Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual: SKIN

Hey, it's Giselle here again with another blog post! Today I will be going through skin care basics! In the book Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual by Bobbi Brown it makes it clear skin is very important and we should take care of it. Skin creates the base for all the work and makeup that you will put on your face. Things from your diet to your skin type can effect the different products that will work for you. In the book Brown states anyone can have smooth, glowing skin as long as you learn the basics of skin care and your type of skin along with some daily lifestyle tips (Brown 22).

Nutrition
There are many factors that can affect your skin. Eating right and drinking a lot of water alone can drastically improve and change your skin. Eating fresh fruits and vegetables can help you with taking vitamins which have many benefits for your skin. "Our bodies are 80 percent water. Without sufficient hydration, the skin cells become dry and flaky. To keep the body, including the skin, hydrated, eat foods with a high water content, such as fruits, vegetables, and clear soups, and drink at least eight glasses of water a day" (Brown 25). I strongly agree with this because I can tell the major difference in my skin from when I drink a lot of water to days where I barely drink any.

Skin Analysis
There are many different skin types such as oily, combination, sensitive, and dry skin. In the book they had a self-test skin analysis of different skin types and several ways of identifying your skin type. My skin type is oily, especially on my forehead and nose, I also have large pores around my nose, frequent breakouts, and few signs of aging. Next, they have recommendations for several skin types! For my skin type it requires regular cleansing, toning, and moisturizing.

Taking Care of my Oily Skin
It recommends to use moisturizer oil-free, water based moisturizer. It also suggest that soap and gel cleansers are the best for oily skin types. Toners are also great for oily skin! These are my favorite products to use. The moisturizer by Neutrogena is oil-free and the enzyme gel cleanser from Mario Badescu along with the cucumber and green tea facial spray.

Here I am cleansing my face with a spin brush which is great because it removes all the dirt and makeup off of your face and leaves the skin smooth!

 Now that you've read this post do you think the foods you eat can affect your skin? What is your skin type? And I would also love to know what are some of your favorite skin care products?


Bobbie, Brown. Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual: for everyone from beginner to pro. Springboard Press, 2011.

The Skin Cleanse

If you are reading this, welcome back to my blog! If you are new to my posts, I talk all about skin care, which just so happens to be one of my favorite things to research and talk about. Last post I talked all about diet and how what we consume has a direct correlation on our skin. So this week I thought i'd dive into something everyone can enjoy, skin cleansing. All throughout middle school, when I began developing skin issues, until now I have had pretty much no routine when it comes to taking care of my skin. I know some of you will be shocked because you couldn't even imagine going to sleep without putting on moisturizer but, I have never been one of those people with a structured routine on how to take care of my skin. However, I have always been interested in if those specific skin care routines actually work. The book "Skin Cleanse" by Adina Grigore talks all about her skin journey and what causes problematic skin, but the true root of the book is the skin cleanse. What I mean by that is, how to proceed now knowing how to take care of your skin to get that beautiful clear skin everyone is dying to have.

First and foremost, when you go and see any skin care professional (this isn't from experience, it's just what I have heard) they will tell you to find a detailed and specific skin care routine that works for you. However, Grigore advises otherwise. She was explaining how when she finished nutrition school, her skin was terrible. Broken out, itchy, bumpy, her skin was just freaking out. She tried every method in the book until one day she was so unhappy and frustrated she just gave up on all of her products. And when I say all, I mean all. She stopped wearing makeup, using face washes, shampoos, conditioners, moisturizers, you name it, she dropped it. Miraculously, that completely cleared her skin. All of those products you are slathering on your face every single night, may actually be hurting your skin rather than helping. Now of course this is not the case for every individual, but it really doesn't hurt to try if you are so angry at your skin. "Since then, I've put every client I've ever had on a version of this routine-even if it's only for a few days-and it has made a huge difference every time" (Grigore, 129). Now, there is so much I can tell you to fully achieve a true skin cleanse. Some of the main things I would suggest are, 1: making a product journal. Write down everything that goes on your skin, any cleanser, scrub, cream, write it down. Notice a new breakout or blackhead? Write it down! Noting new things that are added to our skin care routine can definitely help in narrowing down causes of skin irritations. 2: Think about your makeup. Know what you are putting on your skin, for how long, and what it does. Always ditch products that make you more oily, dry, cause breakouts, etc. Just get rid of them. That way you don't have to deal with all those skin complications due to some concealer. 3: Take supplements. To my surprise, I used to take the hair, skin, and nail vitamins, which ended up working wonders. It never hurts to test out different vitamins and supplements to see which benefit you the most.

Now onto the fun stuff. I decided for this post I would show you a DIY face mask. I actually tried this twice over winter break and it made my skin so soft and oil free without feeling overly dry or patchy. I love it as well because it only involves three ingredients! These three are definitely things everyone has.
Ingredients:
4 teaspoons cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons olive oil
(who knew these three would work so well together!)

Directions:
Add coca powder and sea salt to a small bowl or jar, stir together until they have fully combined. Next, add the olive oil and stir. It should come out to a dark brown, very thick, paste. With your fingers, spread it all over your face and leave it on for as long as you like! Careful when rinsing off however, it has a tendency to stain washcloths.

(Before adding the olive oil)

(After adding olive oil)

I highly recommend this face mask to anyone who has been struggling with problematic skin or just want to take a nice bath and give their skin a little love. As I mentioned before, I used this when I was just sitting around and it made my skin feel amazing! And it takes about 5 minutes to make.

I have a couple other DIY skin care products that I am very excited to try here in the next few blog posts. So I would like to ask, what is your skin care routine? Would you ever go cold turkey and drop all of your products? Personally, I'm not sure I would be able to do it. But it never hurts to try!

Grigore, Adina. Skin Cleanse: The Simple, All Natural Program for Clean, Calm, Happy Skin. New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2015. Print