Moisturization

Growing up, I was a little less knowledgeable about how my skin worked and why it reacted the way it did with certain types of products. Being a bit more understanding about skin care, I can see through my experience that moisturizers containing high concentrations of fragrances really caused my face to breakout out due to irritation. When my skin was irritated it was usually caused by certain types of ingredients found in many brand name products, which included alcohol and menthol, and much more. Avoiding all of these ingredients however is almost impossible because these large health and beauty companies find that specific ingredients mentioned above are cheap to manufacture. Businesses need to keep their overhead expenses low so that they can make bigger profits.

 When you do choose a moisturizer, it should be based on your skin type. Whether that is dry to normal or combination to oily skin, your moisturizer will benefit you best if you take into consideration the consistency/texture and ingredients contained in it. My skin type for example, is combination, which basically means that your t-zone is usually oilier than the rest of your face. My forehead is always the oiliest area of my face and that is where I break out the most. Another thing that I noticed is that right after I’ve cleansed my face is when my skin is the driest. It’s only after a few hours that I notice my forehead getting oily, if I did not moisturize daily. When your skin is stripped of natural oils it may over produce oil to combat the dryness of your skin.

 If your skin is dry to normal, it will appreciate a moisturizer that has a creamy consistency that contains beneficial antioxidants to restore and moisturizes that dull appearance it may have. If your skin is combination to oily, it will absorb a moisturizer that has a water based formula, which also contains rich ingredients to help improve the look of your skin. There have been many moisturizers that I have tried that has left my skin looking too greasy and even made my breakouts worse! Yeah, they smelt great and yeah, they weren’t water based, because no, I had no idea that moisturizers weren’t created equal. They’re not. What I currently use is REN’s Clear Calm Replenishing gel cream. For the first week of using the moisturizer, my breakouts were gone and my face was not oily. The moisturizer itself was a light weight white gel like cream. I found that a little went a long way every time I used it, because it absorbed really well.  The only down side was that it was on the pricy side for a moisturizer. I got it from Sephora for $39.00. The only reason I got it was because I had previously gotten samples of one of their skin care lines.

 Looking back to the time where I thought slapping more grease on my already greasy face didn’t make much sense to me in helping with my breakouts, I naturally turned to the fastest way that I could get rid of them. So after trying a ton of acne medications that claimed they worked, I settled for Clean and Clear’s persa-gel acne medications. Honestly I’m not even lying when I say that my pimples jumped off my face the next morning. It contains a decent amount of benzoyl peroxide that helps with problem solving acne bacteria. Other acne causing factors will be covered in my next blog. Every Wednesday I will be covering beauty care topics, and common solutions.