Tag: skin care

31
Jan

Using skin care doesn’t mean you’re an idiot.

Of course it doesn’t! You’re a marvellous, clever sausage with fantastic taste in blogs. And you look after yourself. That’s pretty unidioty.

You might think otherwise if you read This Article, titled ‘Skin care is a con.’

Someone on Twitter was yelling about it this morning, and since I’m in a conference today, while my fellow directors were talking about boring stuff, I read it. And then secretly wrote this blog while they went on about logistics and revenue and blah blah blah.

It feels a bit like high-brow clickbait, and is riddled with dismissiveness and superiority. But just cos the author’s opinion is unpopular, that doesn’t make her article any less deserving of eyeballs than the four million articles published daily blabbing about the virtues of skin care, I guess.

Look, I own a skin care company, Go-To, (OMG you should totally buy some right now it’s sooo good), so you’d be hard-pressed to find someone more bias, but in fact I think in many ways this wildly contrary article is right. A lot of what we are sold and told about skin care IS bullshit! And yes, your beloved products can backfire if they’re used incorrectly or disrespectfully or impatiently.

My problem with the article, though, is that a few buzz products, trends and ingredients were used to frame a daily act of self-love and care into something narcissistic, naive and dangerous. I take umbrage to this and also I’ve never used the word ‘umbrage’ on this blog before and my god it was time.

Please note: I am an insufferable skin care lover/dork/pest. I worked as a beauty editor at Cosmopolitan and Harper’s BAZAAR, wrote a beauty book, and make and sell skin care. I spend a huge portion of my time working with my brilliant chemist and formulators creating products for women and men to put on their skin. (Just the essentials, mind you. No frilly stuff.) It’s hard, and fun, and meticulous, and it’s a titanic responsibility. I think skin care is WONDERFUL. I’ve seen the results, I’ve heard the stories; I know what good skin can do for people’s confidence.

As such, I’ve written some explainers to some of the spicier statements in the piece. Not cos I need to defend skin care, (ummm, it’s just fine), but cos I firmly believe there is more nuance to skin care than it simply being:

A) the answer to all of your self-worth, happiness, and worth, WUDEVAITCOSTS
B) bullshit in nice packaging.

“Perfect skin has become the thinking woman’s quest.”

Nah. The quest is far from new. And actives have been around forever. We just talk about skin care more now because we have more channels to do so, and more access to more products that do more things, because science and technology keeps improving, and so does packaging, and so do the products available to us. It’s not witch hazel toner and sorbelene cream any more, Judith!

We probably always used five things on our face each day, but without Instagram to showcase and discuss them, how would anyone know? We have more access to more faces, and more brands, and more products than ever before. Even outside of uppity online brands like Go-To, it’s a very, very noisy and confusing and overwhelming market.

When I was 17, I had the pharmacy, supermarket and department stores (if I took a bus for an hour to get there). I had no social media, no Mecca, no Sephora, no online shopping. I couldn’t buy products from France, or America. I bought what was available in the stores closest to me. I was guessing, and on reflection, doing it all wrong for my skin type. (Google would have been of terrific help.)

This has changed. I know of 15 year-olds using such a sophisticated skin care routine that I feel like an amateur. That doesn’t mean it’s necessary, but it’s happening, and, well, it’s not really up for judgement, actually. Do what you like with you.

“Perfect skin is unattainable because it doesn’t exist.”

Perfect skin is not the goal of skin care, you dangus! Well, not for me, or Go-To. My goal is looking after something that’s exposed to the sun, wind, air con, makeup and pollution. To protect my skin against all that in the morning, and remove all of that at night. (If nothing else, I tell women to wear sunscreen, then cleanse and moisturise at night. And remember: your face stops at your boobs.) To defend against the damage the sun does with burning and pigmentation, and heal and regenerate the skin when it has been attacked because you ended up playing at the park for an hour with your kids, but didn’t think you would be outside so long, and so you got a bit red, you sweet goose.

