face to face

I’m not sure that anyone really gives a hoot about my skincare routine, but I’ll have you know that I’ve actually put some good love, thought and trial into what now is the simplest skincare routine on the planet, except for no skincare routine of course, but that’s just no fun at all now is it? I’m almost (as in, not yet) heading into my third decade of life, which means my skin is too, and since my skin is actually quite important, it’s been equally as important to me to find a good, clean and simple daily skincare routine.

I’m an easy going kinda girl. I like simplicity and I like things to be fast yet efficient. Long ago, a dermatologist recommended the Dove Beauty Bar as the only face cleanser I’d ever need. Like a true teenager, it went in one ear and out the other and I don’t think I even gave it a try. If I didn’t feel my skin burning from some sort of acid, you know the stuff with the name I still can’t pronounce, it wasn’t going to work, right? These days, my adult self regards this piece of advice as true wisdom from the heaven’s above, and I’ll probably never use anything but. I use the pink Dove bar every day, mostly because it’s pink and partly because it’s extra moisturizing, which just ends up being an added bonus.

Now friends, Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar (with the ‘mother’!) is pretty much the bomb dot com. It’s like waaay awesome for you and it’s full of all kinds of crazy health benefits from weight loss to healthy digestion to muscle relief. It pretty much solves almost all problems except money ones. Dang it. My granola-loving-hippie-at-heart mother swears by it and has tossed back of shot of the stuff everyday for almost as long as I can remember. Which is probably one of the reasons she’s going to outlive everyone I know.  I’ve tried drinking it, and yes, the stuff is nastay, so instead I use it on my face. I dilute it with water (50/50) and everyday after washing I dip a cotton ball into my acv jar and rub the stuff all over. Honey LOVES it. Okay, he really doesn’t. I smell like a salad for 15 whole minutes and I’ve attracted every fruit fly on the block by the end of it, but it’s totally worth the glow. I’ve noticed quite the difference actually. My skin is more evenly toned and breakouts don’t really exist anymore. Plus something about using natural kitchen ingredients on my face just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Pond's Dry Skin Cream is the moisturizer I use to finish it all off. I always use moisturizer. Day and night. And on nights when I’m too tired to wash my face, because uhhh, that never happens (yea right), I wipe it clean with Simple Face Wipes, the exfoliating kind, then lather on the good old moisturizer. “I really love when my face is dry,” said absolutely no one ever.

Now for the magical secret. A friend turned me on to the amazing Aztec Healing Clay and I just can’t seem to thank her enough (thanks J Babe!). Once a week, I mix this bad boy up with some apple cider vinegar (see, I told you it’s a miracle worker that acv is), then I smudge it all over my face. It’s not a pretty sight, but one I’m willing to put up with for twenty minutes because the end result is sooo smooth, soft and spectacular. I love this stuff. It literally sucks everything out and I mean everything. *Side story: I used it for a few weeks on a cyst Honey had on his back (he’s really glad I’m telling this story). We’re talking at least 2 years old this cyst was. HOLY MOLY! It worked wonders. Like incredible magical wonders! And yes, eventually that cyst surfaced, and if you’re a complete weirdo like me and you find a sick and odd pleasure in that pimple picking kind of stuff, then I’m telling you right now, it was everything you could ever dream of. I should’ve videotaped it. Okay, I disgust myself. Apologies.* Anyway, the clay is so totally worth the 8-9 buckaroos. Just trust me on this one and thank me later.

And that’s it! That’s what’s on my face. It’s simple, it’s natural and it works. I never thought I could write such a long blog post about my skincare routine, but it was actually kind of fun! Do you have any skincare regimens or products that you swear by? Anything I’ve GOT to try?!

xoxo,

Kait