The previous post had sparked quite a few emails and discussion on the products used and I still get asked about the homemade oil cleanser I have been using.
I still pretty much stick to mostly "natural" and "green" products mostly because they work the best for my temperamental skin. For a while, I had been experimenting more with everything from high-end department store offerings to professional brand names to drugstore products but always returned to a few trusty products. Going on to Sephora or Spirit Beauty Lounge and reading reviews of products often made me feel as if I was not doing enough to fix my skin, when often, everyone's skin is so different that there's no one miracle product. For example, beauty gurus' holy grail products from Paula's Choice, Verso and Guerlain all made my skin go bonkers. After using the much-lauded Paula's Choice 2% BHA Liquid, I ended up with angry red marks all over my neck, nose and cheeks, something which I had not seen since I was 16! I'm going to stop short of encouraging you to switch to a more environmentally friendly skincare regime and you should always buy what you can afford, but if I have one recommendation, it is to please stop buying facial scrubs that contain polyethylene beads.
Skincare
I generally stopped using the earlier iteration of my homemade oil cleanser because it was starting to break me out, and no matter how much I changed the ratio of castor oil to carrier oil, or what my carrier oil was, I couldn't find the right balance. Also, the hot washcloth that was suppose to help get rid of the oil cleanser was causing my skin to dry out and suffer broken capillaries! I've read that as a person ages, their skin starts thinning and becoming more sensitive. Throw in stress, hormonal imbalance and crazy diets, you've got yourself a recipe for ghastly skin.
A few months ago, I started following a lot of advice given in Chizu Saeki's Japanese Skincare Revolution which focuses more on something called a lotion mask that helps replenish moisture to the skin. Being eczema prone, I've found the mask to be very soothing and helps to reduce the redness and scaly patches. She also writes a lot about lymph massages to help combat wrinkles and sagging skin. Instead of using the very westernized method of oil cleansing, I've been following the 4-2-4 cleansing method with a minor caveat; most days I just take a shortcut and just do 2-1-2 (hee!) i.e. homemade oil cleanser for two minutes, followed by a cream cleanser for one minute and finished off with two minutes of thorough rinsing with warm and cold water.
In the mornings, I usually just rinse my face with lukewarm water, pat dry then swab my face with a cotton pad soaked with my homemade toner combined with Watts Beauty hyaluronic acid serum and squalane. I follow up with In Fiore Lucense, Sulwhasoo Ginseng Renewing Cream, In Fiore Vis Clair, Soleil Toujours SPF 20 Moisturizer and topped off with a spritz of In Fiore Vitale toning essence. A cocktail of cortisone and steroids for my eyelid eczema (I have atopic, not contact dermatitis) left my eyes all droopy and scabby so I use a lot of creams to help offset the problem. Besides the In Fiore Vis Clair, I use a combination of La Prairie Eye and Lip Contour Cream, Aurelia Skincare's Eye Dew, Odacité's Ultra Effective Eye Cream, and a homeopathic calendula ointment from Boiron.
The evenings is when I find myself pampering my skin more and I start off with the 2-1-2 face cleansing regimen. I use a simple homemade oil cleanser that combines cold-pressed grapeseed oil, camellia oil and castor oil with several drops of Isun Rose Ormus sacred essence, which I then wash off with either In Fiore Treate or Dr. Alkaitis Gentle Purifying Cleanser. I follow up with In Fiore Nourrit, the Sulwhasoo ginseng cream and an eye cream. Sulwhasoo is a luxury Korean skincare brand that I had a chance to try after my mom, with all her hoarding tendency, amassed a huge stash of samples during a layover in Seoul. It's by no means a "green" product as it contains a slew of chemical no-nos, but it's been doing wonders for my skin and imparting it with a sleek dewy finish.
