An Esthetician’s Secret Skin Care Regimen…What Exactly Do I Use On My Face?

First of all, I must be honest, I’m constantly trying new products so that I can stay ahead of the constantly changing beauty curve. But I thought it might be a great time to share with you the variety of products that I’m currently using in my skin care regimen and why. This may not be the ideal regimen for your skin but it could give you a few good ideas.

Weekly Used Products

I try to use a few different products on a schedule weekly, I generally pick specific days to use them. Like I always use Retin A on Sundays and Thursdays for example so that my poor brain can remember when I’m supposed to!

Retin A

If you’ve ever had skin cancer, pigment issues, acne issues or generally need tightening, there is no product that conquers skin problems better than Retin A. It penetrates deeper than most products and helps to perfect the DNA of the skin cell making it plump and gorgeous. It also sloughs away dead cells on the surface faster leaving you a nice tight, clear finish to your skin. An unknown fact about Retin A is that it can help you reduce skin cancer risk as well. I use a fat, pea-size dot of Retin A on my face every Sunday and Thursday night. That’s all the dosing I really need at this point to keep things in check. Many folks abstain from Retin A in the summer but I don’t, I just make sure that I’m using a quality sunscreen every day.

Offects Exfoliating Polish

On the days I wash my hair, I also use this awesome exfoliating polish in my skin care regimen. Quite frankly, I used to believe that Retin A was all the exfoliant I needed but new studies have come to light that there’s a great place in your regimen for exfoliation. This non-aqueous facial polish blends ultra fine magnesium crystals (I absolutely LOVE magnesium by the way) and antioxidant A, C and E to make your face glow gorgeously. I recently added it to my regimen and now I can’t seem to live without it! There are some people that can use this every day, I don’t think my tender skin will likely get to that point.

Offects TE-Pads

I’m highly acne prone, especially around my cycle, and these awesome peel pads have made a huge difference for not just me but my husband and my daughter’s break out prone skin as well! On the days I don’t use the Exfoliating Polish I wipe my face down with these easy to use pre-soaked pads. Unlike other peel pads, they also reduce irritation and redness in the skin so you can keep acne down without being dry and irritated.

 

My Morning Skin Care Regimen

I am definitely good about washing my face and applying my products daily. If you get in the habit of it, it can take you literally less than a minute to knock your skin care regimen out so there’s no excuse for not making it happen. I do not let things settle in by the way, I literally just throw layer by layer on as quickly as I can so as not to make it too much of a production.

My Morning Cleanser – ZO Skin Health Normacleanse

Personally, I don’t care which specific cleanser you are using on your own face, if it’s make you happy and you enjoy using it (and it works) then that’s perfect. I chose the Normacleanse in my AM skin care regimen because it comes in a GIGANTIC size that takes me forever to run out of and it does a great and gentle but effective job of cleaning my skin. If you like the idea of a huge bottle of cleanser, you should check out their whole line of cleansers and find one you’d like to try.

My AM Antioxidant – Skinceutical CE Ferulic (winter) or Skinceuticals Phloretin CF (Summer)

I love antioxidants, they protect your skin from aging better than anything else. If you aren’t using one, quite frankly you’re missing a great way to keep your face in shape and prevent aging and ugly brown spots. I use about 4 drops of Skinceuticals antioxidants every (or if I’m lazy every other) day. I like the CE Ferulic in the winter due to its nice oil content but switch to the Phloretin CF in the summer due to the humidity levels rising but nonetheless, I use them all year long without fail! Most beauty experts will tell you that they truly make a difference.

Enzymes and Peptides To Protect and Repair My Skin – Daily Power Defense

Enzymes are the newest, most innovative product you can use on your skin. They protect, reverse DNA damage and strengthen your skin’s fight against aging and the elements. Forever as an esthetician, I’ve had access to enzyme products to be used in the treatment room but this is the first time I’ve had a quality enzyme product that you can use in your own skin care regimen! If you put Daily Power Defense on half of your face with no sunscreen and went outside, it would have far less negative reaction to sun, humidity and more than the side with nothing on it. Over time use of enzymes reduce acne issues, redness and inflammation issues, sun damage issues and literally strengthens and fortifies your skin in an amazing way. As you can tell, I’m super excited about using this product!

