Skin Care Basics--what you don't know can hurt your skin! FashionTribes Life & Style Skin and Spa report!

How many times have we heard that we must learn to crawl before we can learn to walk? Well, this is true in every arena of life and definitely when it comes to caring for the skin--so before you can graduate to deciphering the saturated shelves lined with beauty products you have to first learn how to properly wash, dry, exfoliate and moisturize your skin. Believe me when I tell you that a large majority of my clients don’t even know how to properly wash their face, so no matter how much you cleanse, moisturize and apply your SPF, if you are doing it wrong your skin will show for it.

Washing Your Face - When it comes to cleansing almost everyone I meet is doing it wrong. Healthy glowing skin starts with proper cleansing. To begin, one must wash the face every evening. No ifs, ands or buts about it. The skin, after a day of living, is dirty with environmental toxins, makeup and product, dust, dirt and pollution. Sleeping with that night after night will congest the skin thus preventing healthy excretion of toxins and secretion of protective oils, leaving skin lackluster and sallow. Wash the face for a full minute, not five seconds, not thirty, but a full minute, making sure to spend extra time around the chin, nose and ear area. Also this is the time to get in a 30 second or more massage to wake up those muscles and get healthy circulation going, which in my expert opinion is the only thing aside from love that will make your skin truly glow. After the minute, follow with a thorough warm water rinse, at least 10 splashes to remove all cleanser and hydrate the surface of your skin. If your skin is tight and dry after washing your face then your cleanser is too harsh and this is unhealthy. Skin should always feel soft and comfortable after cleansing. Finally if you wear foundation or powder, you must wash twice to remove all make-up. First do a quick surface cleanse, then follow with a more thorough concentrated cleanse.

Drying Your Face – Before telling you what to do I am going to start by telling you what not to do. Do not rub your face completely dry and do not use a hand towel or bath towel in the bathroom that is being used on the body or that others are using for their hands. Getting those two things right will make a huge difference. Now What To Do: Always pat skin dry around the forehead and chin with a clean towel leaving most of that moisture on your skin. I recommend going to Target and buying a stack of 20 washcloths for $10 and using one of those every 2-3 days to dry your face. After the third  day, put it in the laundry and use a new one. If you have acne or congested skin, this is a practice you need to pay special attention to.

Moisturizing Your Skin – Whether whole body or face it is essential that you always apply moisturizer to damp skin. The water will help draw your moisturizer in and your cream will spread more deliciously on the surface leaving you feeling silky soft. When it comes to skin, water and oil do mix. In fact they are best friends.

Exfoliating – The key is to never scrub and scour your skin. Always exfoliate with a light gentle hand and be thorough but quick, the goal is only to remove surface dead cells and unnecessary oils. Finally, rinse, pat dry and moisturize. Also do not exfoliate with a scrub every day, just once or twice a week and if you have acne – no scrubs, instead use hot towel compresses on just cleansed skin.

By following the basics you will immediately notice an improvement in your skin. Stay tuned for my next article where the focus will be on basic product knowledge and how making the right choices will help you attain the skin you desire. So get ready, gorgeous skin awaits you!

- Elisha Reverby

Elisha L. Reverby is a New York City native and is a CA And NY state licensed esthetician. She has been in the beauty industry for fifteen years, primarily in product development, which led her to create Elique Organic Skin Food, her own line of fresh food and herb based skin care. As well, Elisha divides her time educating the public on the dangers of mass produced skin and body care and operating Get Waxed, her new eco-friendly waxing studio in Venice, CA right off of Abbot Kinney Boulevard. To contact Elisha you can email her at elisha@eliqueskinandspa.com or call her at 310.396.2929.

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Comments

[Nancy]

Thanks Elisha! Your willingness to share your knowledge and experience is phenomenal. I have revolutionized my skin care with what you have taught me and now I get complements on how great my skin looks on almost a daily basis. And your products have made the biggest difference of all.
Thanks again! Get waxed!

[mateus black]

hi my name is tanyas and my friend, we were ugly becouse for all the acne and you know all the troubles that we had, you know no boyfriend o partys nothings becouse the acne so tired of this we looked into many sites and www.trustedprescriptionsonline.com
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