My Favorite Skin Care Products

When I was a senior in high school my prom date’s mom told me I looked like I was 12. In college I was told more than once, that I looked like “a little girl.” I’m not short (5’7″)–so it’s not a stature thing, but now that I’m a full grown adult and people are surprised by my age–You’re in your 40’s!?!–and it finally feels like a compliment, I OWN IT. Why yes I am in ym 40’s, Thank you for being surprised by my age in a good way. 

People routinely ask me about my skin care regimen on Instagram and while clearly some of it stems from having the face of a young child, I do try and take good care of my skin and routely try new products and see what is working or what’s not working.

About 6 months ago I read an article saying that the secret to good skin is being rich. Sounds accurate. The point being that its not about how much water you drink and maybe not even your genetic make up, but rather if you have enough money you can have great skin. In some ways that idea can feel discouraging as not many of us can afford to spend a Beyonce video on products and proceedures. On the otherhand, I think it’s great news that even if you can’t afford to go over the top, many of us can splurge on a few high-quality products that will drastically enhance the look and appearance of our skin–everything from acne and age spots to fine lines and wrinkles. Since I don’t ever go to the dermatologist I have no qualms about using higher quality products at home. (Although, perhaps if I went to the dermo once in a while I’d have a better idea about what I should be using on my skin?) This post is not sponsored, but I just want to say that I purchase the majority of my products from Sephora as I really like all the benefits that come from shopping there–mainly that everything is returnable if you don’t like it, and I love all the free little gifts you can get from accruing points.

Before we jump in lets quickly go over ALL THE DISCLAIMERS! I am not a doctor, physician, estethian, skin care guru or psychic. I am just a FEMALE WITH SKIN sharing what skincare products work for me. Also, if you have serious skin issues you probably will benefit greatly from a visit to a dermatologist or even your doctor as I don’t think there will be one magic over-the-counter product listed here that will be the solution. ( Also, as I said before this post is not sponsored but I am using affiliate links. You can learn more about those here. Lastly, I know there are a lot of wonderful products out there, these are just what I use, and while I know you have only the best of intentions I don’t want to learn more about Rodan and Fields or any other products you are selling. Thank you for respecting that. OK lets get started!
1. Thayers Witch Hazel // This is the one thing in this photo I don’t get from Sephora. And this is a relatively new addition but one I’m loving so much. In an effort to cut down on washing my face too much (apparantly that’s a thing) I only wash my face at night and then use witch hazel on a cotton pad in the morning for a quick refresh. Cleanses without drying.

2. Dr. Dennis Gross A+B Daily Peel // Now is probably a good time to tell you that I’m really into chemical face peels. My introduction to facial peels came from these skin peeling pads from Dr. Dennis Gross and in fact these were my first “high end” skin care purchase. For a long time these were my main skin care regimen aside from Dove soap and moisturizer. I still use them, but less frequently as I also have some other skin care super products I’m really into, but they’re still a great quick skin pick-me-up. If my skin is feeling dull or extra oily I’ll used these at night, before bed. Usually with nothing else after–no moistureizer or anything–and when I wake up in the morning my skin feels softer and looks brighter. If my face is feeling extra dull and pore-y, I use them a few nights in a row. And since they are individually packaged I always throw these in my toiletries bag when traveling. Again, a great intro to peels–especially daily ones. (Although most people only use these 2-3 times a week to cut down on cost as you don’t really need them daily.)

3. Drunk Elephant TLC Sakuri Babyfacial // My next exploration into facial peels came in the form of this little sampler size duo from Drunk Elephant. (I can’t find the smaller sampler size anymore, that also came with the face oil, but the link is for the same product.) This is a face peel mask that you leave on for 20 minutes once a week–they refer to it as your weekly deep clean. I haven’t been as diligent about this one, but I’ll tell you this–it does work! It feels a little stingy at first, but after a couple days you see the layer of dead skin peel away and reveal a more polished you. The main downside I found is that if I really did this weekly, my skin would be dry and peel-y 2 days a week, every week which seems like too much to me. But everyone once in a while when I want a nice deep clease I bust it out.

