...And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good...
-Genesis 1:11-12

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

My Skincare Routine

Hey Everyone! Today I'm going to share my skin care routine with you. This is different from my skincare tips that I've shared before, and there are still more post to come there. Those tips are special treatments or exfoliations I give my skin once a week, once a month, or whenever I feel like it, but this post is just what I do from a day to day basis to remove makeup, and clean and moisturize my face.

I switch between using oil and honey to cleanse my skin. Oil cleansing, while amazing for your skin, shouldn't be done every single day, as, strange as it seems, can strip the skin if done too often. On days where I have no makeup on, I definitely just use honey. I also never use oil to cleanse in the morning. If you give your skin a nice treatment before bed, a gentle wash in the morning is all you need.

At night I start out by washing my face, either by gentle splashing my face with warm water, or with a hot washcloth on my face to prepare my skin for oil cleansing.
If I have makeup on, I'll remove it with either Sweet Almond oil or Coconut oil, or both. If I'm oil cleansing I'll massage the oil all over my face with my hands and remove the residual eye makeup with cotton balls.  If not, a quick wipe with oil on a cotton ball on my face, and more thoroughly on the eyes. If I'm using honey, I massage a good amount all over my face, and wipe it clean. Normally this is moisturizing enough,  but if I feel the need for something more I'll follow this with an application of my DIY Whipped Coconut Oil and Honey. I just apply it in areas like my chin, nose and troubled areas of my forehead and leave it overnight.

In the morning I usually just wash my face with warm water and go, but if I'm feeling oily, I will sometimes cleanse my face with honey or moisturize/cleanse with the DIY Whipped Coconut Oil and Honey (and wash it off, I don't leave it on in the day) I also keep my lips healthy and moisturized by regular lipbalm application. Morning and night, and before I apply makeup. I am currently using the wholefoods Organic Lipbalms, my favorite is Peppermint, but I also occasionally use the Vanilla/honey one.
Makeup Free Post-nightly skincare routine selfie ;)




I hope you all enjoyed this, and it wasn't too boring. I always enjoy watching youtube videos on these subjects, I find it interesting what they use and how people care for their skin, so I thought I'd share mine with you. Let me know if you like these kind of posts by commenting or voting on the polls I have posted on my sidebars. If you are reading from Blog Lovin', visit my phsyical blog to vote on what content you like, and would like to see in the future. Thanks for reading!

  ~Elissa

5 comments:

Livia Rachelle said...

Do you use raw honey? I bought natural honey but forgot to get raw. I only occasionally use this on my face (I mixed it with baking soda the other day). I fairly regularly use sugar and water and then soda and water as face scrubs, but I usually also use natural soap and I probably need to get out of doing that. I am afraid to use oil because I break out sooo easily; as in if I sleep with my hair to close to my face for one night and have it too close during the day, I get HUGE blemishes. If I tried oil would my face eventually become accustomed to it (I cut down on shampooing and my scalp oil production eventually slowed).

Elissa Pickle said...

Sometimes I use raw, or not. I do like raw honey better, but I don't always keep it around.

Do be careful of using sugar on your face. The shape of the crystals can (besides the intent of pulling off the top layer of skin you are trying to do when exfoliating) will cause tiny cuts on your skin, and over time will cause major damage. If you must use sugar, limit it to something like a once monthly treatment.
Baking soda could also be the cause of your oil skin. Your face has a delicate PH balance and if you using something highly alkaline (baking soda) or acidic (vinegar, citrus fruit) it can cause major trouble with your skin's PH drying it or creating more oil.
Also, remember that your skin will only regenerate up to a certain point in your life, make sure you are only exfoliating when you need to remove the dead layer.

Just a heads up. No judgement, and I'm not trying to be preachy or anything, I just thought I'd share!

Livia Rachelle said...

Thanks, I appreciate learning more about natural stuff. I do need something for exfoliation, do you have any suggestions? I have read of using almond meal and ground oats.

Elissa Pickle said...

The only thing I use to physically "scrub" my face are oats that have been soaked in hot water until they're a little soft. (and I don't even "scrub, just gently massage)And I only do this only sparingly, a couple times a month absolute max.


I personally wouldn't use ground almonds on my own face, (but that being said, they would be better than sugar, I am just not sure about the PH of almonds)
I wouldn't use them just because I don't like using anything more abrasive than oats. I don't want the chance of damaging the elasticity of my face at all. I already have droopy features, and I know that as I age, this will only worsen, so I am doing everything I can to take care of the elastin of my face. If you are willing to give a non-abrasive exfoliant a try, try something with a chemical reaction like AHA. Strawberries, peaches, (basically any fruit but citrus and whole pineapple fruits are good) Make a soft mask of some fruit and that is the absolute best way to remove the dead layer of skin. I like to chop a strawberry into thirds, and use the part with the leaves on, rub it on my face and leave it while i use the strawberries in a smoothie, then I wash it off after a bit.

I think I'll do a post more in depth about the facial skin, and how to not damage it and how to care for it, I have been doing lots of research lately, so it should be a good time to do it with it all fresh in my mind. Anything you would like addressed in that post?

Livia Rachelle said...

Could you provide links and book titles of sources you have found helpful. My main reliable source is The Green Beauty Guide, and I have also looked at Dr. Hauschka's beauty book. Other than that it I just have blogs.
Have you tried dry brushing? What about exfoliating body skin like legs and feet? Is natural soap a good idea for the face or body (I have hear that it washes off a vitamin, d maybe, that the skins needs to absorb)?