Scrub-a-dub-dub: Your Guide to Skin Exfoliation

Aloha :)

First off, I wanted to thank everyone for their well wishes while I was recovering from my wisdom tooth extraction. I was actually able to start solid foods by the 3rd day and when I saw a few friends on the weekend, thy told me my face looked like I had never had surgery at all. Hooray for icing frozen green beans! My bottle of T-3s is still full and sitting on my side table... maybe I'll save those for a rainy day (You never know when you might fall off a cliff or break your arm, right?)

So while I was taking some time off, I was reading through my last post about milia and realized that while I recommended eye creams, I didn't recommend any exfoliating products/procedures. So today, I'm going to let you guys know the inside scoop on skin exfoliation and why it's so important!

Exfoliating your skin is the process of removing the top layer of dead skin cells. It is important to perform a thorough exfoliation at least once a week to ensure that your skin care is penetrating your actual skin and not just sitting on the surface. It also keeps milia, blackheads and whiteheads at bay by ensuring that your skin can effectively release its toxins/dirt/other junk without being blocked by a layer of dead skin. This can be achieved through manual and chemical exfoliation.

image c/o lifefoodnutrition.org

Manual Exfoliation

This process removes the top layer of skin through mechanical forces. Facial scrubs, facial peels (as in the ones you pain on your face and physically peel off), and things like a simple wash cloth fall under this category.

Facial scrubs are like cleansers that have small particles in the formula and gently buff your skin's surface as your gently massage the product into your face. Even if your daily face wash has a few exfoliating particles in it, it is important to perform a deep and thorough exfoliation weekly to get rid of things your daily cleanser can't handle.
When using a facial scrub, massage the product gently into your face with your fingertips or a face brush. DON'T use the palms of your hands (as satisfying as it may feel) to massage the product in because the skin on your face is very delicate and you don't want to aggravate it if you're massaging too hard.
Facial peels are probably my favourite kind of exfoliator. They are usually a thick, goopy consistency in a jar form so you can get into it with an applicator that's usually provided. Like any facial exfoliation treatment, this should be used about once a week as well.
Before you use a facial peel, cleanse your face with your normal cleanser. After that, "paint"/apply the peel onto your face with the paddle or brush applicator that is provided and wait for it to dry. Once it's dry to the touch, gently rub at the edge of the peel and slowly "peel" it off of your face. It's actually really amusing (I find) because I always try to remove my peel in one piece and fashion a weird, skin-like mask out of it. You also get to see all of the dead skin cells on the side of the peel that was against your face. It's really cool!
If you don't have a scrub or a peel on hand, you can always use a washcloth. Just load it with your favourite cleanser and run it under water to lather it into a light foam. Massage the foam into your skin with the wash cloth and rinse away.

Chemical Exfoliation
 Chemical exfoliants come in the form of peels. These peels contain a small amount of acid in them, and when applied to your face in a cleanser/lotion, they slough off the top layer of skin. They are strong but effective. AHA's, BHA's (Alpha and Beta hydroxy acids) and glycolic acid are common exfoliants used in chemical peels.
One example of a really easy to use chemical peel is Philosophy's The Microdelivery Tripe-Acid Peel ($88 CAD for 12 individually wrapped peels, available at The Bay). It comes as individually packaged pads that are soaked with the solution that you gently swipe across your face and rinse off (Kind of like those OXY pads we grew up with as kids). I have a few of these at home that I won from a gift basket and I've yet to try them out. You can definitely expect a review coming up soon!

My Favourite Exfoliators
My skin care arsenal if currently equipped with two exfoliators that I love to death.

image c/o elizabetharden.com

Elizabeth Arden's Visible Difference Peel and Reveal Revitalizing Mask
This falls under the category of mechanical peel. I LOVE this stuff. It has a gel-like consistency, a gorgeous pinkish colour and it smells like wine (probably from the cabernet grape extract). The rubber spatula it comes with makes it a breeze to apply (It came with a brush like applicator before they changed the packaging. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to apply this stuff with a fan brush).
When I get a bad reaction to a skin care product, (Or when I'm having a horrible skin day) my skin gets really puffy and then it starts to flake (Believe me, it's really unattractive). When I'm at the flaking stage, I apply this mask at night time after I've cleansed my face. I can actually feel it tighten my skin as it tightens while it dries (usually about 15-20 minutes). Once it dries to a shiny skin, I gently peel it off of my face and continue with my skin care regime as usual. Everything goes on so smoothly and my skin just glows after using this. Love it!! ($41 CAD for 50mL available at Shoppers Drugmart, The Bay and Sears).

The Micro Exfoliating Wash

Philosophy's The Micro Exfoliating Facial Wash

I received this product in a gift set I got at Christmas. It's a gel-like cleanser that lathers into a light foam.

