Things I’m Loving #2

Skin Products:

I have weird skin and lots of skin issues. I’ve tried a lot of different products out there, with sometimes ok and sometimes horrible experiences.

I used Mary Kay products for years and liked a lot of them. My friend Star used to sell it, so that was a nice perk! But she doesn’t sell it anymore and I don’t really want to make the effort to find someone else.

So my skin is usually pretty dry and red and sore in the wintertime. I also have acne, and take a medication for acne because I get cyst acne (very painful). The other skin issues I have: I have eczema sometimes and psoriasis. So that can make issues worse and certain lotions and creams, etc, can irritate it. Thankfully I have both conditions managed about 90% most of the time. I just have to be careful.

I’ve tried everything out there from Oil of Olay to Neutragena to Noxema, to Aveeno, to Ponds, to Proactiv, etc etc. Nothing ever really worked. It was either too greasy, too oily, made me break out worse or dried me out.

For Christmas, my friend Star got me some beauty products and so far I really like them! And bonus: they are made locally in Portland. She got me the Pacifica Quinoa Sensitive face wash and the Pacifica Dreamy Youth moisturizer. I really love it so far. The moisturizer especially feels nice, creamy on my face and good for my skin.

I absolutely LOVE Trader Joe’s Coconut Body Butter. I use this a lot in the winter time especially and I use it every time after I go swimming. Swimming really dries out my dry skin even worse than normal and this stuff is amazing. It works so well and moisturizes my skin all day. It doesn’t wear off like everything else I’ve tried. It also smells great. So if you are a swimmer, I highly recommend this!

In the summertime my feet get torn up! Between running, hiking, swimming and wearing flip flops and sandals, I get really dry and cracked feet. Sometimes that happens in the winter, too, but usually it’s not too bad. I’ve tried a lot of different things out there and nothing really worked that well. Then I discovered this stuff: O’Keeffe’s for Healthy Feet Foot Cream

Seriously amazing! It’s like magic! It healed the dry, cracked feet almost overnight. I love this stuff!

A friend on Facebook recently raved about rosehip oil for a long list of skin issues. I decided to give it a try. I am not quite sure yet what I think about it. It feels really nice on my skin and so far it seems to be working well as a moisturizer (and for my psoriasis), but it ironically doesn’t smell very good. I was expecting it to smell like roses but it doesn’t.

Facial:

As a gift, my mother-in-law got me a massage and facial at the local Hand and Stone Spa. I had a really nice massage there recently and then I went back for the facial. I got a facial once before, when I was teenager. I don’t remember much about it…it was a long time ago. 😉

I’ve never seen the appeal of facials because I have such difficult, sensitive skin. I didn’t want to go and pay a lot of money for something that was just going to make me break out.

I had a day off recently and saw Dan for the facial. I told him I had super sensitive skin and we talked about my skin issues and I told him how sensitive I can be. He did a fabulous job! I would love to go back and get another one with him. He was super nice and friendly and chatty and very informative.

I was really worried that my face would be irritated or super red and broken out after the facial. Thankfully that didn’t happen! Here are before and after photos:

: Before

: After

No redness! And my skin felt so awesome afterwards. I wish I could remember every thing he did…he cleansed, used toner, did a facial/neck/shoulder massage with almond oil, did a few different masques and put several hydrating lotions on my skin. He did not recommend any kind of peel or Microderm abrasion type procedure because my skin is so sensitive.

The whole experience was blissful and relaxing and my skin felt so good afterwards! I told him about how I swim once a week and he had some recommendations for my skin. I ended up buying this kit that is for super moisturizing skin (a lot of the products were used during my facial):