Four times a week, I use a scrub (In Fiore Lustra or the Odacité Jojoba Beads Exfoliant) followed by a mask. Depending on how my skin feels, I use either a hydrating mask or a clarifying mask. For hydrating masks, my current favorites (some less green than others) are the Sulwhasoo Snowise EX Brightening Mask, My Beauty Diary Black Pearl mask, Aurelia Skincare Rose Cell Revitalize mask or I make my own by soaking some Kose Lotion Mask paper in a the hyaluronic acid-squalane mixture with a good helping of Olivine Atelier's Love Beauty Mist. For clarifying masks, my favorites include May Lindstrom The Problem Solver, Fig Yarrow Gold Clay mask or I simply make my own using some Morroccan Rhassoul Clay and rosewater. Although initially dubious, I've come around to the fact that the May Lindstrom bowl and brush is an indispensable tool for putting on clay masks.
Makeup
I don't use a lot of makeup because it's kind of redundant after putting in so much effort with the skincare aspect. I am however, obsessed with my eyebrows - the only grooming routine I will pay someone to do. Most days, I use the Anastasia brow pencil, some Lancome's Modèle Sourcils Brow Groomer, conceal blemishes with Kjaer Weis' foundation in Just Sheer, apply some In Fiore Veloutee and I'm good to run out of the house.
If my face is looking particularly sickly (which is all the time these days), I use some Kjaer Weis blush and Ilia's Lip Conditioner in Nobody's Baby. On days when my eyes get puffy and red from late nights up, I just run an ice cube wrapped in cling wrap over my eyes for a few minutes; it's another trick I learned from Chizu Saeki's book. I then use my recently discovered holy grail product, the Tom Ford correcting pen to fix my omnipresent dark circles (see picture above).
I have a few little jars of Dolce & Gabbana's cream eyeshadow that for those rare occasions I need to look less wild-eyed and slightly more grown-up. Cream eyeshadows work better for my scaly eyes than the Laura Mercier stuff I had been using. I gave the RMS Organics eyeshadow a try but I don't think coconut oil works for me.
Fragrance
I've never been much of a fragrance person, and especially so after attending a seminar series on how synthetic fragrances are terrible for you. However, I absolutely adore Coqui Coqui's Rosas Secas (a smoky, dry rose), layered with some Histoires des Parfums Amber 114; together they evoke some forgotten feminine mystery in me. On most days though, I avoid fragrances and instead use some essential oil mists from Lotus Wei (particularly Quiet Mind) as well as the all-natural solid perfumes from In Fiore (my favorite being Vetiver Sambac and the discontinued Fleur Blanches). I also stash a bottle of La Bella Figura Travel Therapy in my bag for days when I'm feeling overwhelmed.
Body care
I tend to take pretty quick showers on a daily basis, but I have to wash my hair on most days. For some reason, the John Masters' Organics hair products stopped working for me - I think they changed the formulation so it no longer works for my somewhat limp and oily locks. I currently alternate between Grown Alchemist's Damask Rose shampoo and Christophe Robin's Delicate Rose Volumizing Shampoo. For conditioning, I use either my dwindling supply of David Mallett conditioner, Christophe Robin Prickly Pear Renegerating Cream or Oribe Supershine Light Moisturizing Cream. Beyond that, I don't style my hair other than the occasional spritz of Klorane dry shampoo for dirty hair days and traveling and some Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray for volume. I'm still using the Olivella 100% olive oil soap which is the only soap that doesn't ever dry my skin out. When I hop out of the shower, I slather on some In Fiore Kashmir or Jolie body balm and I'm good to go.
My ritual on Sundays at 7pm sharp, rain or shine or work be damned is to light a couple of Cire Trudon/Mad Et Len candles and down half a bottle of wine all while taking a long hot soak in the tub. I do a long session of body brushing first with an ionic body brush, slough off the dead skin with whatever body scrub I have on hand then I go nuts with epsom salts, seaweed salts, Ancient Minerals and In Fiore's body oils as they tend to help a lot with my eczema. I also recently discovered the magic of Mama Mio's Liquid Yoga and I've come close to drowning many a time when soaking in that dangerous cocktail of salts, eucalyptus oil and wine. The dog finds the steam from the bath so enticing, he usually spends the entire time splayed out on the bath mat inhaling the relaxing scents. I suspect he also really just likes to lick the salty bathwater after I'm done; sorry for the TMI.
