CHOOSING THE RIGHT SKINCARE MAY SEEM LIKE A DAUNTING TASK, BUT HELP IS ON THE WAY!

With all the skincare offerings available, and each one claiming to be better then the next, it may start to feel like, as Monk would say “It’s a jungle out there”! Before venturing into the beauty jungle you need to correctly identify what your skin concern is.

By this I do not mean Oily, Dry or Combination. There are 6 major skin concerns:

1. Acne/Problem
2. Sensitive/Allergic
3. Hyperpigmentation/Dark Spots
4. Environmentally Damaged
5. Cellular Degeneration
6. Scars/Stretch Marks

You can have any one of these concerns with oily, dry or combination skin, which is why I really don’t get the oily, dry, combination skin concept we have bought into for decades. Once you have identified your major concern ( most of us have more then one, but take one at a time) you are ready to go shopping.

I really love the Sephora concept as opposed to the traditional dept store. Sephora takes the time to really train their beauty cast members and they are knowledgeable about every brand in the store. They do not sell on commission so they have your best interest in mind and they can sell you ANY brand or a combo of several brands. Traditional dept stores are brand loyal by counter so hard to get a really good over view of what is available in the market for your skin concern.

If you don’t know what your skin concern is; a Sephora cast member can help you. LOVE THAT STORE!  http://www.sephora.com

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IS IT BAD TO MIX AND MATCH PRODUCTS FROM DIFFERENT SKIN CARE RANGES?

Most women today are brand agnostic. We mix and match skin care as we do with color makeup and even fashion! For example, is there any law that says you can’t throw on a Banana Republic t-shirt under an Armani suit jacket? We do that all the time too. The old way of layering skin care products holds less appeal these days as women are busier and strive to streamline their routine. The best advice is to stick with similar products – designed for your skin type – from whichever brands you choose. 

If you are using a system, such as OBAGI or MURAD, the products may be designed to work in tandem, so that if you don’t use the whole system, you may not get the real benefits or worse, you may cause a reaction or irritation. Using a Lancome eye cream with an Estee Lauder face cream is perfectly fine because you would be applying the products on different areas of your face. Similiarly, if you are using different brands on the same facial areas but at different times of day (such as morning or night time), you may be safe to use what you want.  However, with cosmeceutical brands that  are designed to resurface the skin, exfoliate or speed up cell turnover with bioactives like Retin-A, retinol, glycolic acid, alpha hydroxy acid, beta hydroxy acid, try to avoid using anything on top of treatment products that could potentially neutralize the beneficial resurfacing effects. Many moisturizers have a high pH and they can neutralize the effect of active ingredients that tend to have a lower pH to avoid irritation. Another example is using a cleanser from one brand that contains salicylic acid and then using a lotion from another brand that also contains salicylic acid may be too much of a good thing. So, before you mix and match your skin care brands, just read the labels. Doubling up on potent ingredients at the same time on the same facial area is a no-no.

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I love designer makeup brands, like Dior and Chanel, but I can’t really afford them anymore. What are some good bargain brands that have a more luxe look?

You are not alone – everyone is downsizing these days. There are so many great brands that you can substitute into your regimen without sacrificing too much. If you love CHANEL, and who doesn’t?!, look into BOURJOIS, a French makeup range sold in drugstores in Europe that has a lot of Chanel knockoffs at a fraction of the price. The lip glosses and nail varnishes are terrific! Another good tip is to look for brands that are related to the premium brands you love – for example, LANCOME formulas and technologies usually find their way at some point into L’OREAL products. L’OREAL mascaras, eye shadows, foundations are good quality for the price. If you are a huge ESTEE LAUDER makeup fan, CLINIQUE is a good choice from the same group. In fact, CLINIQUE is one of those affordable brands that bridges the gap between premium and drugstore brands. REVLON has good nail products and a wide array of colors for lips, eyes and cheeks. The downside to buying color cosmetics like foundation, eye pencils, lipsticks at the drugstore is that you don’t get to try them out and there is no one to help guide your color choices.  If you are trying to match a color you love, bring it with you to the store to get as close as you can.  There is also AVON, which is one brand that has really stepped up their game recently with great packaging and modern colors. Another strategy is to hunt for bargains on your favorite prestige brands online but beware of counterfeits, damaged or out of date products and don’t take a chance on less than reputable sellers. GO FORTH AND SAVE!

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