10/16/2022 0 Comments Saving My Dry, Flaky SkinI’ve always had a dry skin type throughout my entire life, but this year, I’ve especially struggled with my dry skin. For the span of several months, through this past winter and spring, my forehead was consistently dry no matter what I did to it. I had a brief month of repose, then in the summer, which ironically is usually the best time for my skin, swaths of my face were incredibly -- and frankly disgustingly -- flaky, the worst it's ever been in my memory. Now, after implementing some tweaks to my skincare routine, I was finally able to see improvement in my skin! It has been an absolute journey, so here are those skincare products and habits that have been helping me out. Hopefully, they'll help you too if you’re struggling with dry, flaky skin. Cocokind Facial Cleansing Oil: I bought it in person at Meijer, but you can also buy it on the Cocokind website for $15. I think they might be discontinuing it because I can't seem to find it on the Ulta or Target websites. Oil Cleanser (Cocokind Facial Cleansing Oil)Most of the time, I use a gel cleanser at night and only rinse my face in the morning -- and that’s it when it comes to face cleanser. However, I found that using an oil cleanser once or twice a day helped with super flaky skin. At night, I sometimes “reverse” double cleansed: gel first, then oil. In the morning, I used just an oil cleanser, though as I went through this skincare side quest, I only rinsed (with no cleanser) more and more often. The Cocokind Facial Cleansing Oil ($15) is the oil cleanser that I’ve had for the past year or so. In the past, I only used it as a makeup remover, which is what it’s intended for, but it was so helpful as a normal cleanser when I had my uber dry skin. Fourth Ray Beauty Avocado + Aloe Double Shot Serum: this serum has both an oily and a hydrating component Oil Serum (Fourth Ray Beauty Avocado + Aloe Double Shot Serum)After cleansing and using the CosRx snail goo (an eternal love), I used an oil-containing face serum every day, both morning and night. Even if I didn't use an oil cleanser or other additional oils, I was still likely to use my oil serum. The specific serum I use is the Fourth Ray Beauty Avocado + Aloe Double Shot Serum ($16) which has avocado oil and aloe in it. You need to make sure you shake the bottle well before using it so that the avocado oil can get dispersed. The Ordinary 100% Organic Cold-Pressed Rose Hip Seed Oil: only one or two drops are necessary for my whole face Facial Oil (The Ordinary Rose Hip Seed Oil)Oil really is the common theme here. After moisturizer, at the end of my skincare routine, I used a dedicated face oil to top off the oil sandwich. The one I recommend is The Ordinary 100% Organic Cold Pressed Rose Hip Seed Oil ($9.80). Out of everything, I feel that this specific product made the biggest noticeable difference in my skin once I began implementing it into my skincare routine. Prior to the one from The Ordinary, I had been using the Fourth Ray Beauty Glow Up Face Oil which was so old that -- in typical Colourpop fashion -- it has since been discontinued. I’m not sure whether it was because the product was old, because the bottle was running low so I couldn’t dispense much product at a time, or the product itself was just bad, but I honestly don’t really think that that one helped mitigate my flakiness much at all. Avoiding ActivesMy typical skincare routine over the past several years involves a nightly cleanse with a salicylic acid cleanser, semiregular retinol and niacinamide, and The Ordinary AHA/BHA Peeling Solution on occasion to control my acne. However, lately, I have been avoiding active ingredients -- especially those acids -- in order to give my skin a break. Even my niacinamide serum was making my skin burn, which really goes to show how screwed up my skin was. In my wise, old age, I have finally realized that burning doesn’t necessarily mean that your skincare is “working;” it not unlikely means that your skin is being irritated or damaged -- or that your skin barrier is already damaged, as was probable in my case. Trying Not to Focus Too Much on My SkinThis whole bout of ultra flakiness really coughed to the surface my own psychology regarding my skin. For the past four and a half years, ever since I got into skincare in January 2018, I had been used to being in control