Freaked Out Faces

Alright, alright. I know I'm now the only one whose face just completely hates me when I'm stressing. It gets uber dry, red, irritated, breaks out in places I didn't even think were able to house a breakout, make up doesn't look the same, and it's just all around...bad. Maybe it's hormones, a wonderful monthly "gift", stress from school or a loser boyfriend, or maybe you are just seriously acne prone. Whatever the cause, I absolutely hate when my skin freaks. But, life must go on and I can't hide in bed all day, every day, for three days, waiting for a blemish to finally fall victim to some crazy ointment I've totally over-applied.

Lately, I've decided to calm down and go back to the basics. Sure, sometimes I still use my favorite salicylic gel by Clean and Clear, that little miracle tube of blemish spot treatment, but I find that the less I poke at my face and the fewer crazy products I use, the better!

Firstly, take off your make up, every night! I've ended my fair share of college nights on the bathroom floor or asleep fully clothed after a drunken fiesta, so I know that the little habit of "forgetting" to wash my face is never a good thing. Make up is meant to cover up your impurities so most of it clogs your precious pores. It's got to come off before you hit the sack! Right now I'm just using Pond's Cold Cream, the cooling classic, to take off all of my makeup. Just rub it on like lotion and wipe it off with a damp washcloth. It really lifts away the dirt and gets rid of even the most stubborn eyeshadow! Next, I seriously just lather on a bunch of Pond's Dry Skin Cream, the caring classic, on my face, neck, and decolletage, and that's it. I used to take my make up off with some sort of cleansing wipe, scrub it with something else, add a cream like ProActiv for blemishes, and skip the moisturizer before bed. But, now, I like the simplicity of my routine and it's so much cheaper. Each tub of cream was around 7 or 8 bucks and a little goes a long way. Not to mention my face looks so much healthier these days.

Another tip - if you can, take off your makeup sooner rather than later. The face heals best around 10 pm so if you take it off after work and hang out with some yummy cream on for the rest of the night, your face is bound to start looking less wigged out. The less time you torture your skin with that daily oil, dirt, and makeup, the better. XX.