SKIN SECRETS! SATURDAYS AT SEPHORA!
Megsmakeup.com revamped! WOohoo!
Truth or bare: Saturdays at Sephora!
Katie the resident Saturday's at Sephora resident pro!
July is always Skin Solutions month at Sephora. It has really come to be one of my favorite animations over the years. Because as fun as makeup is - It's important to take care of your canvas and there are some fabulous products that can make you look whiter, brighter, younger, more awake in just a couple steps --whether skincare or color or even fragrances! The mantra this month in our stores is "Truth or bare: Dare to bare your skin" and they've highlighted this little philosophy to go with it:
"No more hiding your face behind oversized sunglasses or your legs in capri pants. We dare you to bare your skin (every last inch of it!) with solutions to your biggest bare-it-all beauty dilemmas--sun damage, short lashes, wrinkles, bikini lines, pale legs, no-makeup makeup; they're all fair game here. So pick your beauty poison and peal off those layers to reveal skin that looks better in the buff. C'mon, we dare you."
Growing up in bigger-is-always-better Texas and spending a good portion of my formative years (college) in the deep south, I have seen a hundred too many other women who can't get over that Betty Crocker cake-cake-cake it on syndrome. And I believe wholeheartedly that too-much makeup (ESPECIALLY Complexion products) can make GREAT skin look dingy, OKAY skin look bad, and not-so-good skin look like plaster of paris. So I'm going to dare all of you Megsmakeup girls (lurkers and blabbermouths alike!) to amputate the heavy hand for a few weeks and dare to bare. You might just like it better!
Dilemma 1: Serious acne: the trick here is two-fold. 1) Stop it before it starts and 2) not exacerbate what's already there. A great 2-in-1 cleanser/exfoliator will remove your makeup, kill bacteria, and exfoliate dead skin which could otherwise recycle themsleves right back into clogging your pores. The DDF Glycolic Exfoliating Wash 5% will obviously cleanse, exfoliate and also rejuvenate the dullness of acne-laden sking. Another plus is that it can be used on face and body (good-bye bAcne!) I know most people will still want to add some color to camouflage scares and active blemishes. But a light hand is the trick to not looking cakey. Some good options are TARTE Smooth Operator Foundation; Dior Hydraction Tinted Moisturizer; Stila Natural Finish Foundation. Let me also go ahead and bust the myth about oil-free products. Yes they're great. But don't be overly concerned if their ARE oils in the products you use. Stay away from mineral or animal oils--the kind that leave you feeling greasy. Any oil that comes from a plant (tea tree, ylang ylang, or others) are NOT going to leave you feeling slick. In face, if your skin is receiving the NECESSARY amounts of oils (humectants that keep the water in your skin) then your body will shut off YOUR oil-producing glands and you'll be much less shiny!
Dilemma 2: Dull and sun-damaged. And who isn't sun damaged in this day and age? The trick for correcting and combatting this is Vitamin C, in a big way. Citric acid lightens and brightens. Vitaming C itself also works with your melanocytes (skin-pigment producing cells) to keep them healthy and functioning. My miracle product here is the Caudalie Vinoperfect Radiance Serum. If you read archived posts, I've obviously spent a lot of time tooting the Caudalie horn. But honestly, I haven't found anything better, for your money that corrects acne scarring, hyper-pigmentation, and improves all-around appearance of skin. A drop or two in your moisturizer AM, PM or both ...I swear you'll notice a difference in a couple of days and you'll wish it came in a gallon-size jug. (See Caudalie--Saturdays at Sephora archive post for some more in-depth explanation of how the Resveratrol and the Viniferine in this product work). Perricones Resorative Night Treatment is another good alternative...LOADED with Vitamin C. Secondly make sure to up the SPF to prevent any further damage, which you can have in any and all of your facial products - moisturizers, primers, foundations, and plain-ole suncreens.
Ladies, what you're secret to healthy less is more skin solutions?
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Comments
No BP. Just Salicylic. I think that Toner will do wonders for you.