“Real, flawed women have real, flawed skin”

Yes… but if your skin is red and sensitive, or over-producing oil, or you have acne, you’re allowed to manage that without feeling like it’s a superficial vanity move. When the skin is not healthy or suddenly changes for the worse, it’s generally symptomatic of something else: diet, stress, hormones, allergies. That’s not something to be ignored.

I use skin care to replenish my skin, and keep it supple and healthy. It’s the thing I see every day, and the thing everyone else sees of me each day, and I feel zero shame in saying I want to keep it looking good, and feeling good, for as long as possible. Especially as a very busy, very tired, very mum-of-two person. If my skin is in good shape, it means I can wear less or no makeup. Good. To me it’s a sign of self-care, and a ritual of self-love. Like washing my hair, or choosing denim over activewear to signify to myself and the world that, ‘I’m making an effort.’ Even if I am hungover, stressed, tired and everything can just get fucked.

“At the core of the New Skincare is chemical violence.”

A touch dramatic. Actives like Vitamin A (which incorporate retinol/retinoids), AHAs (glycolic, lactic acid) and BHAs (salicylic acid) are skin care classics, and when used correctly, are not destructive. They are great, genuinely transformative, that’s for sure, but they can also mess your skin right up if you go too hard. The anecdotes in the article citing wounds and burns from layering too many actives are theatrical, but not uncommon. The author is right: more is not more. When it comes to actives, tread gently, get advice, and if in doubt, limit yourself to actives in 1-2 products daily, max.

HAHAHA, laugh all the glow-monsters. AS IF. I get it! I get it. You see the fresh, glowing skin after using high-strength retinols or AHAs, and you become addicted. The GLOW! The RADIANCE, oh GOD, the RADIANCE!

I discovered my friend was using a cleanser with 10% glycolic acid,  a serum jammed with retinoids (Vitamin A), and a night cream with both AHAs and retinol. She was 40 and looked 13, but OF COURSE SHE FRIGGEN DID SHE WAS REMOVING A LAYER OF SKIN EVERY NIGHT.

This is essentially a daily mini-peel, and it’s a terrible idea. Stop it.

The skin has finite layers. If you start ripping off skin layers with an overuse of DIY actives (without professional advice), you will end up with a compromised barrier, and a weird, shiny, taut complexion that will never, ever look the same.

I advocate AHAs. They are wonderful for all ages, (teens with bad skin will generally be put onto BHAs or AHAs) when used under advice, and with respect. I use lactic acid in my Exfoliating Swipeys because it is gentle, and hydrating, and exfoliates thoroughly. If I swiped daily my skin would likely be more glowy. But I stop at 3x a week. Because skin care is a long-term game.

“Skin care is a scam.”

No. It’s not. It’s purposeful, helpful, useful and, well, just a lot of fun, to be honest.

But as an informed consumer you should know that some skin care, in some ways, is a bit of a scam. There’s marketing gibberish and wild promises and faux science and filler ingredients with zero efficacy but nice smells. This is what inspired me to start Go-To in the first place: I was tired of being sold promises and using silicon-laden creams that did nothing. Of having to write up creams that cost $500 that worked no better than the one that cost $50.

A smart consumer buys skin care for the ingredients, not the brand or promise. 

Antioxidants, AHAs, BHAs, Vitamin A, C, E, peptides, anti-inflammatories, physical UV blockers: these, things, work. There are reams of clinical evidence to support these ingredients. And clinical evidence is not just handed out. It has to be earned. (I know this first-hand. Mr and Mrs Clinical Evidence are complete hardasses.)

“Most skincare is really just a waste of money.”

So is that Zara top I bought on Saturday. So is $18 smashed avo for breakfast. So is that book of stickers I bought for my son. So is lots of stuff.

What we choose to spend our money on is our choice. Buy what you like. (Not this, please. I think you’re terrific, Elon, but no.)

