Glow and Youth. Do you want it?

I get asked this question all of the time... How do I get my skin to glow and look young again? Well, ladies if you aren't 18 years old and acne free, then sorry I can't turn the clock back. However, your skin can look like it is being taken care of. Make the best of what your skin is. You can only fight nature so much, until nature wins. So try to give your skin just what it needs and leave it alone.
I realize that so many of you have no idea what your skin needs. I was once one of those women that just threw whatever on my skin, and then wondered why it wasn't performing as I thought it should be. I spent most of my formative years battling acne and clogged pores. I guess not a lot has changed, except my skin is now more dry with oily patches all around, and fine lines and sun damage are starting pop up where I least expect it.
Those are challenges I think a lot of us experience. It's a battle of trying to figure out the acne fighting with the anti-aging. There a lot of different concerns out there, and with each of those concerns is a different person. We are are all different. Don't ever let anyone tell you that all skin is created equal... it's not!
Well, step one is figuring out exactly what kind of skin you have. Do you have oily, dry, dry-combination, oily-combination, acne with dry aging skin, or oily with acne? You can usually tell just by feeling or observing your skin. If you have dry, the skin usually feels tight all over. It may also have spots of peeling and even redness due to irritation. Oily skin has excessive oiliness with enlarged pores. Now if you have both of these, then it may be a combination of both. I didn't mean to leave out aging skin. Aging skin can be a combination of a lot of things, like dryness, oiliness, dullness, and of course enlarged pores. All skin types have their battles, and almost all women want to know what they need to do to stop the signs of aging and get glowing healthy skin.
By now you should have decided what kind of skin you have. Oh and P.S. Ladies and Gentlemen,... please don't go to your local beauty counter and ask your consultant, "What kind of skin do I have?" It's up to you to take ownership of that part. Consultants aren't magicians, and some of them truly don't have the right training to guess. Please go into your skincare shopping prepared and knowledgeable.
Ok, so that's out of the way, let's move on to step two; deciding what products to get. Also take into account how "sensitive" your skin is. I use "sensitive" in parenthesis because everyone says they are "sensitive." Go to your dermatologist to really see if that is true. I find products that contain high percentages of vitamin C are fantastic. Vitamin C helps keep collagen and elastin where it needs to be. It helps with tightening and firming of the skin. It also brightens the skin and lightens areas where maybe the sun got a little too frisky. If you want to see tightening and firming while keeping that youthful glow, then go with Vitamin C serums and creams. Bliss Oxygen Cream is amazing with it Vitamin C and anti-oxidant blend. Ole Henriksen Vitamin C Truth Serum is wonderful, along with Kinerase C8 Peptide Serum. Many skincare companies have a percentage of Vitamin C in their products. Just take a look at the back ingredient panel to see where the Vitamin C is listed. Look for it the beginning of the panel, not the end. Plus anything, with the beginning or ending of ascorbic, ascorbol, or citric will be a vitamin C derivative. If Vitamin C isn't your thing, then simply check out any serum with high levels of anti-oxidants in them. Bliss Youth As We know It is a great serum for that, or Caudalie Vinoperfect Serum.
Your next step would definitely include an exfoliant, although it is best to use an exfoliant before any serums and creams. Making this really step 2. Getting dead skin off not only clears the skins surface and makes it shine, but also helps creams and serums absorb deeper into the skin. Only exfoliate once to twice a week depending on how oily or dry your skin is. If your skin is oily exfoliate twice a week, not so oily, once a week will do.
Also consider getting a cleanser that is your skin type appropriate. Korres, Oil of Olay, Dr. Perricone, Mary Kay, and Clinique have many cleansers that will fulfill any type of skin. It's very important to cleanse for obvious reasons, like getting dirt and oil off, but also to condition the skin and get it ready for your skincare. You can also use a toner to balance the skin pH. That is optional if you are on a super tight budget. However, if you opt out of that step then please hydrate immediately. Your skin goes crazy after washing, because the pH of water is not like our own pH. So unless you want a mass of oil or the most dry skin ever, then tone and hydrate right after.
It is also important to say to use the serums at night, while you protect during the day. Your skin works it's magic during the night when you sleep. Do follow your products directions of use, but know that most of them work the best at night. Also, don't believe all the companies selling day serums, night serums, and a whole mess of other $50-$150 or higher dollar products. Less is often more. Don't confuse the skin and add so many active products that it doesn't know what the heck you are doing to it. Take it one product at a time.
The last step to all of this is of course protect!!! Protect with an Spf 15 or higher. Remember to reapply several times, due to the sunscreen breaking down in UV rays. I can't say this enough, use Sunscreen. If you want to keep your skin looking glowing and youthful then use it. Sunscreen is the best way to keep aging at bay. It also helps your skincare products work better at fixing your skin. So it's a great thing to use. Don't worry ladies and gentlemen you can still get your tan if you wear sunscreen. Nothing can stop UV rays from hitting our skin and tanning it. However, if you don't do anything you will certainly see the damage later on. It may hit you when you didn't even see it coming.
So that's about it for now. I could keep going forever on skincare and proper products to use. That's all I have at the moment for care and glow. However, if you have a specific problem you would like to ask me about, then please message me. Of course you could also go to your dermatologist for any advanced medical answers for skin concerns. I encourage you to do both. Thanks for reading guys and gals! Till tomorrow!