When you apply it on your face, it feels like a scrub with small particles gently buffing away at your skin. I've yet to figure out if it is actually beads (I can't see any in the formula, maybe I'm blind) or if it's a chemical exfoliant (I don't see any acids in the ingredients). What I can tell you is that after using this in the shower, my face feels really clean and it softens its texture. Once I get more info on this, I'll definitely do a full review! ($44CAD for 280 mL available at The Bay and Sephora).



There you have it, your guide to exfoliating your skin. Let me know if any of you have tried these products, or if you haven't, let me know of your favourite ways to exfoliate your skin!

xox,
ysobel

A-milli-a-milli-a-MILIA?

I got my wisdom teeth removed yesterday morning and I’ve got to say, recovery hasn’t been as bad as I thought it would be. My cheeks haven’t swelled up like crazy and I haven’t had any pain that is bad enough to merit taking the T-3’s that my doctor prescribed to me. I’m just feeling a little soreness and a tiny bit of swelling in the bottom right side of my mouth, but aside from that recovery has been progressing well. Since I’ll be home for the next few days I hope to be blogging a little more often this week.

Have you ever gotten weird little bumps around your eyes or your face that never, ever, seem to go away? You know for sure they aren’t pimples (because duh, they haven’t gone away), they aren’t black heads or white heads because they look like they look like bumps growing under your skin. You probably got them after trying new skin care products- likely an eye cream or an entirely new skin care regime.

A milia seed.

These, my friends, are called milia. That, is a milia seed that recently popped out of my left eyelid the other morning. Finally- I had been waiting for these babies to pop out of my skin for months now. I got them after using this sample of a luxury eye cream (that will remain nameless) for a few weeks. I probably developed about 7-8 milia bumps on both of my eyelids. Although only one of the 7/8 that I had popped out, it was the biggest one that was bothering me the most. You can see it in this photo here, from my Too Faced Natural Eye Shadow palette review. It’s sitting just over my left eye, closest to the bridge of my nose.

For those that don’t know, milia seeds are small, keratin-filled cysts that form underneath the epidermis (outer most layer) of your skin. They usually form from using skin care products that are too rich for your skin combined with a lack of exfoliation (sloughing off dead cells from the skin’s surface).

My skin is particularly dry, and as much as I want to hydrate it like crazy to keep my lines and wrinkles at bay, being a dry-skinned person I need to remember that I need to exfoliate often and use products that are light enough but hydrating enough for my eye area. The skin around your eyes is especially prone to things like milia because it is much thinner than the rest of the skin on your face. If you’re concerned about the skin on your eye contour, you need to use a moisturizer specialized for the eye that is separate from the one you use on your face because of how delicate the skin is here. Using a face moisturizer in your undereye area might just give you more milia.

What did I do to remove my milia?
After I noticed these bumps over my eye lids, I began to exfoliate like crazy. Removing the skin on top of the milia surface will help your milia pop right out of your skin. Whatever you do, DO NOT POKE AT THEM WITH A NEEDLE. If they are really bugging you, head down to a medical spa that specializes in milia removal and they’ll take care of the problem for you.

What can I do to prevent the formation of milia?
Like I said earlier, make sure you exfoliate your skin regularly so that your skin can properly remove toxins and other gross things from its surface efficiently and effectively. Use skin care that is appropriate for your skin type (first, figure out what your skin type it and what feel best to you). Some of the eye creams that I’ve used in the past that don’t give me any milia problems but hydrate beautifully are Clinique's All About Eyes ($37 CAD for 15 mL) and Biotherm's Skin-Ergetic Eyes ($40 CAD for 15 mL). I’m working on finishing up my jar of Clinique’s All About Eyes, but once that’s gone I’m going straight back to the Biotherm cream.

I think I’ve got a few milia on the side of my face and I’ll probably get those removed the next time I see an esthetician for a facial. I’ll keep you all posted on the status of my milia around my eyelids as they continue to pop out, haha.

Have you ever had milia before? Ever gotten them professionally removed? I'd love to hear from you!

xox,

ysobel

This is me in recovery mode. Yes, those are resealable bags full of frozen green beans on my face.

What's your Skin Type?: Digging up the dirt on skin types to help you find the best products for your skin

Hi everyone!

So the other night my friend came over to my place, complaining that his (I quote) "face was falling off". He had some flaking, things were itchy, and being a guy, he was picking at some weird scab on his nose. I ran upstairs to grab my emergency face-saver kit (which I will share in a future post) and gave him a mini-facial in the comfort of my living room. In the same way I was trained while working on a cosmetics counter at a department store, I asked him what his skin type was, how he felt after washing his face, etc. to make sure I was applying the right products for him.

Then it dawned on me. I guess a lot of people don't know what their skin type is. People are probably buying the wrong skin care products for their skin type... which is probably why so many people are complaining about their skin. It is imperative that you use proper skin care products to (1) make sure you're using the right combination of things to keep your skin looking its best (2) to prepare a canvas for any makeup application.

So, Mr. Suburban Bachelor, this post is dedicated to you. Here is my guide to figuring out your skin type, which will help you find the best products for your skin later on.

