10/26/2014 - I will surely remember this day. My first blog post. I've wanted to do this for probably 7 years. It took me 7 years to lose the fear of no one reading my posts or even worse, no one liking them. But all along the way, I knew that if I ever build up the courage to put my thoughts on paper.. pardon me, on the internet, my first post will be about exfoliating. So here we go..

EXFOLIATION

I've always had what I call lazy skin. Lazy skin in the sense that it would start exfoliating, but then it would change its mind.. and the dead skin would lay there on my face, underneath my foundation, and it would make my skin look terribly uneven and dull. Scrubs would just cause breakouts and irritation, until I discovered chemical exfoliants. WHERE was I? Was this really all hidden and kept as a secret for the greatest dermatologists and skincare specialists out there? I could blab about this forever, but I'll try to keep it short and give you my most favorite, (somewhat) affordable products that contain lactic, glycolic or some sort of acids. 

  1. Mario Badescu - Glycolic Acid Toner - $18 - 8 oz. - great for nightly use after removing makeup
  2. Mario Badescu - Glycolic Foaming Cleanser - $16 - 6 oz. - a thick, gel-consistency formula, great to use 1 to 2 times / week
  3. Mario Badescu - Enzyme Revitalizing Mask -$20 - 2 oz. - the only mask I've EVER tried, (other than an excruciatingly expensive one from Sisley) that actually works. great to slap on before special events
  4. Isis Pharma - Glyco-A 12% - $12-$19 - 1 oz -  I apply it after I go to bed and leave it on throughout the night. It is one of the first glycolic acid products I've ever used. I still keep about 3 tubes of it in my bathroom and will always do. Neverending affair..
  5. Pure glycolic or lactic acid.($3/1 oz in my experience- varies on location) I can't give you too much advice on that, as it depends if you can actually get a hold of it. I use lactic acid 80% concentration that I dilute down with water to a 6-18% concentration. You must be careful not to burn your face/wherever you apply it to. As soon as it gets too uncomfortable to keep it on, make sure to apply a mixture of water and baking soda as this is going to neutralize the acid. This is also great for ingrown hairs. All the previously mentioned products do not need to be neutralized.  
I hope this helped at least some of you. The reason I've stopped using physical exfoliants is because most of them (especially the ones you find in drugstores around 2-10$) do not have cosmetic grade beads. What I mean by that is that the little gritty things you feel in your hands when you use that product are not spherical; they actually have vertices... This will sometimes cause scratching across the skin instead of gentle exfoliation, and you risk of highly irritating the skin and even getting broken capillaries. 

Don't get me wrong, there are some great physical exfoliants out there that use fine, cosmetic grade beads. Dr Brandt Skincare microdermabrasion skin exfoliant is one of them. It has a great cooling sensation that I think would feel amazing on an oily skin. Good luck with paying 78$ for 2 oz. though.

There are of course other types of exfoliation out there, but these are the most discussed ones. Either way, I would never pay hundreds of dollars for a powerful dermabrasion or microdermabrasion considering I can keep my skin at bay on a daily basis with these affordable products.

I will leave you with a video to watch from makeup artist Lisa Eldridge. She starts talking about exfoliation at about 6:50. 
Lisa Eldridge - Skincare Routine

Take care. Be kind and be beautiful 
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