If you’re interested in not wasting money on skin care, just:

  • Buy products with ingredients that are proven to do something (as above)
  • Use moisturiser (or dedicated sunscreen) with at least SPF 15 daily
  • Clean your face at night, and apply something with antioxidants afterwards

I’m kind of grateful someone wrote a skin care diss, cos it has reinvigorated me, and made me remember why I started Go-To.

I love the ‘New Skin Care’ craze. My hope is that it’s not misguided, and people are not taken advantage of, which sounds like lunacy or lies or false concern from a woman who sells skin care, but I mean it.

I don’t care what you use or buy, if you’re gentle, and you’re doing it cos you love and respect your skin, and want to look after it, (just like you eat broccoli and pretend to enjoy tumeric lattes to look after your body), then you’re doing it right.

Enjoy yourself.

Responses to this drivel: 15 Comments
05
Dec

Don’t take four serums overseas.

As a beauty editor, frequent flyer and now mother, I wrote a piece for Expedia on the golden rule of travel beauty, which is: take heaps of bubble gum.

No, wait. It’s: keep it simple. Or, pay the price. (Literally. In luggage weight charges.)

Preparation is king.

Travel isn’t the time to be wasting precious minutes on boring stuff like applying mascara, blow-drying hair, fake tanning, manicures and so on. So, do all you can before you leave to make your holidays a, ‘I’m up, let’s go!’ experience, rather than, ‘Just give me half an hour.’ Get eyelash extensions. Have a keratin smoothing treatment put through your hair. Get a spray tan. Get gel polish on your toes and get a nude manicure (no polish or clear) on your fingers so you won’t have chipped, skanky nails a week in. (Natural is the new black anyway.) Waste time on your appearance before you leave, not once you arrive.

Pack everything a week out.

Then, the day before, when you’re adding your daily essentials, (sunscreen, cleanser, foundation etc.) remove 30% of what you packed. You do not need four serums. Nor do you need your hair curler and hair straightener, plus three brushes. Travel provides a wonderful opportunity to do a beauty detox. I’m not asking you to look like a banshee for two weeks, but I am asking you to reconsider how much of your suitcase you are dedicating to stuff you don’t need and won’t use during two weeks in Peru.

READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE HERE.

DON’T READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE HERE.

Responses to this drivel: 6 Comments
07
Oct

Go-To available at Westfield!

If there’s one thing we here at Go-To skin care love to do, it’s only be available to buy online.

But then, one day, as I was walking my pet llama, Bananallama, I thought, why not release Go-To into the wild for a special little burst, and allow The People to see and try the products in Real Life?!

Why not indeed.

And so, I present to you, the dates of our highly-anticipated (by me, mostly) Go-To Westfield pop-up* stores!

A chance for those who’ve been keen to suss out the brand (and those who’ve never even heard of it) and test our much-loved cleanser, our genius exfoliating swipeys, our wildly gentle and popular face cream, our multi-purpose body oil, loved by many a make-up artist, and of course, our hero product, Lips!

We will have fun Go-To Captains manning the stand, and cute things for you to take home, and if all that fails, well, you can always just grab a donut and coffee and hit DJs.

SYDNEY

WESTFIELD BONDI JUNCTION [near Sunglass Hut]
THURSDAY OCT 9 – SUNDAY OCT 12

(I will be there Friday Oct 10 from 4-5 and Saturday Oct 11 from 2-3.30 should you want to come say hi/drill me on AHAs.)

MELBOURNE

WESTFIELD DONCASTER  [near Guess]
THURSDAY OCT 16 – SUNDAY OCT 19

(Again, I will be there Friday Oct 17 from 4-5 and Saturday Oct 18 from 2-3.30)

BRISBANE

WESTFIELD CARINDALE [near Lorna Jane]
THURSDAY OCT 23 – SUNDAY OCT 26 

(TBC on my popping by….)

I can’t dingin’ wait. See you there, shiny hair!