Holistic Wellness
I know that genetics will be by far the biggest factor in determining the condition of your skin, but I think that diet is a close second. In the summer I tend to eat a lot of salads and not much other supplements, but in the winter, I go nuts with a bunch of holistic wellness products. I recently discovered the magic of Moon Juice in LA. Their products are somewhat overpriced and you can get similar products from Dragon Herbs if you know what you're doing, but I'm a lazy cow, so I just stock up on a bunch of Moon Dusts from CAP Beauty when there is a coupon code. The Moon Dusts are basically just powdered herbs for general wellness and I feel (maybe naively) that they do wonders for my skin with my favorite of the lot being the Spirit Dust. I'm also in love with the Moon Juice's Raw Sprouted Almond butter - I eat it by the spoonfuls with cacoa nibs, which may account for why my waistline has been a little pudgier than usual. For immunity and to help with my eczema, I find that the Virgin Raw Bee Panacea has been working out pretty well - honey is suppose to help with fighting all kinds of bugs and ailments, but who knows, the bees can barely defend themselves. Other than that, I am still supplementing with Green Vibrance or its alternative, Sunfood's The Sun Is Shining and taking tons of Vitamin C, elderberry syrup and zinc.
If you're looking for a good wellness cookbook, I highly recommend 'The Art of Eating Well' by Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley. They're pretty much the trendiest chefs out there at the moment and may be slightly ill-informed about gluten but their recipes are extremely comforting without being too heavy or too complicated. I particularly like that they recommend having "warming" foods which helps with digestion instead of too much raw foods. I've been making some of their Asian inspired dishes and all I can say is that they're as good cooks as they are good looking.
So there's my overlong skincare and wellness regime that is by no means streamlined or minimalistic but I spend an inordinate amount of time and money on my skin because I'm vain and that's all I have going for me. I know I'm using some pretty high-end products but I've tried almost all the health food store brands (Evan Healy, Acure, Gabriel Organics, MyChelle, Suki) and never had much good results especially as I got older. I really can't speak highly enough about Julie Elliott's luxurious apothecary line - In Fiore. I even turned my chemical-based skincare loving mother on to In Fiore. I read the recent Yasmin Sewell interview on Into The Gloss where she talks about her favorite skincare products and her love for the Hemsley sisters' gastronomic delights, all of which made me feel oddly validated.
If you have a holy grail product (somewhat eco-friendly and EWG approved), I would love to read about it. For in reviews of holistic/green products, my favorite blogs are kimberlyloc.com and Genuine Glow (on whom I have a very creepy girl crush). Evan Healy, whose products unfortunately do not work for me, also has a sporadically updated blog that I find very useful if you're trying to change to a holistic wellness regimen.
NB: I just realized I have this post formatted like Into The Gloss' Top Shelf! Talk about self-aggrandizing.
NB: Most items found on this page can be purchased at Beautyhabit, Nordstrom & Net-A-Porter. The wellness products can be purchased through Moon Juice Shop or CAP beauty. Everything else can be purchased through Amazon.com.
Note: Some of the product links will provide me with a commission if you make a click or make a purchase. See here why I decided to do affiliate linking. As always, I encourage you to shop around for sale/discounted items and to shop responsibly.
