More Pretty Please

A lot of people tell me that I have great skin, and I don’t “need” to wear makeup. And I always want to say, “Thanks, but I do need to wear makeup, it’s like an addiction for me…” #alwayslookingforafix

One of the tricks I use to keep my skin looking fresh and pretty is exfoliation.

Exfoliating provides a way to break up dead skin cells that could hang out and cause bacteria to build, it will also help get rid of any free radicals that have found their way to your body. Free radicals love dead skin and old make up (so wash your face at night!). I think it’s super important to exfoliate your skin, not only your face but your body too. There are quite a few methods out there that will work for exfoliating so I am going to talk about my routine here and if you like it, you can try it! I only exfoliate once or twice a week at most, if you exfoliate too much you lose too much skin and you will have more breakouts! Funny, how that works… It will also increase your skin’s sensitivity tenfold, so when you use a harsher product or go out in the sun, that layer of skin will be too new and will react badly.

To exfoliate my face, I use Ole Henrickson Walnut Scrub. I love this scrub because it’s made of milled walnut pieces (and I’m pretty sure almond because it smells like almonds). Milled means that they break up the walnuts but they also put them a centrifuge thing that spins them around and softens the corners and turns them into round pieces, so it’s much less abrasive on your skin! I wet my face and then I get about a dime sized amount of the scrub on my fingertips. I then start to gently massage the scrub all over my face, I do focus a bit more on the areas where my skin gets extra weird (mostly my forehead and around my nose). I will massage this into my skin for about a minute, then I use warm water to rinse off the scrub. I will then pat dry my face with a paper towel, I know this isn’t the most environmentally friendly BUT it’s so much better for your face than using a towel, which is a breeding ground for bacteria. I will then use a face oil to moisturize my face, which will absorb so much better than if I just washed my face! It’s amazing.

To exfoliate my body, I actually use a brush on dry skin! Those big brushes they sell at Target or Ulta are awesome for this. So I stand in the shower (while it’s off) and I rub the brush in circular motions all over my dry skin, at first this is really uncomfortable so use light pressure until you are used to it. I only do this once a week because it will shed a lot of skin and it can be intense! But it’s also good minimizing the appearance of cellulite and stretch marks. After I am done brushing my skin I will shower (which is basically rinsing my skin, I don’t scrub my skin after brushing it, and washing my hair after the dry brushing), I will pat my skin dry and then apply coconut oil all over my body. I shower at night so, this has been my process for the last couple months and it has definitely helped my skin!

Bottom line: exfoliation is good for your skin but don’t overdo it!