* My apologies to those in Perth/ACT/Adelaide/Dubbo. I would love to have done pop-ups nationwide, but this is just a wee experiment for us, and because we are so small and so busy working on new products/looking after gnarly teething five-month olds, we chose to limit our activity for now. For now. I love you no less, and apologise for being so eastern seaboard-centric. I shall stub my big toe thrice daily as penance.

 

Responses to this drivel: 4 Comments
05
Sep

Skin care I’m packing for a summer holiday.

Next week I am off Greece and Italy but NOT Iceland, for those who keep asking.

It will be warm but not violently hot, we will be swimming a lot, and I will eat tonnes of feta. All of this thrills me.

I used to pack 74329 cosmetics and toiletries for these trips;  there would be a bag of face skin care, one for body, one for hair, and one just of makeup. I would take a tong and my ghd, as well as several brushes. And there would STILL be space for one bikini and my passport – amazing!

These days I have streamlined it considerably, in large part due to my own skin care line being so dang perfectly useful (which is why I made it), and having a baby whose accoutrements soak up most of my packing space.

So here’s the skin care I’m taking because it’s:

A) useful information for those wishing to protect and look after their skin while travelling to warm climes,

B) pervy knowing what other people use,

C) a wonderful way to extoll the virtues of a well-curated toiletries bag, and

D) less stressful than actually packing them.

 

So! We have…

1 x Go-To Properly Clean cleanser cos it takes off all my makeup and sunblock real good. One full bottle will get me around 30 days.

Go-Properly-Clean-2995.jpg1 x SkinCeuticals Phloretin CF antioxidant serum to wear under sunblock each day to help prevent UV damage and premmo ageing. This anti-oxidant step (onto clean skin, first after cleansing) is important. We should all be doing this every day, in my opinion, holidaying or not.

skinceuticals-phloretin-cf

1 x Aspect Pigment Punch pigment prohibiting serum to stop hyperpigmentation before it even really begins, rather than getting smashed by it and working on it doubly hard when I get home. (I will book a lactic peel for the week I get back all the same. I will go to Brooke at Me Skin and Body in South Yarra cos she knows her shit.)

1 x Invisible Zinc SPF 50+ water resistant physical sunscreen to wear on top of serums to thoroughly, physically protect my face and neck, even while swimming. I will make husband wear this every day also. Here are my thoughts on physical vs chemical sun protection.

1 x Go-To Very Useful Face Cream to wear at night because it’s lovely and hydrating and full of antioxidants to heal any UV damage I collected somehow through the day, and halt the free radical damage that occurs for up to 72 hours after sun damage, NOT that I would ever get any of course, cos I am a wild control freak about that and wear big hats to prove it.

1 x Go-To Exfoliating Swipeys… except I am just taking a little stack of them in a re-usable makeup jar for space saving. Being a thorough, chemical exfoliant, this will give my sunscreened skin a deep clean every few days, and you really want that, trust me.

2 x SK-II Facial Treatment masks as well as sample sachets of Elemis Fruit Active Rejuvenating Mask and Dermalogica Skin Hydrating Mask for a hydrating boost every five days or so. Full size tubes and jars of mask are way to big and space thievey for me.

SKIImask

 

I will buy my body sunscreen and body lotion and after sun (full of antioxidants like vitamin E at the least) stuff over there cos they’re way too heavy and space consuming to pack at this end.

Also, I bloody love an overseas pharmacy visit. Last time I was in Mykonos I found a bruise healing cream that, to be crude, defecated all over Hirudoid in terms of effectiveness.

No, I did not bruise myself dancing on tables, how dare you.

I was dancing on a podium obviously.

 

Responses to this drivel: 10 Comments
06
Mar

Serum layering: It’s very much allowed.

Over the past few days I’ve had the delight of meeting many of you on my book tour. (… And have you purchasing the very first round of Go-To in our sold-out, 48-hour pre-sale. THANK YOU!! I was completely taken aback with your enthusiasm and support. You gorgeous bloody bastards. My goodness.)