Generally, there are about 3 major classifications that most skincare companies use to organize their products: OILY, DRY, COMBINATION. You may also have heard of terminology like dehydrated and sensitive that I will address later on.

When figuring out your skin type, here are some questions you need to ask yourself:
How does my skin feel after I've washed my face (with your normal cleanser)? Does it feel dry and tight? Is it shiny?
Where is it dry/shiny?
Halfway through the day, do you have any shine on your face?
Do you need to blot? Blotting tissues help remove excess oil.

OILY SKIN: Generally after washing your face, you don't want to put anything else on it. You don't want to put any toners or moisturizers or anything on your skin because there is a film of sebum (facial oil) on your skin's surface. Nothing feels tight, and you are super shiny all over your face and feel that you need to use blotting papers several times daily.
There is a benefit to being oily-skinned: Despite looking like a greaseball, you will age gracefully. As we get older our skin tends to move more towards the drier side of things. Excess oil as a youngster means balanced skin when you're older. Your excess sebum will help (future) fine lines and wrinkles that contribute to aging.
Products: Use things targeting Oily Skin. These are light-weight, oil-free moisturizers, toners and cleansers that will help manage the excess oil on your face instead of add more. Even though you may feel like you don't want to add moisture to your face, but it is crucial that you use a moisturizer because it is possible for oily skin to be dehydrated.

DRY SKIN: After washing, your forehead and cheeks feel tight and drier than the Sahara Desert. Even after moisturizing your face feels tight, sometimes you'll experience occasional flaking from your dry skin cracking. Your skin is matte and you have little to no shine on your T-Zone (Forehead and Nose area).
Unfortunately, dry skin get even drier as you age, making you more prone to fine lines and wrinkles. This is why it's so important to get yourself on a proper, regular skin care regime that moisturizes your skin properly to help fight aging later on.
Products: Use products targeting dry skin (duh). These balance the oil-based and water-based moisture on your face to help keep everything soft and supple. Stay away from toners with alcohol in them because they will strip your face of its water content. Exfoliate regularly to keep your flaking at bay and make sure to use a moisturizer at night to allow your skin's night-time repair process to work as efficiently as possible.

COMBINATION SKIN:  Your forehead and nose feel comfortable after washing but your cheeks tend to flake. You have excess sebum glands on your forehead and nose but not so many on your cheeks, which is why your forehead and nose are oily but your cheeks are dry. You need to blot your T-zone 1-2 times daily to keep shine under control, but the rest of your face is matte. Sometimes you experience flaking on your cheeks and in the side crevices of your nose but seldom on your forehead and nose surface.
Products: Products targeted to Combo skin help rebalance the oil on your face - making the oil parts less oily and the dry parts more moisturized. You can use toners with a little bit of alcohol in them, but make sure they are of a gel-like consistency to help moisturize while it balances the excess oil.

Sensitive skin reacts through swelling, redness, or inflammation to products that your body will naturally reject. There are few products you can use on your face, even plant-based ones, because you will probably flare up. Stay away from products that contain fragrance because those are usually what irritates the skin.
Dehydrated skin lacks water, not oil. That is why it is possible for oily skin types to be dehydrated. Water hydration in your skin is within the epidermal layers, not on the surface. Look for products that have Sodium Hyaluronate or Hyaluronic Acid in them, these will add water-based moisture to the inner layers of your skin.
How do I know if my skin is dehydrated? When looking in a mirror, place your finger against the side of your cheek and gently push upwards without pushing into the skin. If you see fine horizontal lines on the skin on top of where you are pressing, your skin is dehydrated.

My tips for all skin types:
Exfoliate regularly. You need to use either a facial scrub or peel one a week to slough off dead skin cells. This ensures that your moisturizers and other products are penetrating the skin instead of sitting on the skin's surface.
Use a toner. Toner helps to balance the moisture of the skin's surface and primes it for moisturizer. After using a toner you'll find your moisturizer goes on much smoother. Stay away from anything with too much alcohol in it (IE: Alcohol is first or second ingredient) because it WILL strip your skin of its water content.
Use Sunscreen. Since the majority of our aging is due to the environment, SPF is the greatest anti-aging agent you could ever have. Invest in a moisturizer that is at least SPF 15, or find a facial sunscreen you can wear over your current moisturizer to boost its SPF.

Like skin tones, skin types are an entire spectrum. You can be Dry-Combo and Oil-Combo. You can have dry, sensitive skin, or you can be oily but dehydrated. Some companies have skin care products for the in-betweeners (Dry/Combo and Oily/Combo) and for people with sensitive skin. The key is to figure out what you are - that way you can purchase the products that are made for your skin that will help your skin look its absolute best.

Thank you, Suburban Bachelor, for inspiring me to write this. (There is a link to his blog, in case any of you ladies want the inside scoop on this guy, haha).

Let me know your experiences with any skin care products you've tried in the past. I'd love to hear from you!

xox,
Ysobel