of my skin. This year as I helplessly made fruitless attempts to moisturize it (before I got into the groove of this new routine), it really made me feel like I wasn’t in control of myself. Honestly, that really knocked at my confidence. And that wasn’t even considering the external fear of “oh my gosh people are staring at my flaky skin and judging me.” It was legitimately harder for me to enjoy living life in the moment at times because I was so fixated on how other people perceived my skin. It was challenging -- my then-boyfriend certainly was on the receiving end of many a complaint about the state of my face -- but it was important to at least try not to hyperfocus on my skin flaking off in droves. I know this is a lot easier said than done; I’ve literally told others this same exact advice and written about being kind to yourself no matter the aesthetic condition of your skin many a time in the past several years, and I still struggled with taking my own words to heart. First off, thinking about it too much during the day made me want to pick at it obsessively, which probably further irritated my skin. Second, it simply just didn’t feel good mentally, and we as a society generally need to detach the idea that what our skin (or other aesthetic feature) looks like compared to the societal beauty standard = some inherent evaluation of character. I’ve never looked at a friend’s acne and thought to myself, Wow, their acne/dry skin/wrinkles/other miscellaneous perceived facial flaw makes me think less of them. I’m sure that the people I surround myself with similarly did not think, Her super dry skin makes her a worse friend/classmate/etc. I hope these tips help you out, both physically and mentally! About a month or so ago, I finally got back to a place where I was satisfied with my skin, but I'll still be carrying some of these habits moving forward when I need them, e.g. in the coming winter. Regardless, keep in mind that everyone’s skin is different, so while these things worked out great for me, they may or may not work for you. Patience is key! Good luck!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
about @glowyminoI have dry skin and very dry and textured lips. I also have a medium-light skintone (somewhere in the realm of NC25-30) with strong warm yellow/olive undertones. I have a tendency to prefer a glowy, lightweight base and color cosmetics in shades of a warm undertone. Read more about me in the about page! Archives
May 2024
CategoriesPost TagsAll 40s Fashion 50s Fashion 60s Fashion 70s Fashion 90s Fashion Academia Fashion Accessories Acure Adept Cosmetics Adventure Style Ana Luisa @ap_archives BAIT Footwear Beauty Industry Becca Cosmetics Blazers Blend Bunny Cosmetics Blouses Blush Bottoms Bronzer Brow Gel Brow Pencil Brows Burt's Bees Button-ups Catkin Cirque Colors "clean Beauty" Clionadh Cocokind Collectif Colourpop Concealer Content Creation Corduroy Pants Cosrx Cottagecore Cruelty Free Beauty Cuticula Dandy Lion Cosmetics @deerestdiary.makeup @definitely_not_kayleeeeee Depop Devinah Cosmetics Different Dimension Dresses Edwardian Fashion Elf Cosmetics @ellessentially_ Em Cosmetics @ethanmwong Ethereal Lacquer Eyeliner Eyeshadow Face Primer Fashion Fashion Sustainability Favorites Femme Fatale Flower Beauty Foundation Fourth Ray Beauty Goodwill Guides Hair Highlighter Hobbitcore Indie Makeup Indie Nail Polish INNBeauty Jumpsuits KBShimmer Kotn KVD Beauty @lil_jo__ Lip Gloss Lip Liner Lipstick Looxi Beauty Low Buy Lumen Nails Mainstream Nail Polish Makeup Makeup And Feminism Makeup Brushes Mascara Mehron Meta @mgetsdressed Milani Mutually Creative Nailcare Nail Polish NBM @noopur_makeup Not Perfect Linen NYX Cosmetics One/Size Organization Orly Outerwear Pahlish Peach & Lily Penelope Luz Personal Style Phytosurgence Polish Pickup Poshmark Powder Princesscore Pur Cosmetics Quixotic Polish Rael Beauty Range Beauty @ratboar Real Techniques Reviews Secondhand Fashion Selsun Blue Shine By SD Cosmetics Shoes Shorts Simply Posh Cosmetics Skincare Skirts Storybook Summer Fridays Swatches Sweaters Sydney Grace @tastefulcringe Terra Moons Cosmetics @tesschung TheBalm The Body Shop The Inkey List The Ordinary Thrifted Fashion Top Coat Tops Tower28 Trousers Unique Vintage Urban Decay Victorian Fashion Vintage Fashion Vivien Of Holloway Vixen By Micheline Pitt @watermelonflesh Youthforia Youth To The People |