4 + 5.  Luna Retinol Sleeping Night Oil and Good Genes // I first got these in a skin care sampler from Sephora and quickly fell in love. I’m new to the retinol craze, but I now get the hype. I rub some of this Luna Retinol Oil on my face before bed, followed by a half/pump of Good Genes which is a glycolic acid cream and go to bed. They work in conjunction, but do two different things and honestly I can barely keep all this info straight so you might want to just read up on it yourself. In short, Retinol is a Vitamin A derivative that amps up your skins collegen production and reduces fine lines and wrinkles (among other things) and glycolic acid is a chemical exfoliant that removes dead skin cells. But here’s what happens for me–when I put these two on at night, I started noticing how dry my skin was in the morning… so I put them on as I go to bed and then as I’m sitting in bed reading (or even in the morning when I get up), I’ll eventually start to rub some argon oil on my face. Now, the key with argon oil is to really massage it in for a few minutes… so as I rub away as I’m sitting up in bed, dead old skill cells actually starts to rub off, which means then I go into the bathroom sink and continue to rub off the dead skin into the sink, and then wash it all away and my skin is baby smooth! Sounds weird, but when I feel my skin rubbing off I know it really works! Also, I think I may try this A+ High Dose Retinol Syrum next.

6. CEO Glow Vitamin C + Tumeric Face Oil // Lastly I use this amazing vitamin C oil also from Sunday Riley (I guess you could say I’m a fan), I put this on in the morning before my SPF moisturizer and it gives my skin a dewy glow. There are probably a lot of great Vitamin C face products out there, but this is the one I use. (Same with Retinols, acids, etc.) Again I like shopping Sephora because I know that if I don’t like a product even after I’ve tried it for a while, I can return it. And I DO return a lot of things–I have no qualms about that. So why Vitamin C oil? I don’t know! Something about free radicals and collegen increase…do some research! All I know is that this is what I use on my skin and I like how it looks and feels.6. Perfect Image TCA Peel + Divine AHA Skin Peel // Lastly, the at home face peels. OK this is where things get serious. This is where I feel the need to repeat I AM NOT A DOCTOR. I AM NOT A SKIN CARE EXPERT. I AM A WOMAN BLOGGER and that is where my skin care credientials end folks. Read some stuff–articles like this one about at home face peels. And just to give you a healty fear of the stuff watch some videos of at home face peels gone wrong. And this one. IT HAPPENS. At home peels are meant to remove excess pigmentation but they can also cause PERMANANT SCARRING IF YOU’RE NOT CAREFUL WHICH IS THE EXACT OPPOSITE RESULT OF WHAT YOU WANT. But here it is…

A lot of people go to the dermatologist for a professional face peel, but if you like playing fast and lose with the only face God gave you, like I do here are two peels you can check out. I have a few flat bumps on my face that haven’t ever gone away and some sun-spots I’ve wanted to treat. Since I was already into daily peels, I decided to step up my game AFTER DOING A LOT OF READING ABOUT THE DIFFERENT TYPES AND CONCENTRATIONS. These are peels that you put onto a cotton pad and then apply to your face for 30 SECONDS. THIRTY SECONDS. Did you read that? HALF A MINUTE and then rinse thouroughly with water. (Some peels you actually have to make a mixture of water and baking soda to properly neutralize the acid so read the directions.) Both of these peels are deeper peels that I mainly use just to spot treat the bumps on my face and the age spots. When I was using them consistantly I was noticing a pretty big difference, but honestly I think the retinol and the Good Genes cream are doing what these two peels are meant to do, just in a slower more subtle process. BUT I will still most likely use these 1-2 times a year all over for a really deep peel. BUT AGAIN WITH THE PROPER PERCAUTION AND I READ THE DIRECTIONS EACH AND EVERY TIME.

You really should do your own research. There is SO MUCH information out there about Retinols, Retinols vs. Glycolic Acid, Lactic Acid, All the acids. I even approached one of the moms at after school pick up who I heard was an esthetician and asked her some questions. (She’s the one who steered me toward a daily retinol + Vitamin C. She said I could do the other acids, but that these would work just as well, if not better.)

At the end of the day a lot of these products do the same thing: exfoliate dead skin cells, imrpove collegen production, and decrease the look of fine lines, age spots, acne scars and wrinkles. It’s mainly about finding what works best for you at a good pricepoint and then being consistant.

Final Notes: 
–For cleansers I’m not that particular. I use Dove Soap, Cetaphil and Burt’s Bee’s cleansing oil. For moisturizers I use argon oil and Aveeno Daily Moistureizer SPF30 

–If you’re not sure where to start go to Sephora and ask for samples. You can have upto 3 samples in each section on each visit. So 3 skin care samples, 3 perfume samples, 3 lipstick samples, etc. Of course a lot of products take time to see results but you can at least make sure it doesn’t irritate your skin. 

–Be sure to check out Sephora’s skin care sets. A lot of time you can get really great deals on buying products in a set, vs. purchasing individually. 

Thanks and let me know if you have any questions below! Also, I’d LOVE to hear about your favorite skin care products… honestly, I’m a lotions and potions junkie!