Just wondering how other women maintain good skin.
What kind of cleansers, moisturizers, creams etc.
do you use? Anything unusual?
I use St. Ives Apricot Scrub on my face in the shower in the morning. I have a mask I put on once a week when I remember to, and (I know, I should be doing this more often) if I think about it I wash the makeup off my face at night and put on a St. Ives Apple something moisturizer.
Wash with homemade soap in my morning bath. Quick wipe with astringent on a cotton round before bed. That’s it. I’ll use a moisturizer after bathing if I’m on a trip to Tahoe or Vegas or someplace drier than I’m used to, but I don’t use one as a rule.
In the morning, I wash my face with Dr. Bronners Magic Soap.
At night, I wash my face with Dr. Bronners Magic Soap.
If I get a pimple, I dab witch hazel and tea tree oil on it.
That’s all.
I am an official “tryer” when it comes to skin and hair products. However, lately I’m operating under the “Keep it Simple” doctrine, so I, like ivylass, swear by St. Ives Apricot Scrub, and also by the Purifying Clear Pore cleanser.
Other than that, I do an Aveda Clay Mask once a week, and use the Bio-Molecular Perfecting Fluid in the morning.
OH! And sometimes, when I’m feeling particularly shiny, I’ll mask with Milk of Magnesia for ten minutes. It mattes fabulously, for the entire day. 
I use Oil of Olay cleanser (it might be foaming face wash, I can never remember) in the shower most days. A couple of times a week I’ll use St. Ives Apricot Scrub instead. After the shower I use Clean & Clear moisturizer (I’ve been using it since high school, and I’ve always had pretty clear skin, so I see no reason to stop now!) and take off what’s left of my eye makeup with some eye makeup remover. Every now and then I’ll use Clinique On-Call moisturizer, especially in the winter.
That’s it – I never take my makeup off at night (I know, shame on me!), and I don’t use astringent (it just dries my skin out and makes it feel tight). I do use a Clinique foundation with moisturizer in it, and it’s very light and makes my skin feel soft. I’ve been blessed with very good skin – the one thing keeping me from having “porcelain skin” is the freckles!
I have good skin, and I work hard to keep it that way. (Sounds like the beginning of a Nivea commercial, heh.)
Anyhow, this is what I do. When I’m in the shower, I use one of those scratchy scrub things and the shower gel of my choice from the Dollar Store. After I wash my body, I splash warm water on my face.Then I apply some Freeman’s Apricot Face Scrub, which is one of those slightly sandy exfoliating scrubs with moisturizers, and lightly rub my face with it for about a minute. I rinse my face, and dry off.
Once I’m out of the shower, I apply a dab of L’oreal Plenitude Revitalift Eye to the skin under and around each eye, followed by a small amount of Bath and Bodyworks moisture Rich Body Lotion to the rest of my face, avoiding areas that tend to be oily (I do mostly my cheeks and jawline). Then I use the Body Works stuff to the rest of my bod.
Shower Gel, Dollar Store: $1.00
Scratchy Scrub Net Thing, Dollar Store: $1.00
Apricot Scrub, Dollar Store: $1.00
L’oreal Eye Cream, Target: about $11.00 for a half-oz. jar, but it should last you almost a year.
Bath and Body Works Lotion, Bath and Body Works Store: $9.00 for an 8-oz. bottle. This is my biggest expense. Expect to use about a bottle every month and a half, but I think it’s worth it. It’s not greasy and absorbs quickly.
The Dollar Store stuff, although it has caused the scary salesladies at the Shishedo and Clinique counters to self-destruct when I’m shopping for other stuff and they ask me what I use on my face, is really just as good. The trick is to look at the basic chemical ingredients in what you’re buying. Decide where you want to splurge, and where you can reasonably save.
I should also add that I never, ever go out in direct sunlight. If I have to do any daytime outdoor activities, I wear a hat and sunscreen,and try to really limit my time in the sun. NO exceptions. I also tend not to wear a lot of makeup on a regular basis (mostly rouge because I’m pale); and that may have helped the texture of my skin because the application and removal of makeup over a long period of time (especially around the eyes) can stretch and damage the more delicate tissue.
You may not be as weird as I am about this kind of thing, but that’s my routine, for what it’s worth. Good luck!
I see a lot of Apricot Scrub users; I’ve always found them a little harsh so I’m just using that Basis non-soap cleanser on the face, then liberal amounts of Oil of Olay moisturizer (I am dry as a bone in the winter) with like SPF 15, I think. To echo Creaky, I think the sunscreen and staying out of the sun is the best bet on keeping the skin looking better and clearer. It’s my body skin that’s the main problem: dry, itchy, red spots on my shoulders, back, and chest when I come out of the shower. I don’t take particularly hot showers, nor do I scrub my skin severely; I think some of it might be stress, but I found that Bag Balm is currently doing the trick. Hooray for Bag Balm!
“Good morning, everyone, I’m Constance Bennett. I do hope I’ll be able to help you with your daily skin routine . . .”
—Ooooh, sorry, I was having a Daily Beauty Rituals flashback . . . Anyway. I’m lucky enough to have stayed OUT of the sun when I was a lass, so I don’t have any serious problems, except for this disagreement Mr. Gravity and I have been having.
