Clear Up Your Skin At Home

Summer is fast approaching and those hot days outdoors mean less makeup and more skin. If you've been laxing and neglecting your skin care routine, here is a quick way to help your skin recover in time for the next cook out, beach day, outdoor wedding or backyard barbeque you have planned.

Day One
Take care of the background - Pillows, cell phones, combs, scalp and even shower caps can transfer grease, bacteria and dirt onto your face causing breakouts and acne.

• Put on a new pillowcase every three days (also, try not to get your underarms onto your pillow, the deodorant can rub off and then rub onto your face). Your skin sheds and you don't want to be rubbing up on that dead skin for longer than necessary
• Steam/Sun your actual pillow once a week. This will help to decrease the bacteria in it Do you have a dryer? Throw it in there. No dryer? just take off the pillow case spray with febreze/baking soda and put in the sun for at least four hours.
• Wash your combs and brushes - the bacteria and build up of grease can be transferred onto your scalp and then down and around onto your hair line and then result in breakouts
• Wash your hair regularly, build up can get transferred onto sheets, headrests, your hair line and a bunch of other places close to your face
• Wash your shower cap every time you wash your hair
• Clean your phone/tablet/computer - finger-to-face transfer - enough said

Day Two

De - gunk. Prepare to be grossed out. Think of your skin like a blocked up toilet that you need to plunge out the gunk that is there. This is a two-step process.

1. Put on a clarifyng/purifying face mask - You can try the queen helene mint julep mask, an egg white mask, an avocado mask, an aspirin mask. Any of these have the ability to clear your pores. Wet your face, slather it on and relax.
2. After you thoroughly remove the mask, pat your face dry and apply an anti-bacterial oil to the entire face and neck overnight. I recommend tea tree oil or argan oil. The pure, virgin kind. You can get these for affordable prices at Earth Elements. 

Yes, this works for oily skin as well as it does for dry skin. Those two oils have the ability to not get greasy but to also reduce irritation, unclog pores and moisturize the skin. It's very important to keep your skin moisturized even while cleaning it. This will make it recover quicker and prevent it from going crazier.

Day Three

Go after the remainder. So you've started to unclog your pores by drawing out the impurities from deep inside with the mask. Now, you need to open up the pores for treatment. This is simple and feels quite indulgent.

1. Boil some water and pour it into a basin. Sit with your face over the basin, with a towel over your head. The steam can be intense so take a break every minute or so.
2. If you have pore strips apply to your nose
3. Close your pores by spraying cold water onto your face and then apply moisturizer

You should see a noticeable difference in your skin. For added results, break one or two capsules of vitamin E and apply to your face before you got to sleep at night. Your skin will thank you for it. Try this routine once a month or the week before a big event like a wedding or a photoshoot.

Try it out and let me know what you think.

Till later,

*Jane