I apologize in advance for freaking you out with that rare half-awake photo of myself looking like a berk. I realize that it's hard to take a word of stranger online about their skincare regime if you have no idea what their skin looks like; for all you know, I could look like a toadstool (and maybe you still do). My skin has changed quite a bit over the last 18 months though - I'm starting to get adult acne on my neck and chin, dark spots and freckles and wrinkles around my eyes and products that work for me before have been starting to break me out, cause eczema and do not seem to be helping in combating dehydration. As the weather turns drearier and colder, with nasty wind and the cold potentially wreaking all kinds of havoc on my skin and causing a wide ranging list of ailments, I thought it would be apt to revisit my skincare and wellness regimen that I wrote about early last year. The previous post had sparked quite a few emails and discussion on the products used and I still get asked about the homemade oil cleanser I have been using.
I still pretty much stick to mostly "natural" and "green" products mostly because they work the best for my temperamental skin. For a while, I had been experimenting more with everything from high-end department store offerings to professional brand names to drugstore products but always returned to a few trusty products. Going on to Sephora or Spirit Beauty Lounge and reading reviews of products often made me feel as if I was not doing enough to fix my skin, when often, everyone's skin is so different that there's no one miracle product. For example, beauty gurus' holy grail products from Paula's Choice, Verso and Guerlain all made my skin go bonkers. After using the much-lauded Paula's Choice 2% BHA Liquid, I ended up with angry red marks all over my neck, nose and cheeks, something which I had not seen since I was 16! I'm going to stop short of encouraging you to switch to a more environmentally friendly skincare regime and you should always buy what you can afford, but if I have one recommendation, it is to please stop buying facial scrubs that contain polyethylene beads.
Skincare
I generally stopped using the earlier iteration of my homemade oil cleanser because it was starting to break me out, and no matter how much I changed the ratio of castor oil to carrier oil, or what my carrier oil was, I couldn't find the right balance. Also, the hot washcloth that was suppose to help get rid of the oil cleanser was causing my skin to dry out and suffer broken capillaries! I've read that as a person ages, their skin starts thinning and becoming more sensitive. Throw in stress, hormonal imbalance and crazy diets, you've got yourself a recipe for ghastly skin.
A few months ago, I started following a lot of advice given in Chizu Saeki's Japanese Skincare Revolution which focuses more on something called a lotion mask that helps replenish moisture to the skin. Being eczema prone, I've found the mask to be very soothing and helps to reduce the redness and scaly patches. She also writes a lot about lymph massages to help combat wrinkles and sagging skin. Instead of using the very westernized method of oil cleansing, I've been following the 4-2-4 cleansing method with a minor caveat; most days I just take a shortcut and just do 2-1-2 (hee!) i.e. homemade oil cleanser for two minutes, followed by a cream cleanser for one minute and finished off with two minutes of thorough rinsing with warm and cold water.
In the mornings, I usually just rinse my face with lukewarm water, pat dry then swab my face with a cotton pad soaked with my homemade toner combined with Watts Beauty hyaluronic acid serum and squalane. I follow up with In Fiore Lucense, Sulwhasoo Ginseng Renewing Cream, In Fiore Vis Clair, Soleil Toujours SPF 20 Moisturizer and topped off with a spritz of In Fiore Vitale toning essence. A cocktail of cortisone and steroids for my eyelid eczema (I have atopic, not contact dermatitis) left my eyes all droopy and scabby so I use a lot of creams to help offset the problem. Besides the In Fiore Vis Clair, I use a combination of La Prairie Eye and Lip Contour Cream, Aurelia Skincare's Eye Dew, Odacité's Ultra Effective Eye Cream, and a homeopathic calendula ointment from Boiron.
The evenings is when I find myself pampering my skin more and I start off with the 2-1-2 face cleansing regimen. I use a simple homemade oil cleanser that combines cold-pressed grapeseed oil, camellia oil and castor oil with several drops of Isun Rose Ormus sacred essence, which I then wash off with either In Fiore Treate or Dr. Alkaitis Gentle Purifying Cleanser. I follow up with In Fiore Nourrit, the Sulwhasoo ginseng cream and an eye cream. Sulwhasoo is a luxury Korean skincare brand that I had a chance to try after my mom, with all her hoarding tendency, amassed a huge stash of samples during a layover in Seoul. It's by no means a "green" product as it contains a slew of chemical no-nos, but it's been doing wonders for my skin and imparting it with a sleek dewy finish.