I wash with either Ivory or Noxema, and NEVER GO OUT WITHOUT SUNSCREEN. I mean, 365 days a year, summer or winter, even cloudy days. I don’t wear much makeup—mostly some Eliz. Arden touch-up foundation under my eyes, and I mix my own face powder, from various pale pink/lavendar Shisedo and Anna Sui shades.
I scrub my face once a day, at night, with a Freeman’s scrub. Once or twice a week, I use the Pumice Foot scrub.
I sleep on a floor mat with no pillow and take at least a one hour walk outside every day without sunscreen.
I’m 47 without any wrinkles.
OK, “high-maintenance, high-end skin ritual girl”, checking in.
Since hitting 30 and having a child, my skin has gotten quite dry around my eyes, is combination, and is prone to breakouts. Here’s the routine:
- Never use very hot water on skin.
- I’m with Eve, use sunscreen EVERY DAY!
- Remove makeup every night.
- Cleanser, toner, moisturizer (face and eye) in the morning.
- Cleanser, toner, moisturizer (face) with chemical exfoliant (antioxidants, retinol, fruit extracts, etc.) in the evening.
- Hi Opal!
- Gentle exfoliant scrub 2x per week.
- Never use hair products with Panthenol. (YMMV, I seem to break out from them.)
Products:
Clarins Lait Demaquillant cleansing milk
Clarins Gentle Toner
Clarins Daily Moisturizer with SPF 15
Clarins Peau Neuve night time moisturizer
Clarins gentle exfoliant scrub
Clarins Eye Contour Balm
Occasionally, Clean and Clear Adult Acne cream for blemishes.
Yes, this costs a fortune. If Mr. Elf only knew! :rolleyes:
AM- 1. DHC Cleansing Oil on face
2. 12% Apha-hydroxy acid lotion
3. blotting powder on eyelids to keep eyeshadow from congealing into unsightly puddle
4. foundation, eyeshadow, mascara, powder, blush
PM- 1. Take off eye makeup
2. Wash eyes with baby shampoo
3. DHC Cleansing Oil on face
4. 12% AHA lotion
High maintenance chick checking in, as well.
I love trying new products and must have about 12 different facial cleansers, lotions, etc.
As a rule I always ALWAYS remove my makeup. Even when I’ve been falling down drunk and ended up washing my face with my hair conditioner I’ve made the effort to remove my makeup. I wake up feeling all oogey if I don’t.
At night I remove makeup with warm water and cold cream. Face is cleansed with either Neutrogena soap or a wonderful homemade lemon soap I bought from some guy at a craft show. I moisturize with an alpha-hydroxy lotion and dab on a Clinique under-eye cream.
In the morning I scrub in the shower with St. Ives Apricot Scrub then lotion again with the alpha-hydroxy and eye cream. On humid D.C. summer days I’ll do a quick wipe with some Clinique astringent before the lotion.
Once a week I mask with either a Neutrogena pore-reducing mask or a Body Shop tea tree oil mask.
I’m almost 28 I’m told my skin really looks good. I never had a problem with acne as a teen and lines/circles haven’t set in yet. Enjoy it while it lasts, huh?
I use those Oil of Olay daily wash cloths, Sea Breeze toner, and Oil of Olay mosturizing creme every night. I also have foundation with sunscreen in it and lipstick with SPF15.
I have very sensitive skinand these products are about all I my face can handle. Anything too harsh and my face gets all red and starts to break out.
I guess you’d call me ‘low maintenance.’
Drink plenty of water.
Avoid makeup.
Wash from time to time.
In the morning I fill the sink with ice water and a slosh of sea breeze toner (it makes the ice water colder), I soak a washcloth in it then apply it to my face.
If I’m not going to wear makeup I apply St Ives moisturizer with spf15.
At night I use Clean & Clear Pore Cleanser (it’s a light scrub), then Lubriderm Skin Renewal Cream.
Aaaaah, I can’t wait to have my own bathroom someday!
Um, yeah. I live at a college dorm. Every night, I take off my makeup with some dollar store stuff and a tissue, then I take a shower and wash my face with Suave face wash (I have oily skin, but Clearasil’s too harsh for me anymore and Oil of Olay is too moisturizing), which also claims to remove makeup so lately I just get in the shower and assume it will somehow get my eyeliner off. I don’t wash my face in the morning, though, bad me. I’m usually late for class as it is.
Low maintenence here.
In the shower each morning I wash, using a regular facecloth, with Cetaphil soap - the most mild soap on the market I’ve ever found. Then I moisturize liberally wtih Nivea Creme.
The very best possible thing you can do for your skin is drink at least 64 oz. of water every day, and wear sunscreen.
Twiddle
Also…vitamins A and E are great for your skin. But only if you ingest them. In spite of what some skin care company’s claim, it has no effect if you apply them directly to your skin.
Neutrogena gentle foaming cleanser
Oil of Olay moisturizer with sunscreen
That’s it. I never go out in the sun for longer than a few minutes, since I get projectile-vomiting-migraines from sun exposure; my skin looks great as a result.