5 Life Changing Lessons About Skincare I Wish I'd Known Earlier

For years now, I have to admit, my skin has definitely taken a beating. I can officially say it’s been about two years now since I started giving a $%#@ about my skin, and honestly that’s a shame. Unfortunately, I’m not alone.

Most women I’ve talked to wished they had started earlier in making better decisions to take care of their skin. However, most of us spent our earlier years roasting on a spit on the beach or lying in tanning beds for Prom circa 2003. No judgment–I’m guiltier than most!

So it’s now that we need to buck up and get it together ladies, we need to open our eyes and stop being lazy about taking care of our skin! There’s more to skincare than what’s in your makeup bag. With that being said, here are the 5 things about skincare I wish I’d known sooner:

Balance Your Hormones

Dairy affects hormonal acne in some women; excess dairy cannot be processed and ends up leaking out of your lymphatic system, pores, and other glands.
What you eat, ingest, or otherwise put in your body affects your hormone levels which disrupts the natural order of the processes in your body. These imbalances can cause unwanted side effects like acne, dry skin, headaches, digestive problems, and fatigue to name a few.

More Money Doesn’t Equal More Effective

There are plenty of skincare products that are at reasonable price points that have proven just as or more effective than some luxury brands. Want proof? TruSkin Tea Tree Clear Skin Super Serum has 2,208 positive reviews on Amazon and is, in my opinion, great for evening out your skintone, brightening skin, moisturizing, and smoothing wrinkles.
Pay attention to beauty award lists. Some get paid to include products for promotion and others outsource testing for “objective” reviews. A good site for honest reviews: MakeupAlley.com
Invest in decent makeup brushes and clean them regularly. They don’t have to cost a ton of money, but do your research so you know which are effective. Some good ones on sale.

Your Skin and the Skincare Industry Both Evolve

I get that people find skincare products that “just work for you” and it becomes difficult to part with these things, but be aware that as those of us age, have children, move to different climates, and otherwise live your life, our skin sheds and rejuvenates then sheds again. It is always changing and we need to select skincare products to fit our skin’s changing needs.
In addition to your own skin changing, the industry changes all the time. I’m sure you’ve heard of the Korean skincare boom, charcoal skincare everything, CC Creams and all of the other trendy products that various companies compete to make successful in the market. However, as new research is brought forth, and successful companies innovate to create new and more effective skincare products, “the best” products change. What use to be “the best” lotion you’ve used for dry skin may not be “the best” anymore! Do your research. 🙂

Diligence Makes the Difference

Although this seems obvious, this was a hard-learned lesson for me personally: if you consistently use products that are right for your skin, you will see a positive difference. This can be broken down into 2 parts for me:
- I have used products (i.e. acne creams, lotions, face washes) that were not right for my skin (read: irritating and too harsh) consistently. In doing this, I have found (from my dermatologist and my esthetician) that I have been causing my already dry skin to flake and clog my pores–creating more acne!
- I have used the right products inconsistently. About a year ago, I started improving my skincare routine. Anyone who knows me knows that I go all in when I commit to something, and so my routine included way more steps than I could keep up with regularly. I even used micro-needling rollers at night! This led to inconsistency and then to laziness when I just felt “too bothered to do really anything” with my skin. Bad move! I had to make adjustments to make sure I could commit to my skin in an attainable and realistic way.

Simplify & Be Realistic

Knowing what I know now about skincare (after asking my dermatologist & esthetician an annoying amount of questions), I know that above all, I need to choose the right products and create realistic habits if I’m going to stick to a routine.