Basic Skin Care.

Hello my lovelies today I wanted to talk to you about skin. Nope not what skin is, I’m hoping I don’t have to explain that to anyone, but about how to look after skin. This is a subject that is very close to my heart. At about 13 years old my mum introduced me to a world of magic known as skin care and ever since then I have been on a quest to make mine and everyone else’s skin look the best it can. This quest has taken me to numerous shops, brands and counters and I have been lucky enough to have had professional training in some really amazing products. So it is with this knowledge, experience and passion that I really wanted to write this post. First of all I would like to get a few things straight from the start. I am not a dermatologist, I don’t have a doctorate and I haven’t done any laboratory research projects. I am not going to offer you the world on a stick, cure cancer or make you look 10 years younger. I just want to pass on my passion for gorgeous, natural skin. I want people to feel confident enough to be able to leave the house without a full face of make up if they want to.

So I have had a little think about it and I thought “why does this matter so much to me?” and the answer is simple, I don’t want to look rough when I am older. In fact I want to be like Peter Pan and never get old! Now I am aware that Peter Pan is a fictional character but a girls gotta dream. So I want to look young for as long as I can, none of that growing old gracefully for me I’m going to grow old  like Cher and to achieve my goal I know that I have to take care of my skin on the inside and out. Unfortunately what I’m not going to discuss with you today is the inside because to be honest we all know that if we put rubbish in to our bodies then we will look like rubbish. So yes I try to eat moderately healthy, don’t get me wrong I like the odd pie every now and again, I am a northern lass after all, but I just don’t eat it every day. I also try and get in some of my 5 a day and drink water. As well as this I am a non smoker and non drinker so that helps me by default. It's not only what we put in to our bodies but what we do with out bodies that has an effect on the skin as well. Partying hard, exercise and stress all have en effect too so just remember when you are brushing your teeth with a bottle of Jack, Ke$ha has a full team of stylists making her look gorgeous, and if you are doing this maybe you need the number for Alcoholics Anonymous ;0)

So what am I going to talk to you about? Products and skin care routine.

Lets start with the cliché, cleanse, tone and moisturise. I would like to think that most women and at least some men do these basic skin care steps on a regular basis now. It has been drummed in to us by campaign ads and pushy sales people the world over, but as much as I HATE pushy sales people they are not wrong about this. Cleanse, tone and moisturising are going to be your foundation (not to be confused with the make up product) of your skin care routine and it must be done at least once a day. I can hear it already, the chorus on the wind that is “I don’t have enough time”, well we will see about that! I want you to think about your basic skin care routine as a necessity like brushing your teeth, you wouldn’t go out with out doing that in the morning would you?, and it should take no longer than brushing your teeth. So lets say you brush your teeth for the dentist recommended length of time, which by the way is around 2mins. Then your basic skin care routine takes lets say 3mins. That’s 5mins guys! I’m sure you can find 5mins in the day, actually thinking about it I’m only asking you to find 3mins because I am hoping you already brush your teeth. If you are feeling really motivated you could even do your routine at night as well and then your skin could look even better. On this note I would advise that if you wear make up in the day then you definitely have to do your routine at night because sleeping in make up is a cardinal sin!.

I understand there are an infinite number of products on the market to choose from when it comes to skin care. So where do you start? If this is the first time you have ever thought about skin care then I would suggest that you visit a shop where you can get some professional help and advice. We are talking places like The Body Shop, Neil’s Yard, Lush, No7, somewhere where the staff are trained in their specific products. Even if you don’t buy anything you will get more of an idea about your skin type, what products are available and how they will benefit you.

Once you have your products get to using them! Using products is the only way to test if they work with your skin. There has been countless times that I have bought a product and it hasn’t worked the way I hoped it would with my skin. Unfortunately there is nothing you can do to eliminate this stage, its trial and error. All I would say is don’t get disheartened with this because eventually you will find products that work with your skin. I also believe that you should try products from different brands and price ranges. I have found that price does not necessarily indicate if the product will work with my skin or not. I also have no qualms about spending a hefty sum on skin care as long as it works for me.

Before I leave you to your own devices I would like to give you a quick run down of what kind of things you can expect to find when looking for your basic skin care products.

·        Literally thousands of products

·        Information on skin type and usage on the packaging so always read it

·        SPF or no SPF that is the question

·        Yes you do need a toner (only my opinion)

Well this post has in fact turned in to a two parter because I fear you may have switched off by now. The second part will be Advanced Skin Care… der der der and will be coming to a blog near you very soon.

To be continued……………………………………

Stacey x x