Facetime Part : How it all Worked out
Here is the thing.... Using Korean products has a downside that I don't care for. (1) they are hard to come by. You can't walk into Macy's or the drug store and purchase them. You will have to order them online if you aren't going to Asia. I tried some Asian stores but they are mostly food. You could purchase product at salons. Most of the salons that do facials have product to purchase but they are expensive. I'm a be honest... my money has other uses. And as important as my face is to me, having a roof over my head, a car to drive and cable to watch is equally important to me. IJS.... (2) Products = chemicals. If I'm going to use these products, I have to Know that I'm introducing chemicals into my system. I strive to live holistically. So using these products long term will pull me to the darkside, and I'm not feeling that. So after I figured out my regimen... I had to adjust it to my tastes. And it still is a WIP.
For the OIL, I use coconut oil or canola oil. It's not as ghetto as it sounds. I use coconut oil in the evening to remove my makeup. Oil dissolves dirt and oil. And eye makeup remover is mineral oil. So why not use coconut oil? I wipe it off with a cleansing sheet or a baby wipe. Whatever I have on hand. I use canola oil in the morning... if I feel like I need to. I use canola oil as a treatment for my back. My back always flares from excema. I'm allergic to polyester and bras are made of polyester. I rub oil into my back pre-shower. The warm water softens the dry skin enough that it will slough off during the day. Since there is oil on my hands.... I 'll rub some in my face and let the warmth and moisture of the shower treat my face. It's like a hot oil treatment.
For the FOAM CLEANSER I use black soap. I'll either by liquefied black soap or liquefy a bar myself. I prefer liquid cleanser. I tried a bunch of foam cleansers. I have tried them before but my sensitive skin always reacts to them. That's how I ended up with Noxema. Though not a foam, it has camphor, menthol, phenol and eucalyptus. One or the combination of those ingredients keep me from flaring on my face. I've tried to put it all over... but no. For some reason, it doesn't work well. I still use Noxema as my morning cleanser, especially of I did NOT use the oil.
I EXFOLIATE 1 of 2 ways. I use my rotary brush or I use a combination of Noxema + baking soda. When I got the rotary brush last December, I was using it every day. I initially adored it. But I noticed that the texture of my skin thickened a little bit. No leather face for me. Plus the device I was using needed a new head and I was having trouble locating one so I started backing off using it daily So I don't do it every day. I noticed the leatherface was subsiding. A google search confirmed that other people experienced the same reaction. Funny, they don't mention that on the commercial. Th other way I exfoliate is with a mix of Noxema and baking soda. That is a deeper treatment. More like a microdermabrasion. If my skin looks dull I do this. You mix the 2 and let it sit on your face a bit. Not long, but a bit. If you wait too long the Noxema disappears. I don't like that. Next step is to take a cloth with some texture and rub your face in circles. You will see something come off on the cloth. And it won't be pretty. Then rinse off your face until it stops being slimy. You gotta do this part. Because if you leave residue, it will clog up your pores. That defeats the point.
For a Toner, I normally use witch hazel. My grandmother used that. My grandmother and I had similar skin. I believe she had excema, but back then I don't think it was a thing. She used to be clear that she would only use a certain kind of soap and certain kind of creams. She'd use bacon grease on her skin. Mommie thought she was crazy, but when I use the routines she used, I have success. Camay is the only bar soap I will use outside of black soap. Witch hazel is not alcohol. You may think it is but it's not. It comes in similar bottles and may be sold next to each other in the store. But so is sugar and flour. Isopropol alcohol is a by product chemical of the fermentation process. It burns. Witch hazel is an extract from a plant of the same name. It doesn't burn. Both have antiseptic properties. But witch hazel is far less drying. You should not be using products with isopropol alcohol on your skin if you want to keep it.
I bought a new toner specifically for this trial. Thayers. I love it. I really do. The reviews say that some folks had reactions to it. I can see that. This product has glycerin in it which is an oil. If your skin is sensitive to oil than it won't work for you. It also has aloe, rosewater, purified water and witch hazel. For it to be a toner, it would need the witch hazel. The thing I don't love is the price and availability. I couldn't find it in the store and had to order it online. Took over a week and cost em $20 for 1 bottle. As wonderful and natural as that is, I have all the same ingredients in my home already. So.... I rigged a replacement. Equally satisfied with the result.
