This may be getting the kart before the horse… sharing my skincare regimen with you first because there is a lot going on inside ( heart stuff) that I am dealing with too. The first thing I recommend is reading Rachel Hollis’s new book, “Girl, Wash Your Face”. No, it doesn’t share skincare secrets. It goes much deeper than that and if you don’t take care of the heart and what’s going on inside of you emotionally, the skin won’t ever cooperate!
Skincare is such an easy thing to deal with and do, it only takes 10 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes at night and it can greatly affect your confidence. My thyroid condition changed my hormones and skin greatly. I became very dry and as I began to heal it went through many different stages. What I was primarily concerned with at first is that my basic skincare regimen be as natural as possible. I go to two different estheticians for my skincare pampering appointments. I hope to share more about them and what services they do later. However, I’ve learned that there is a lot I can do at home to help my skin heal and just be healthy in general. As soon as the thyroid changes happened I stopped with any intense peels and switched to the most natural line that Obagi carries called SuzanobagiMD.
Every product is dermatologist tested, hypoallergenic, and made without parabens, synthetic fragrances and dyes. Frankly I was a little scared that things I was putting on my skin may have played into my condition so I wanted to rule that out and go as natural as possible.
This allowed me to be more at ease and remove stress from my plate. My esthetician also recommended that we just do relaxing facials for the time being and use light therapy instead of intense peels and aggressive treatments. I will dig into these more with you later and in more detail.
Now that I am a little further out I use an additional Bio-Firming Serum to repair the skin. It is by Epicuren. I really like that their products are cruelty-free, mostly natural, and recycle friendly. I’ve added two different lighteners to help reduce some of the pigmentations that showed up with the changing hormones. One is a Vitamin C product used to protect the skin during the day from further damage. It is from the Obagi-C RX System.
The other I use just a very little bit at night and it is called Nu Derm Clear #3.
Both of these are helping me reduce the pigmentation that showed back up when going through the shifts in my hormones. After this is back under control I have some natural products in mind I am going to try from the Epicuren line.
I have also found Hydrafacials to be a gentle approach to healing and cleansing my skin as natural as possible. I’m really happy to say that my skin is starting to look much better. More on this later!
I’ve tried to mix some fun and education for my daughters into the skincare routine. When things slowed down over the holidays the girls and I did masks together to handle some of our little breakouts. I have a mask by Epicuren called the Chai Soy Mud Mask.
Skincare is one of those things that when we get overly busy falls away. You are too tired so you go to bed without washing your face or you don’t take the time to do a mask when you need it. It’s really very simple and it’s a good excuse to sit back and relax for a few. Have a cup of tea and feel good that you are caring for yourself! It’s amazing how these small changes have reduced anxiety for me (I used to worry about what was in my products) and been a source of fun and joy for me!
For anyone residing in the Southern Oregon area, you can contact me for more information on where I purchase my Obagi products. I like to support Adorn Wax and Skincare Studio in Medford, OR for Epicuren products.