Four times a week, I use a scrub (In Fiore Lustra or the Odacité Jojoba Beads Exfoliant) followed by a mask. Depending on how my skin feels, I use either a hydrating mask or a clarifying mask. For hydrating masks, my current favorites (some less green than others) are the Sulwhasoo Snowise EX Brightening Mask, My Beauty Diary Black Pearl mask, Aurelia Skincare Rose Cell Revitalize mask or I make my own by soaking some Kose Lotion Mask paper in a the hyaluronic acid-squalane mixture with a good helping of Olivine Atelier's Love Beauty Mist. For clarifying masks, my favorites include May Lindstrom The Problem Solver, Fig Yarrow Gold Clay mask or I simply make my own using some Morroccan Rhassoul Clay and rosewater. Although initially dubious, I've come around to the fact that the May Lindstrom bowl and brush is an indispensable tool for putting on clay masks.
Makeup
I don't use a lot of makeup because it's kind of redundant after putting in so much effort with the skincare aspect. I am however, obsessed with my eyebrows - the only grooming routine I will pay someone to do. Most days, I use the Anastasia brow pencil, some Lancome's Modèle Sourcils Brow Groomer, conceal blemishes with Kjaer Weis' foundation in Just Sheer, apply some In Fiore Veloutee and I'm good to run out of the house.
If my face is looking particularly sickly (which is all the time these days), I use some Kjaer Weis blush and Ilia's Lip Conditioner in Nobody's Baby. On days when my eyes get puffy and red from late nights up, I just run an ice cube wrapped in cling wrap over my eyes for a few minutes; it's another trick I learned from Chizu Saeki's book. I then use my recently discovered holy grail product, the Tom Ford correcting pen to fix my omnipresent dark circles (see picture above).
I have a few little jars of Dolce & Gabbana's cream eyeshadow that for those rare occasions I need to look less wild-eyed and slightly more grown-up. Cream eyeshadows work better for my scaly eyes than the Laura Mercier stuff I had been using. I gave the RMS Organics eyeshadow a try but I don't think coconut oil works for me.
Fragrance
I've never been much of a fragrance person, and especially so after attending a seminar series on how synthetic fragrances are terrible for you. However, I absolutely adore Coqui Coqui's Rosas Secas (a smoky, dry rose), layered with some Histoires des Parfums Amber 114; together they evoke some forgotten feminine mystery in me. On most days though, I avoid fragrances and instead use some essential oil mists from Lotus Wei (particularly Quiet Mind) as well as the all-natural solid perfumes from In Fiore (my favorite being Vetiver Sambac and the discontinued Fleur Blanches). I also stash a bottle of La Bella Figura Travel Therapy in my bag for days when I'm feeling overwhelmed.
Body care
I tend to take pretty quick showers on a daily basis, but I have to wash my hair on most days. For some reason, the John Masters' Organics hair products stopped working for me - I think they changed the formulation so it no longer works for my somewhat limp and oily locks. I currently alternate between Grown Alchemist's Damask Rose shampoo and Christophe Robin's Delicate Rose Volumizing Shampoo. For conditioning, I use either my dwindling supply of David Mallett conditioner, Christophe Robin Prickly Pear Renegerating Cream or Oribe Supershine Light Moisturizing Cream. Beyond that, I don't style my hair other than the occasional spritz of Klorane dry shampoo for dirty hair days and traveling and some Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray for volume. I'm still using the Olivella 100% olive oil soap which is the only soap that doesn't ever dry my skin out. When I hop out of the shower, I slather on some In Fiore Kashmir or Jolie body balm and I'm good to go.