ESSENCE and SERUM were on the tricky side. First WTH is that? After research, my understanding is that this is where we treat and/or spot treat the issues of faces. My issue is T-zone dry and flakiness, incipient wrinkling and overall softness and firmness. So I use straight, vegetable glycerin on my t-zone. Then I add a hydrating moisturizer.... yes it is a chemical, forgive my hypocrisy.... Loreal makes a hydrating face moisturizer. I purchased it over the summer, but it's too light to use alone. It's perfect for layering. I add that and let it soak in.
I advise every woman who turns 30 to start looking for the perfect EYE CREAM and NIGHT CREAM. The 30's is the perfect time because you don't really need it, but it's good to get into the habit. You don't want to wait until you need tone and then have to try a bunch that may not work for you. I figured mine out a few years ago. Personally, I find eye cream expensive for what you get. $20 for a tiny tube. No. I use an oil combo of equal amounts of castor oil, sweet almond oil and peanut oil. It's called wonder oil. Found the recipe online. It's not even my own recipe. But it works. I put it around my eyes and let is soak in. Only use a little or your makeup won't stay on because remember oil, dissolves makeup. Keep away from the brows if you do the brow thing. Keep away from lashes too if you do artificial or are planning to use mascara. But if you aren't, oil up. It will make your lashes grow! Pat on with your ring finger. It's the weakest of all fingers and won't molest your eye area.
My MOISTURIZER is what it's always been.... AMBI. I love Ambi. I should be the spokesperson. I can only use the face cream. All the other products break me out. My mother hipped my to this game. Mommie has color issues, and with me being dark, she wanted me to lighten up as much as possible. Ambi will fade marks on your face better and faster than cocoa butter. But I've noticed it only works for Black skin. Won't work on white people. Racist skin care!!! I love it!!!! My face is at least 3 shades lighter than my hands. I use it on my neck and into my cleavage. I noticed my cleavage was becoming pigmented. Ambi cleared that right up. I will also use it on darkened parts right before summer hits.... Like elbows and feet. It works on all that. Unfortunately... I can't use Ambi in the summer. It is thick and melts on my face when it gets warm. So I switch over to Oil of Olay. I love Olay, but it is just not thick enough to take me through the winter without t-zone flaking. I am always mindful that in the late summer my complexion may become muddy, because I'm missing whatever is in the Ambi that color corrects. If I get pigmented blemishes, I'll use cocoa butter or foundation until I can get back on the Ambi. In addition to the thickness of Ambi, it also causes some photosensitivity.
For night cream, My grandmother came to the rescue again. Freaking Ponds cold cream. Boom! And don't forget to put vaseline on your lips. Honey is REALLY good for lips, especially if chapping is an issue. Smear that bad boy over your mouth. It will cause dead skin to slough off without your help. But you will help because you will lick it off. Once your lips get healthy, don't use honey willy nilly. Because overuse will make your lips sensitive. Learned that the hard way...
the SHEET MASK was one of the hardest parts of this regimen. Where do you buy sheet masks? Yeah you gotta buy them online. I have yet to find them in a store in the States. The sheet mask is a cotton sheet all balled up. You drop it in a liquid treatment to rehydrate it and put it on your face for about 15 minutes. I'm okay with ordering them. They are cheap and you get a lot. The ones I ordered came from China so it took a month to get. But I got 100 for $6. the have holes for eyes and mouth. You don't do this every day. Maybe twice a week. So they will last a year. I got 100% cotton. I play with what I soak them with. Usually some aloe vera juice with an essential oil for smell and emotional reaction. This is taking the place of those masks that come out of a tube. Like mud or clay. You can add those things to the mask if you want to. Or you can just do those tube masks instead. I really like the cotton sheets. It's relaxation. What can you do other than lie there when you have cotton on your face? And your husband doesn't try to get you you to do anything when you're masking.