Katie
Hello there ladies... I'm pretty much a lurker but I must come out and post my dire question regarding skincare! WHAT DO I USE?? I see so many products on here and I want to buy them all, but I have no idea which one is right for me. -- I'm 20 next month, extremely concerned about prevention, normal skin (not oily/dry), and don't break out (unless i don't remove my makeup!). -- I usually stick to drugstore brands like Olay. I am willing to spend if it is worth it, but since I get lost of the sea of options I tend to stick to the cheap stuff because if it doesn't work I won't be too disappointed! HELP! Oh, and the reason I lurk is because most of the products I haven't tried, I would love if we could have some sort of message board format too! Thanks so much for this site Meg!
Ladies, my heart goes out to all of you severe acne sufferers. I was an Acutane user twice and it was brutal. But so was dealing with the hardcore acne in middle school. Anyway, my biggest discovery is that I HAVE to use toner at night after I wash my face. No matter how much I cleanse, all my makeup doesn't come off until I tone. I seriously notice a difference in my skin after nights of laziness and not toning. A minor helpful hint, but maybe it'll help someone. :)
You're right about the Correcting Night Cream might be a little bit heavy for your skin. Also make sure that you're washing away all products (foundations,creams, cleansers, whatever out and away from your hairline. Sometimes you get that "halo" effect of leftover cleanser or other products on the outside of your face so just make sure you rinse it away. I'd say the breakouts are coinsidence. I had to stop using the Pomegranate Moisture from Murad because it broke me out. But that was just me.
Katie
I have a bit of an extensive skincare regimen as of late, since I have been experimenting. My wash varies every few weeks between Biore's Pore Unclogging Scrub, Cosmedicine's Foaming Face Wassh for Oily/Combination Skin, and Philosophy's Purity Made Simple (for when my skin needs a bit of a break). For a toner I use Kiehl's Ultra Facial Toner, but I'm considering switching to the Tea Tree Oil Toner soon. I use the Queen Helene Mint Julep Face Masque once a week, and every other day I exfoliate with Philosophy's Microdelivery Wash. On blemishes during the day I use the Murad Spot Treatment, and at night I use a 10 percent Benzoyl-Peroxide cream, since I have a tendency to get very deep, cystic blemishes that hurt like hell! As for moisturizer, I use Philosophy's Hope In a Jar at night and Cosmedicine's Medi-Matte during the day. SPF saves my life! My skin has a tendency to burn, baby, burn; even if I'm only outside for a few minutes.
Hi Siknik and welcome! Katerock is definitely going to be the better one to answer your questions, but I didn't want you to not get any response just in case...so my 2 cents are that I also broke out from the Caudalie day and night moisturizer. It was just a sample size, so maybe giving it more time will do the trick (Kate?), but I've never had any problems with the Vinoperfect radiance serum - and I've been using that a couple months now - day and night. I don't know anything about your Murad moisturizer, though and if that could be a problem. One thing I do use that has made the biggest difference I believe in my now finally blemish free skin is Kiehls Tea Tree Toner - every morning and night directly after cleansing (I use Lancome's Mousse Clarte foaming cleanser). Absolutely no breakouts on my very sensitive skin since I started that regimen about 2 months ago. As much as I love Kiehls, I did notice their Ultra facial line (cleanser and toner - I also saw your other post!), was a little too thick for me and did cause some breakouts. Hope that helps, but again, Kate may have much more insightful words to add!
I forgot to mention my most important piece of advice of all: Drink. Drink Water. It works absolute wonders for hydrating your skin and giving the "healty glow." Not to mention, most of the time when you think you're hungry, you're actually just dehydrated so you will be much less susceptible to binging on greasy food which (take it or leave it for this myth) your skin may not like so much anyways.
Katie
If you want a GREAT skin care product(like a cleanser) you have to try Proactiv Solutions. Yes, the commercials are cheesy and they have all these celebrities on them, but I started using this 7-8 years ago when I had bad acne or some kind of rash around my nose. I started seeing a difference within the two weeks I used it. My acne went away, blackheads, anything you can think of. I recommended this to my cousin(male) with very bad acne and didn't know if he bought it but one day I was at his house and saw it in his bathroom! No wonder his skin looked great! Seven years later I still use it because it's sooo great! Spend your money on this and you will see it is worth it!