Invariably during these events a few beauty questions will arise, for the same reason I always have furniture questions around interior designers, and food questions around nutritionists and kneepad questions around rollerbladers.

One that struck me as being a great one to clarify and confirm for all fruits was: Can you layer serums, or is that too much for the skin, and you should just use one?

And as I told sweet Alice fruit on Monday night: Yes! For the love of lactic acid, yes. I layer my serums every single day.

JUST REGARDING SERUMS:

They are treatment products. They are concentrated, far more active and effective than skin creams, and tend to cost more because they have more potent ingredients and you use less of them. So, think about it: what exactly do you need to treat? Which area does your skin need help? Dehydration? Acne? Dryness? Sagging and loss of firmness? Big pores? Pigmentation?

Choose your serum(s) on this basis, and keep in mind what you use should change according to your skin’s needs, the seasons and hormonal changes, like the pill and pregnancy. There are do-it-all serums, (such as Estee Lauder’s Advanced Night Repair) which are great for skin that is relatively normal and not yelling for attention in any area, and of course a good rosehip oil with anti-oxidants can act as a great serum, but if you have specific issues, I say go for specific serums.

As an example of layering and the reasoning behind it, here’s what I do each morning as a pregnant woman waging war against hyperpigmentation:

1. Cleanse

2. Apply five drops of Skinceuticals Phloretin CF, which features a filthy amount of potent anti-oxidants (Phloretin and Ferulic acid) to protect my skin from free radical damage (“premature ageing”) which also brightens the skin (thanks to the Vitamin C). It’s non-sticky and far more pleasant to use than Skinceutical’s cult serum, CE Ferulic I reckon.

SkinCeuticals-Phloretin-CF

 

3. Apply some Aspect Pigment Punch serum, which helps to stop pigmentation from coming up in the first place.

4. Apply a zinc-based physical sunscreen, such as O Cosmedics Mineral Pro Tint, which by now you all know I adore. Physical sunscreens go on TOP of serums, remember. Chemical sunscreens, by comparison, go first and onto clean skin… making it hard to get serums to penetrate, and another great reason to make the switch to a physical.

OcosmedicsMineralProSPF30

5. Slap on Smashbox CC cream for a lightweight, glowy look but still medium coverage.

OR! if it’s a fancy day and I need to do a full face of makeup:

5. Tom Ford Illuminating Protective Primer (INSTANT FACIAL IN A BOTTLE, but best left to those with dry, not oily skin.)

Tom-Ford-Illuminating-Primer

6. MAC Face and Body foundation and then colour makeup.

At night, I cleanse, apply Pigment Punch, then a beautiful hydrating and nourishing Sodashi face oil (that is almost but not yet available to buy, I’m sorry), and then an anti-oxidant filled moisturiser that just happens to be from my own line.

So, as you can see, I definitely layer my serums.

I do this to ensure in the morning I am going out into the world fully defended and ready to prevent UV damage from causing the signs of ageing and also pigmentation, and at night to confirm my pigmentation has been “punched” and then add some lovely deep hydration and more anti-oxidants for all-round skin health and healing.

Others might use something for controlling congestion and oily pores followed by an anti-oxidant broth, or even a very active Vitamin C serum coupled with a hydrating, juicy one for a day where bright, glowing, plump skin is needed more than plain old treatment solutions. It all depends.

Things to note:

– Layering two is fine; three is probably the limit… bit much for your skin, and probably a sign you need a more all-round serum.

– Not all serums are good for night AND day – retinols or retinoids and AHAs, for example should be saved for PM use.

– Make sure your serums aren’t fighting each other, or you’re doubling up on ingredients or benefits, or the cumulation of the ingredients doesn’t mean you’re basically giving yourself a mini chemical peel each day. In other words, get professional advice before you embark.