The thing to remember is you don't have all day in between steps. You have to tone quickly after cleansing and the serum need to go on before your face dries out. Specifically for me, I'm fighting dryness. So drying out in between steps is counter productive.
I've been working at this regimen for over a season. It's really working out for me. And I I have my egg white, hydrated, soft yet firm skin. I'm more than satisfied.
Peace
For the OIL, I use coconut oil or canola oil. It's not as ghetto as it sounds. I use coconut oil in the evening to remove my makeup. Oil dissolves dirt and oil. And eye makeup remover is mineral oil. So why not use coconut oil? I wipe it off with a cleansing sheet or a baby wipe. Whatever I have on hand. I use canola oil in the morning... if I feel like I need to. I use canola oil as a treatment for my back. My back always flares from excema. I'm allergic to polyester and bras are made of polyester. I rub oil into my back pre-shower. The warm water softens the dry skin enough that it will slough off during the day. Since there is oil on my hands.... I 'll rub some in my face and let the warmth and moisture of the shower treat my face. It's like a hot oil treatment.
For the FOAM CLEANSER I use black soap. I'll either by liquefied black soap or liquefy a bar myself. I prefer liquid cleanser. I tried a bunch of foam cleansers. I have tried them before but my sensitive skin always reacts to them. That's how I ended up with Noxema. Though not a foam, it has camphor, menthol, phenol and eucalyptus. One or the combination of those ingredients keep me from flaring on my face. I've tried to put it all over... but no. For some reason, it doesn't work well. I still use Noxema as my morning cleanser, especially of I did NOT use the oil.
I EXFOLIATE 1 of 2 ways. I use my rotary brush or I use a combination of Noxema + baking soda. When I got the rotary brush last December, I was using it every day. I initially adored it. But I noticed that the texture of my skin thickened a little bit. No leather face for me. Plus the device I was using needed a new head and I was having trouble locating one so I started backing off using it daily So I don't do it every day. I noticed the leatherface was subsiding. A google search confirmed that other people experienced the same reaction. Funny, they don't mention that on the commercial. Th other way I exfoliate is with a mix of Noxema and baking soda. That is a deeper treatment. More like a microdermabrasion. If my skin looks dull I do this. You mix the 2 and let it sit on your face a bit. Not long, but a bit. If you wait too long the Noxema disappears. I don't like that. Next step is to take a cloth with some texture and rub your face in circles. You will see something come off on the cloth. And it won't be pretty. Then rinse off your face until it stops being slimy. You gotta do this part. Because if you leave residue, it will clog up your pores. That defeats the point.
For a Toner, I normally use witch hazel. My grandmother used that. My grandmother and I had similar skin. I believe she had excema, but back then I don't think it was a thing. She used to be clear that she would only use a certain kind of soap and certain kind of creams. She'd use bacon grease on her skin. Mommie thought she was crazy, but when I use the routines she used, I have success. Camay is the only bar soap I will use outside of black soap. Witch hazel is not alcohol. You may think it is but it's not. It comes in similar bottles and may be sold next to each other in the store. But so is sugar and flour. Isopropol alcohol is a by product chemical of the fermentation process. It burns. Witch hazel is an extract from a plant of the same name. It doesn't burn. Both have antiseptic properties. But witch hazel is far less drying. You should not be using products with isopropol alcohol on your skin if you want to keep it.
I bought a new toner specifically for this trial. Thayers. I love it. I really do. The reviews say that some folks had reactions to it. I can see that. This product has glycerin in it which is an oil. If your skin is sensitive to oil than it won't work for you. It also has aloe, rosewater, purified water and witch hazel. For it to be a toner, it would need the witch hazel. The thing I don't love is the price and availability. I couldn't find it in the store and had to order it online. Took over a week and cost em $20 for 1 bottle. As wonderful and natural as that is, I have all the same ingredients in my home already. So.... I rigged a replacement. Equally satisfied with the result.