I am sure Kate will get back to you on this, but I am thinking the cream is too heavy of a moisturizer for your skin. Depending on your skintype, I would suggest the Radiance Day Fluid SPF8, VINOPURE Matte Finish Fluid, and/or Energizing Fluid instead of the cream formulations. I would stop using the creams for a week and see if things improve or get worse. Best luck and keep us posted! Now, I want to try Kiehls Tea Tree Toner!
Kate, you are totally ON with this post. I really believe that no amount of foundation is going to give you fabulous skin, and the more you layer it on, the worse it looks. I'm a big less-is-more gal when it comes to foundation and am very pro-skincare and improving your actual skin in order to get that gorgeous skin look that everyone covets. That said, getting nice skin is much easier said than done. Here's my two cents: I also think vitamin C -- and antioxidants in general -- are SOOO important. They'll improve your skin now AND protect it in the future. I use MD Skincare Hydra-Pure Antioxidant Firming Serum in the morning and the Hydra-Pure C serum at night. These aren't exactly cheap, but i've been using the same bottles since January, so they are cost-effective in that sense. I also have skin that gets very oily -- especially in the summer -- and, maybe this is just me, but I find that the Shiseido Sun Protection Lotion also helps keep the oilies away. Sure, it feels a wee bit greasy going on (it is sunscreen after all) but it dries matte and I can put my makeup on over it (Laura Mercier mineral foundation -- also fab) with no trouble. That got kinda long-winded, but once I get started on my skincare routine, I just can't shut up about it :)
I come from a large family... 6 sisters and 3 brothers. Our parents came from large families... I have 75 first cousins. Let’s just say I can see the effects of environment vs. genetics. Some of my aunts relish the outdoors. Some do not. The same goes for me and my sisters. Let’s just say I’m an outdoor kinda gal. There is a huge difference in wrinkles, texture, and colour in the women who lived outdoors vs. the women who did not. I spent most of my first 25 years working outside, generally in fields or nurseries - so I really didn’t wear makeup, but I drank a lot of water - which I credit (with good genes) for a relatively zit-free life. I also didn’t wear much sunscreen. In the 80’s, you generally had zinc oxide (straight-up!) or Hawaiian Tropic Tanning Oil. Forget SPF, it was about the colour, which - being of Germanic descent with blond-red (now brownish) hair - I never developed anyway. I wouldn’t trade any of my wrinkles or “what the *$&%’s on your legs/hands/arms?” age spots. Given the same arsenal we have today, I would Wear Sunscreen. Trust me. Just make it a daily habit.
I get the bumps on my hairline & sometimes my forehead when I use a product my skin doesnt like... so that's my gauge... if my forehead bumps up I know it's just not for me. There have been a few productsthat did this to me, (no rhyme or reason either) olay serums, pro active cleanser, aveeno active naturals serum, and smashbox primer.... (those are just the ones I can think of right now) and I dont typically have senstitiveskin either... I wonder if it's the serum that's bothered your skin a bit... I really was liking the sound of that serum and still might put it on my wish list...
I also have oily acne skin and I think easily the best thing in sephora, and most likely the world, for gals like us is medi matte spf 20 with a tint by Cosmedicine. It's a mattifying tinted lotion with sun protection. AND it minimizes pores. Great on it's own with some concealer for blemishes aren't quite covered by the medi-matte (TheBalm time balm is the best, I agree with Kate) or under foundation for when you want a lot of all over coverage.
DDF Glycolic Exfoliating Wash. This stuff works so good on blackheads! I had a bunch on my nose and I borrowed it from a friend. The next day I woke up horrified. I had disgusting zits all over my nose where I had blackheads. I immediately gave it back and tried to deal with the new zits. They went away after a couple days and that's when I noticed that I had no blackheads on my nose, or anywhere on my face! And the zits hadn't even left marks! The blackheads still haven't come back since then. It's great.
p.s. Hooray for my first post and no longer being a lurker!
Wow, rarkin coul steal my job. Meg, we need the review for that SkinEffects acne set to come up soon! I've been using it and am loving the side effectsd. Kellie76 - I can also recommend highly the Clinique AcneSolutions line -especially the clarifying lotion/toner. It's made a huge difference for my starnge hormones.