AM Moisturizer – Skinceuticals Triple Lipid Restore

Quite frankly, I don’t use moisturizer daily because if you’re good with your serums your skin is in such good health it retains it’s moisture well. But sometimes I feel tight and dry and I love some boost to my skin. I’ve fallen in love with Skinceuticals’ new product Triple Lipid Restore. This lightweight moisturizer does all kinds of nice things for the skin including:

• Restores essential skin lipids: ceramides, natural cholesterol, and fatty acids
• Improves the look of skin fullness, texture, and pore appearance
• Improves the appearance of skin evenness and overall radiance
• Provides improved hydration in 24 hours, ideal for dry skin
• Unique stabilization system in a lightweight and fast-absorbing texture

It’s quite the bang up product so if you’re seeking a new moisturizer this one is a worth trying!

My Favorite Morning Eye Cream – Hydrafirm Eye Brightening Repair Cream

I’m so picky about eye creams, if they don’t work it’s a waste of money! I love this eye cream in the morning, it has caffeine and shea butter for skin lightening and hydration around the eye plus kojic acid which helps significantly reduce darkness over time. Hydrafirm works so well that if you put it on one side you can see a difference in your eyes within a couple of minutes. Probably my favorite eye cream that I’ve used in a long time!

Always Finish The Morning Routine With Sunscreen! My current favorite –  Oclipse Sunscreen + Primer SPF 30

My Oclipse sunscreen is loaded with goodies, especially zinc or titanium dioxide. But sunscreen is a personal thing, there are so many different textures and types. I recommend you find one that you’ll use and makes you happy! I like this one because on the weekends it serves as a foundation because it has a little coverage in it plus it’s loaded with antioxidants and other goodies. It protects even against damage from indoor lighting (did you know that was messing up your face too?) It’s super smooth and glides on easily but never breaks me out! If you don’t like primer textures, I have other sunscreen recommendations here…

Nighttime Routine

The night is the best time for anti-aging products, sleep allows for the best reversal of damage so I focus on those types of products in my nighttime skin care regimen.

Nighttime Cleanser – Skinceuticals Gentle Cleanser

I love a cream cleanser for the purposes of removing makeup, plus Skinceuticals Gentle Cleanser smells like oranges and feels great going on my face. It literally gently dissolves the makeup from my face quickly and efficiently and leaves no residue behind. If you enjoy cream cleansers you should definitely give this one a whirl!

Ossential Lash Enhancing Serum

Forever I used Latisse but I’ve recently begun to have problems where I can’t use it and I missed my pretty lashes! Ossential Lash Enhancer does a good job (still not as good as Latisse unfortunately) of keeping my lashes fuller and longer without the risks associated with Latisse. With nightly use my lashes stay in great shape and there’s no irritation issues at all with this product, plus it’s about a third the cost of Latisse.

 

 

Ossential Growth Factor Serum

I’m a big believer in Growth Factor serums. Growth factor products help re-grow and maintain collagen levels better than anything on the market. I believe they are one of the main reasons that I look younger than I am, between my antioxidants, growth factors and sunscreens, if you only did those 3 products you could seriously keep your skin looking great! This product is less expensive than many other growth factor serums but still contains all of the effectiveness. Mixed with a touch of retinol to deliver fantastic product penetration this product can’t be beat for the price.

A Night Antioxidant For My Neck And Chest – Skinceuticals Resveratrol

We’ve all read how wine extract is great for aging and Skinceuticals has bottled that good stuff up and made it for night use. I personally found Resveratrol to work best for me on my neck and chest, which many times shows aging faster than our faces. This packs prevention and reversal in one product, with regular use you can see quite an improvement in those areas!

Age Spot Prevention and Reversal plus Moisturizer – Brightalive

I am so fair skinned and naturally pigment prone that I have to use something year round to keep that under control. Brightalive is one of my favorite new products for this purpose plus it has a perfect amount of moisture for nighttime too. This innovative product contains Alpha Arbutin, a natural but highly effective skin brightener to keep those age spots under control plus many more goodies including:

Last Night Step – A Super Hydrating Eye Cream – Olluminate Intensive Eye Repair

Olluminate uses Lavender and fruit extract to calm and soothe the eye area plus Mica and Vitamin E to boost hydration and keep your eyes looking their best. I definitely look better rested on the nights that I remember to use this product and over time it continues to improve more.

Well that’s my routine, it may sound like a lot but really it’s a few items in the morning and less at night. Generally it takes me less than 3 minutes to wash my face and put my products on which is worth the effort to fight the hands of time!

To order any of the ZO products featured Click here…

Jennifer Warmann-Bloss

-Jennifer is a blogger, mom and owner of Elemental Esthetics in St Louis, MO

Sources:

http://www.skincancer.org/prevention/sun-protection/prevention-guidelines/new

http://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/super-antioxidant

http://www.self.com/flash/beauty-blog/2012/02/are-enzymes-good-for-skin/

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