My ritual on Sundays at 7pm sharp, rain or shine or work be damned is to light a couple of Cire Trudon/Mad Et Len candles and down half a bottle of wine all while taking a long hot soak in the tub. I do a long session of body brushing first with an ionic body brush, slough off the dead skin with whatever body scrub I have on hand then I go nuts with epsom salts, seaweed salts, Ancient Minerals and In Fiore's body oils as they tend to help a lot with my eczema. I also recently discovered the magic of Mama Mio's Liquid Yoga and I've come close to drowning many a time when soaking in that dangerous cocktail of salts, eucalyptus oil and wine. The dog finds the steam from the bath so enticing, he usually spends the entire time splayed out on the bath mat inhaling the relaxing scents. I suspect he also really just likes to lick the salty bathwater after I'm done; sorry for the TMI.
Holistic Wellness
I know that genetics will be by far the biggest factor in determining the condition of your skin, but I think that diet is a close second. In the summer I tend to eat a lot of salads and not much other supplements, but in the winter, I go nuts with a bunch of holistic wellness products. I recently discovered the magic of Moon Juice in LA. Their products are somewhat overpriced and you can get similar products from Dragon Herbs if you know what you're doing, but I'm a lazy cow, so I just stock up on a bunch of Moon Dusts from CAP Beauty when there is a coupon code. The Moon Dusts are basically just powdered herbs for general wellness and I feel (maybe naively) that they do wonders for my skin with my favorite of the lot being the Spirit Dust. I'm also in love with the Moon Juice's Raw Sprouted Almond butter - I eat it by the spoonfuls with cacoa nibs, which may account for why my waistline has been a little pudgier than usual. For immunity and to help with my eczema, I find that the Virgin Raw Bee Panacea has been working out pretty well - honey is suppose to help with fighting all kinds of bugs and ailments, but who knows, the bees can barely defend themselves. Other than that, I am still supplementing with Green Vibrance or its alternative, Sunfood's The Sun Is Shining and taking tons of Vitamin C, elderberry syrup and zinc.
If you're looking for a good wellness cookbook, I highly recommend 'The Art of Eating Well' by Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley. They're pretty much the trendiest chefs out there at the moment and may be slightly ill-informed about gluten but their recipes are extremely comforting without being too heavy or too complicated. I particularly like that they recommend having "warming" foods which helps with digestion instead of too much raw foods. I've been making some of their Asian inspired dishes and all I can say is that they're as good cooks as they are good looking.
So there's my overlong skincare and wellness regime that is by no means streamlined or minimalistic but I spend an inordinate amount of time and money on my skin because I'm vain and that's all I have going for me. I know I'm using some pretty high-end products but I've tried almost all the health food store brands (Evan Healy, Acure, Gabriel Organics, MyChelle, Suki) and never had much good results especially as I got older. I really can't speak highly enough about Julie Elliott's luxurious apothecary line - In Fiore. I even turned my chemical-based skincare loving mother on to In Fiore. I read the recent Yasmin Sewell interview on Into The Gloss where she talks about her favorite skincare products and her love for the Hemsley sisters' gastronomic delights, all of which made me feel oddly validated.
If you have a holy grail product (somewhat eco-friendly and EWG approved), I would love to read about it. For in reviews of holistic/green products, my favorite blogs are kimberlyloc.com and Genuine Glow (on whom I have a very creepy girl crush). Evan Healy, whose products unfortunately do not work for me, also has a sporadically updated blog that I find very useful if you're trying to change to a holistic wellness regimen.
NB: I just realized I have this post formatted like Into The Gloss' Top Shelf! Talk about self-aggrandizing.
NB: Most items found on this page can be purchased at Beautyhabit, Nordstrom & Net-A-Porter. The wellness products can be purchased through Moon Juice Shop or CAP beauty. Everything else can be purchased through Amazon.com.
Note: Some of the product links will provide me with a commission if you make a click or make a purchase. See here why I decided to do affiliate linking. As always, I encourage you to shop around for sale/discounted items and to shop responsibly.
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