ESSENCE and SERUM were on the tricky side. First WTH is that? After research, my understanding is that this is where we treat and/or spot treat the issues of faces. My issue is T-zone dry and flakiness, incipient wrinkling and overall softness and firmness. So I use straight, vegetable glycerin on my t-zone. Then I add a hydrating moisturizer.... yes it is a chemical, forgive my hypocrisy.... Loreal makes a hydrating face moisturizer. I purchased it over the summer, but it's too light to use alone. It's perfect for layering. I add that and let it soak in.
I advise every woman who turns 30 to start looking for the perfect EYE CREAM and NIGHT CREAM. The 30's is the perfect time because you don't really need it, but it's good to get into the habit. You don't want to wait until you need tone and then have to try a bunch that may not work for you. I figured mine out a few years ago. Personally, I find eye cream expensive for what you get. $20 for a tiny tube. No. I use an oil combo of equal amounts of castor oil, sweet almond oil and peanut oil. It's called wonder oil. Found the recipe online. It's not even my own recipe. But it works. I put it around my eyes and let is soak in. Only use a little or your makeup won't stay on because remember oil, dissolves makeup. Keep away from the brows if you do the brow thing. Keep away from lashes too if you do artificial or are planning to use mascara. But if you aren't, oil up. It will make your lashes grow! Pat on with your ring finger. It's the weakest of all fingers and won't molest your eye area.
My MOISTURIZER is what it's always been.... AMBI. I love Ambi. I should be the spokesperson. I can only use the face cream. All the other products break me out. My mother hipped my to this game. Mommie has color issues, and with me being dark, she wanted me to lighten up as much as possible. Ambi will fade marks on your face better and faster than cocoa butter. But I've noticed it only works for Black skin. Won't work on white people. Racist skin care!!! I love it!!!! My face is at least 3 shades lighter than my hands. I use it on my neck and into my cleavage. I noticed my cleavage was becoming pigmented. Ambi cleared that right up. I will also use it on darkened parts right before summer hits.... Like elbows and feet. It works on all that. Unfortunately... I can't use Ambi in the summer. It is thick and melts on my face when it gets warm. So I switch over to Oil of Olay. I love Olay, but it is just not thick enough to take me through the winter without t-zone flaking. I am always mindful that in the late summer my complexion may become muddy, because I'm missing whatever is in the Ambi that color corrects. If I get pigmented blemishes, I'll use cocoa butter or foundation until I can get back on the Ambi. In addition to the thickness of Ambi, it also causes some photosensitivity.
For night cream, My grandmother came to the rescue again. Freaking Ponds cold cream. Boom! And don't forget to put vaseline on your lips. Honey is REALLY good for lips, especially if chapping is an issue. Smear that bad boy over your mouth. It will cause dead skin to slough off without your help. But you will help because you will lick it off. Once your lips get healthy, don't use honey willy nilly. Because overuse will make your lips sensitive. Learned that the hard way...
the SHEET MASK was one of the hardest parts of this regimen. Where do you buy sheet masks? Yeah you gotta buy them online. I have yet to find them in a store in the States. The sheet mask is a cotton sheet all balled up. You drop it in a liquid treatment to rehydrate it and put it on your face for about 15 minutes. I'm okay with ordering them. They are cheap and you get a lot. The ones I ordered came from China so it took a month to get. But I got 100 for $6. the have holes for eyes and mouth. You don't do this every day. Maybe twice a week. So they will last a year. I got 100% cotton. I play with what I soak them with. Usually some aloe vera juice with an essential oil for smell and emotional reaction. This is taking the place of those masks that come out of a tube. Like mud or clay. You can add those things to the mask if you want to. Or you can just do those tube masks instead. I really like the cotton sheets. It's relaxation. What can you do other than lie there when you have cotton on your face? And your husband doesn't try to get you you to do anything when you're masking.
The thing to remember is you don't have all day in between steps. You have to tone quickly after cleansing and the serum need to go on before your face dries out. Specifically for me, I'm fighting dryness. So drying out in between steps is counter productive.
I've been working at this regimen for over a season. It's really working out for me. And I I have my egg white, hydrated, soft yet firm skin. I'm more than satisfied.
Peace
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