Katie
I'm going to take this opportunity to come out of lurker hiding and make my first post! I have been reading Meg's for a while now and have gotten some great tips. Skin care wasn't something I always thought about. Growing up I had the kind of skin that other people envied..smooth, even, blemish free, even through the teenage years. My only problem up until last year was that during the winter months I would get so dry my skin would flake off. That problem was easily solved using Cliniques 3-step system for very dry skin and I was floating along through life with great skin not thinking much about what I used. Well. I hit age 22 and I don't know what happened, but suddenly I had pimples all over especially throughout my t-zone. Of course I freaked out and changed everything I was putting on my face and probably did more damage than anything. Since then I've been on the hunt for new skincare that will help my skin be what it used to be (or at least come somewhat close)! After trying countless products (and chaning my birth control pill) I'm now using Murad products and have seen great improvement. I still am on the hunt for a good toner though, so I may take the advice of you awesome ladies and try either Kiehl's or the Clinique Acne Solutions toner. Kate, does the clinique toner have benzyl peroxide in it? I found out through my trip through acne products that my skin only gets worse with benzyl products, so I try to stay away from those.
I have been inspired by the lurker post to come out and say WHATTUP?! I had a question for you ladies. I went out and bought the Caudalie products after seeing allthe rave reviews. I bought the Vinoperfect radiance serum (awesome stuff) and the Night Correcting Cream.(which I think is the same thing as the night perfecting cream?) Anyway, I've been using the products for about a week at nightime and the Murad energizing pomegranate moisturizer for thedaytime and have noticed some breakouts along the hairline, chin area, and forehead. Is this just a coincidence or has this happened to anyone else when first using the Caudalie products? I am not typically acne-prone just sometime in the summer I get combinationskin. Otherwise I usually have normal skin. If this is so, will it clear up? Or is this maybe just a coincidence?
I agree that great skin is more crucial than layers of make-up. So I appreciate this post Kate. I personally have very oily and acne prone skin. I was wondering what is the best concealer for my acne? Also what suggestions do people have for a primer and or shine control product for my skin type? I am greedy with the questions here but: Does anyone have any tips for great and budget friendly oil/acne control cleansing/moisturizing/whatever products? Summer is the worst for this. I want to have sun protection but I am a constant oil slick. Help!
Thanks for all the help. I think I will take your suggestions and go with the Kiehls Tea Tree Toner rather than the Ultra toner. I was also thinking of trying Kiehl's Ultra Facial Moisturizer with SPF for a daytime moisturizer instead of the Murard pomegranate which seems a little greasy.As for a cleanser, what would you reccomend? My skin is pretty much normal to oily/combination and after I wash my face it feels tight and dry but I am prone to breakouts around the chin and forehead. Usually midday I get slightly oily t-zone, nose, chin. I have a feeling these sudden breakouts may also be a result of stopping birth control about 6 months ago. I heard that reaks havok on your face.
I am late to the forum, but cannot resist any post on the topic of skincare. I believe in Cosmedicine's Medi-Matte Tint! Cannot say enough how much I love this for oily skin. And, Kate-Kate-Kate, you are responsible for my love of Caudalie, and j'adore (for my nearly 40 yo skin) their Vinexpert, Firming Serum. For acne prone skin, I would keep it simple. Do not use scrubs or scrubbing devices on acne prone skin. You can increase your cell turnover rate and exfoliate gently by using a skincare product with BHA or Salicylic Acid. I also highly recommend a trip to the Dermatologist for Retin A (follow the Doctor's advice and don't overdo it). Many people with severe acne would say Accutane is the only way to go. I have found that using Blue Light Therapy has also helped clear and prevent my breakouts. I currently use a prescription strength spot treatment that is a combination of BP and an antibiotic; it is called "BenzaClin" gel. So far, I have never found one thing out there (and believe me I have tried just about everything) to keep me clear 100% of the time, but my breakouts have significantly decreased and my skin has never looked better. Best wishes for great skin everyone!
Thanks ladies. I need all the tips that I can get! The Balm timebalm is ok to be used for an acne concealer?
this looks really nice!
Try using white washcloths. You will always know if something was left behind.