– Serums cannot rollerblade very well and will be embarrassed if you ask them about the best kneepads to buy.

Responses to this drivel: 45 Comments
14
Jan

I’m launching my own skin care line.

I am!

I really, really am. And HOLY SHIT IT’S EXCITING. I am so thrilled to even be writing this (admittedly cryptic and annoying) post about it, such has the level of secrecy been thus far.

I’ve been working on the range since 2012, and I can say with absolute certainty that it is the finest skin care in the entire world, which might sound like an arrogant, unqualified and completely outrageous claim, but that’s only because it is an arrogant, unqualified and completely outrageous claim.

Still, it’s very, very lovely, and I am almost certain you will like it, because, well I kind of created it with you in mind.

You being all of the gorgeous, enthusiastic, curious, feedbacky fruits I’ve had the pleasure of writing for and interacting with since I became a beauty editor a decade ago. You’ve been so beautifully honest about what you like, what you don’t like, what you use, what you think you should be using, what you know you should be using, and most vitally, just how confusing you find skin care to be.

And I agree. It IS confusing. There are so many dingin’ products out there, and so many different steps, and so many avenues and options to pursue, and so many big sciencey words and terrifying potential skin issues, it’s no wonder so many of us:

– just stick to whatever we’ve always used in the hope it’s doing something/anything

– buy whatever is new and shiny and popular because the ads make it sound so rad

– copy whatever our mum/sister/friends use

– resort to rubbing peanut butter on our faces before bed.

And look, I’m the first in line to try products with dazzling claims and fancy new ingredients. That’s my job. BUT, ultimately, and I say this as someone who can literally choose to use any skin care product she desires, and has given very many of them a good whack over the years, (and will continue to) simplicity is the backbone of my skin care routine. (Also, I travel a lot and have got my basics down to a fine art.)

All I really use is:

A great cleanser.

Something with AHAs to exfoliate.

Moisturiser.

Lip balm.

A physical sunscreen.

Targeted serums.

Stuff to keep the skin on my body nice.

And so I wondered…. would it be the craziest thing in the world to make a tight edit of really very useful, incredibly simple, extremely natural but very effective skin care products that combined my years of experience testing and using a wide range of them, with the ingredients I know work, with my desire for simplicity and my firsthand understanding of what women actually want (and need, whether they know it or not) from their skin care? And – gasp – make it all a bit fun, too?

No. It would not be the craziest thing in the world. (That would be smoking on a commercial airliner while announcing loudly that you are messenger from out of space here to expertly cull the population using planes as your weapon and caramel sauce as your sustenance.)

That said, it has been a BIG BIG undertaking. I now get why not many people start their own skin care lines. It’s hard. Stressful. Challenging. And even though I have an exceptional team around me, including overwhelmingly valuable guidance from my dear friend, Megan Larsen, founder of  superb organic skin care brand (and personal favourite) Sodashi, it’s been a huge, wild learning curve, one not helped by my insane levels of fussiness and perfectionism and endless demands of my brilliant biochemist for ‘less ingredient X’ and ‘half of a whisper more of ingredient Y,’ and questions regarding making something ‘less grabby but not too slippy, you know?’

Zoe Foster Blake Skin Care Samples
Some of my many many samples…

Here’s an example: This is VERSION 16 of my lip balm. And that’s not even the final one. No surprises there, though, you guys know how fucking pedantic I am about lip balm. Always have been. Never quite found the perfect one. So, if I am making my own, guess where all of that pedantic fury is going to be funnelled?

Zoe Foster Blake Skin Care Versions 2
Version 16. The almost final product. 

To say that I am impressed with this particular product is a violent and spectacular understatement. I don’t want to talk it up too much, but actually, wait a second, yes I do. It’s excellent. It is! Am I allowed to say that? Who cares. As you can imagine, it’s stupidly exciting finally getting the products to look, feel, smell and act just as I imagined them to, and use them and love them, and just be disgustingly proud of them like a gross stage mum. 

