HOW I TRANSFORMED MY SKIN + MY TOP 5 BRANDS
Welcome back to The Dairy Free Diaries! I hope you all are having an amazing week and are excited to learn about how I have attained the clearest skin I have ever had in my entire life.
But before I do, I am going to do last week’s exercise. And feel free to join me in the comment by sharing one word to describe your week, one low point, and one high point.
One word – Motivating: As you all know from last week, I have been struggling to get myself back on track and feeling like the best and healthiest version of myself. This week, however, was absolutely amazing.
I am in this cycle of acting and letting the motion come after the fact and it has really helped me to be extremely productive.
I feel like I am getting myself back on track in so many aspects, such as health, fitness, and mindfulness. I am in a really good headspace and am excited for what’s to come.
Low point: I started to go back into the habit of measuring my days by how productive I was. I know this might come as a shock to some that measuring your day by productivity is a low point for my week; but I am going to explain why.
I used to have the mindset that a good day meant, for me, that I finished my to do list. But some days I wasn’t able to finish my to do’s because life got in the way, and I started to make myself feel bad for that.
And because I didn’t want to feel disappointed, I would put a lot of pressure on myself to be productive. This resulted in nothing good; my anxiety skyrocketed, I was constantly stressed, and extremely irritable.
I was generally unhappy and realized that I should be measuring my days differently. Instead of focusing on my output, I started to focus on other aspects, such as how present I was that day, or how I showed up for myself that day, etc.
And when I did this, I found myself gravitating towards the things that made me feel good about myself and my life. It drastically improved my mood and allowed me to live my life in a much better way.
And I was going strong with this mindset until this week. I have measured my days by productivity for so long that it has become engrained in my mind and, therefore hard to break.
This week I caught myself going back to this way of thinking and it really took me for a loop. I felt a little bit defeated and disappointed that I am going back to my old ways.
But I had to remind myself that these ups and downs are all apart of the journey to breaking bad habits. In addition, I decided to act and changed my phone’s wallpaper to one of my favorite quotes as a reminder,
“Stop measuring your days by degree of productivity and start experiencing them by degree of presence” – Alan Watts
High Point: I have finally found a way of organizing my life that works for me and keeps me on top of my priorities and commitments. For the longest time I had been trying to figure out a way to organize my life based on what I need.
And especially since these next 6 months are much more different than usual, I needed a specific organization system. I am currently not taking any classes but am devoting my time to study for my LSAT exam.
This along with balancing a part time job and blog have been easy to organize, but my goal tracking is where it became difficult. I wanted an organization system that was simple and had a monthly and daily aspect as well.
But I also wanted it to include a place where I could track my goals for the week in a way that worked for me. And figuring out a system where all of these were in 2 apps was difficult, but I am so glad to be where I am.
I have divided my organization system between apple calendar (monthly tracking) and my notes app (daily to do lists). I know this seems very simple, but it has helped me immensely.
With everything being online these days, having an online organization system has been extremely helpful. In addition, I like that I can access my organization system no matter where I am and on multiple devices.
If I am out one day and need to check my to do list, I can just look at it right on my phone instead of having to wait until I am back home.
These days a paper planner no longer serves my needs and I had to adjust to a different and much more effective way to plan my days and track my goals.
I am more than happy to go into more detail for next week’s blog post, so let me know if that were something you would like to see.
COMPLETELY MISINFORMED ABOUT SKINCARE
Skincare is probably one of my most favorite topics to talk about, especially because of what I have learned. But before we get into that, I want to share my previous view on skincare, which I later learned was completely wrong.
I think its very common for people to rely on popular brands or aesthetic packaging to buy a variety of items. I would fall for this especially with skincare. I trusted companies that I shouldn’t have and that ultimately left me completely misinformed.
I have a very oily skin type, and this has been something I have struggled with for a while. I have dealt with constant breakouts and large pores, which I believed to be due to my extremely oily skin.
And I tried very hard to fix this issue, but I wasn’t educated on how to properly fix it. Instead, I ended up constantly stripping my skin of its oils because I thought that would make it better. But the situation only got worse.
My skin got even more oily and I started to have a lot more breakouts. It also didn’t help that the products I was using contained many skin irritating ingredients, which I had no idea about.
In addition, I didn’t know of all the types of products you should be using on your skin daily, such as sunscreen, toner, serums, etc.
My typical skincare routine that I used during this time consisted of very minimal steps. I used a Neutrogena cleanser followed by a Mario Badescu facial spray and Clinique moisturizing gel.
I would use face masks from various brands that I wasn’t familiar with. My routine is completely representative of my knowledge of skincare at the time, and I am glad to say that that chapter has been closed.
WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT CLEAN SKINCARE
As I was trying to improve other aspects of my life, I came across a podcast episode by The Blonde Files, where a holistic skincare expert, Celeste Thomas, was talking about her view on skincare and how she had more information on her blog.
If you want to check it out, its episode #76 of Arielle Lorre’s The Blonde Files Podcast and Celeste’s blog is called True Spoon. I listened to the episode and read through all of her blog posts and learned so much about skincare that I had never known beforehand.
I was skeptical in the beginning because I had already been misinformed about skincare once before but decided to give it a try to see if it would fix my issues.
But something about this mindset about skincare seemed right to me and felt right. She was very supportive of using clean and nontoxic skincare and paying attention to the ingredients.
And this felt right to me because I had been using this mindset for my intake of food. My view on healthy eating focuses on whole, nutritious foods and making sure that the ingredients align. And knowing what we put into our bodies is just as important as what we put on our skin.
Another thing I also learned was the multiple steps your skincare routine should consist of. I was previously just using a cleanser, facial spray, and moisturizer, when I should be using so many more steps.