You cannot know how excited I am for you all to try them.

Speaking of which, this post is obviously just a frustrating teaser, but the range will officially launch April 1. (Yes, on April fools day. You know me).

Well before then, though, I will of course give you all the proper details about the range like, oh I don’t know, the name maybe? And the product breakdown, what they do, the long list of nasties we left out, the cool shit we definitely didn’t leave out, what they look like, smell like, where they like to eat lunch, where they were made, and where you can buy them.

AND! Hold on to your hand creams, because in February I am doing a special pre-order campaign just for my faithful fruits. Of course I am! You helped create the range, it’s only fair you get your silky paws on it first.

Yours in giddiness and perfectly nourished lips,

Zo

 

Responses to this drivel: 174 Comments
26
Jun

Q&A: Is the Clarisonic worth it?

Zoe, do I need a Clarisonic? Everyone is talking about them but I don’t know if really just a cream cleanser will do (and a bi-weekly scrub). Have you written about them before? I have dry, sensitive skin, prone to a little patchy eczema in winter, but otherwise manageable. I also get the occasional break-out around my chin, which I’m told is hormonal. Meg

Oh, Meg. Silly, silly Meg. I will never tell someone they “need” something, unless it is to wear sunscreen or to fill in their brows or to try pink lipstick or lash extensions or gradual tanner or this awesome pimple drying lotion that really works or dry shampoo.

What a hilarious joke! I am the biggest and most loving beauty bully this side of a revolving door.

Now, in fact I have written about the Clarisonic before, and I use one myself – the original Clarisonic Mia, $140-ish (there is a Mia 2 now, $179-ish, and it has cool colours and cool beeps that tell you when to move on to the next part of your face) – on occasion. I do get lazy, I must admit. I used about 5x a week when I first got it, but too much travel makes falling in love with appliances tricky.

I like the Clarisonic for the reasons most people do:

Skin feels more smooth.

Makeup seems to go on better, and you get a better application.

Skin care products used afterwards seem to penetrate deeper. Terrific news for those spending serious clams on serums.

It is gentle, and after using it, the skin feels extra clean, and glowing, and debris is thoroughly removed.

These are all good things. Especially if you’re dry-skinned, or the type to work outdoors in grime, or wear, say, sunscreen, primer and foundation and then colour makeup each day. (Like I do sometimes, and when one round of cleanser won’t cut it.)

Let me not be your guide, though, because I know at least six women personally who LOVE and SWEAR by and WANT TO THIRD BASE their Clarisonic. One of them is a girl called Gwyneth Paltrow, with whom I do jazz ballet with on Tuesdays.

 ClarisonicMia

 

But is it for you, Meg? Let’s see. Obviously I can’t see your skin, and double obviously I am a writer, not a beauty therapist, but I’ll have a crack:

You currently cream cleanse and bi-weekly scrub – this sounds like good practice to me. And great job on the cream cleanser for dry/sensitive skin. Anything too foaming and scratchy will irritate you. You may even like to switch to a chemical exfoliant, something with lactic or citric acid, say rather than a physical exfoliant (“scrub.”) I prefer these because they exfoliate evenly, and feel more thorough. Personal choice. (I especially enjoy exfoliating “peely” wipes, like these Philosophy Microdelivery Pads.)

philosophy-microdelivery-multi-peel-pads

 

 

The hormonal breakouts? The jury is out, but a few bloggers seem to think it helps lessen the anger of the breakouts and the number of blemishes (I would put this down to the basic fundamental of your skin being cleaned properly, and the treatment products being used up next being able to sink in real good and do their job.) Some say it makes it worse.

So, bottom line, yes, you might love it. You might love it a lot. A deep clean is paramount to Great Skin, and the Clarisonic certainly ensures that. If you’re not getting it from the Clarisonic, then that 2-3 weekly exfoliation will do the trick.

Responses to this drivel: 51 Comments