Celeste promotes a skincare routine consisting of a gentle cleanser, exfoliating toner, hydrating serum, sunscreen, and a moisturizer. This should be the basic skincare routine, and I was not even close to it.
And this honestly goes back to how misinformed I was. I didn’t even think about adding a serum to my routine because I thought it would make my skin even more oily.
But after reading about how our skin actually works, I realized how wrong I was. The reason that some people have oilier skin than others is because their skin is being stripped of the necessary oils so our bodies counter this by producing extra oil.
So, the only way to control the oil production of your skin is by using hydrating serums to stop the extra production. And this was a big game changer for my skin.
I have learned so much since then and I would love to go into more specific detail in other blog posts, but here are a few resources that I have used to understand nontoxic skincare, as well as learn about new products.
–The Skinny Confidential Podcast has great episodes with a variety of holistic skin experts that share their views and advice on skincare. In addition, The Skinny Confidential Blog also has many posts on skincare to also check out.
– Celeste Thomas’ blog, True Spoon, as well as The Blonde Files Podcast are amazing resources to learn about skincare and routines.
-The Instagram account, @wellnesswithsoph is my one stop shop for everything clean and nontoxic, especially skincare. She shares all of the products that she absolutely adores that are also coming from brands that are clean.
MAKING THE TRANSITION
At first it can be very intimidating and overwhelming looking at all this information and not knowing where to start. I completely understand because I went through it myself.
There are so many great products out there it is really hard to decipher which ones you should try out first. And honestly, the reality is that you might not like some of the first products you choose and accepting that is important.
My advice would be to make sure you are buying products for your specific skin type and to read the reviews. If people with your skin type are loving it, I say try it out.
If there are mixed reviews, keep your options open. Eventually you will be able to find the products your skin loves and going through different products will all be worth it in the end.
Also, its important to cover your bases with the products you are buying. I started out with a cleanser, serum, moisturizer, and sunscreen. There are so many different kinds of products out there, but I suggest starting out with the foundational pieces and then move forward with more specific treatments.
Now that you have your products it’s important to remember that consistently is key, the only way to see if the products you bought work for you is to stay consistent with using them.
Make sure that you are using them as directed. I prefer the cleanse once a day and use every other product twice a day. Figure out what works for your skin and stick to it.
And its important to remember that it might get a bit worse before it gets better. You are using products unlike any used before and you need to give your skin time to adjust.
I suggest using a product for at least 3 weeks before making any judgements. And keep going through this process until you have found products that your skin loves and gives you the results you have wanted.
Once I made the transition to clean, nontoxic skincare, my complexion has never been better. I rarely get breakouts and my oil production has drastically lessened.
I currently have skin that I never thought I would ever have. And I want everyone to be able to experience this. It will take time and effort, but it is so worth it.
MY TOP 5 BRANDS *with varying price points*
When I tell you guys, I love these brands, I MEAN IT. This has been created over the course of several months and contains brands that have amazing quality products.
I will also be listing all of the products I have tried from each brand so that those of you with oily skin can have some ideas of what to buy. Listed below are my top 5 clean skincare brands in no particular order.
ACURE
Incredibly Clear Mattifying Moisturizer ($17)
Seriously Soothing SPF Day Cream ($19)
Brightening Super Greens Serum ($19)
JUICE BEAUTY
Stem Cellular Anti-Wrinkle Booster Serum ($80)
Green Apple Brightening Gel Cleanser ($80)
Prebiotix Instant Flash Facial ($52)
Blemish Clearing Serum ($30)
COCOKIND
Rosewater Facial Toner ($17)
Sea Kale Clay Mask ($18)
Chia Facial Oil ($16)
VERSED
Dew Point Moisturizing Gel Cream ($15)
Guards Up Daily Mineral Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 35 ($22)
Just Breathe Clarifying Serum ($20)
ANDALOU NATURALS
Brightening Pumpkin Honey Glycolic Mask ($15)
Age Defying Bioactive Berry Fruit Enzyme Mask ($15)
Age Defying Avo Cocoa Skin Food Mask ($15)
MY CURRENT SKINCARE ROUTINE
My current skincare routine has been 6 months in the making, but I can gladly say that my routine has drastically improved my skin. So, I am going to take you through my day and what skincare I do when.
In the morning, I start by just washing my face with cold water. Don’t worry, the cleanser comes later. I want to emphasize that cold water does wonders for your skin, so make sure not to use hot or lukewarm water.
Then I spray my face and neck with Cocokind Rosewater facial toner and use a cotton pad to wipe off any of the dirt or makeup that I may have missed.
Once my face dries, I use my Acure Brightening Super Greens Serum and spread it in a circular motion all over my face and neck. Then, I finish off with the Juice Beauty Stem Cellular Anti-Wrinkle Booster Serum and spread it in a similar way.
Next is the Versed Guards Up Daily Mineral Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 35. I absolutely love this product because it has a slight tint to it, which doesn’t leave any white marks on my skin.
Then, I finish it off with the Acure Incredibly Clear Mattifying Moisturizer. For my night time skincare routine, I start off by cleansing my face with the Juice Beauty Green Apple Brightening Gel Cleanser, followed by the Juice Beauty Blemish Clearing Serum. Lastly, I apply the Acure Mattifying Moisturizer and call it a day.
I use the Juice Beauty Prebiotix Flash Facial 2-3 times per week and use the Andalou Naturals Face Masks every Sunday. And I think its important to note that during this time, I tried to lessen how many times I would wear makeup.
The more you let your skin be, the less makeup you will need to wear. My skin became so clear that I no longer bother with foundation or concealer. I only use a light tinted moisturizer when I want a bit more coverage.
