skin care routine Archives

I hate to admit it but I am a sucker for the colder months. As much as I love the summer, Fall and Winter (for the first couple of months) bring out all the happy feelings! Unfortunately, the colder months also bring out the worst in my skin, as I think it does for most. I’m sharing with you my top tips for preparing my skin for the colder weather so you can have good skin all year round!

1. Drink water, and lots of it!

Preparing Your Skin For the Colder Weather

This is the easiest thing you can do to improve your skin in the colder months and maintain it all year round. By staying hydrated and drink enough water each day, you’re helping your body clear out all the toxins in your skin while hydrating it from the inside out! I challenge you to try drinking water every day for a week and document the first day and the last. You will be shocked at the change that it can have on your skin.

2. Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate

Products for Preparing Your Skin For the Colder Weather

Incorporating new and more hydrating products into your skincare can make a big difference for the colder months. During the summer, your skin produces more oils naturally (ie: sweating and humid weather) whereas the air is much drier in the winter (outside and inside due to heaters). To beat the dry air, try using a product like Hyaluronic acid in your skincare before applying your moisturizer. Hyaluronic acid works at helping the skin retain moisture and creating a barrier to protect it from the dry air. The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid serum is the super affordable and works great at adding an extra moisture boost.

3. Build a routine

Preparing Your Skin For the Colder Weather with a proper skin care routine

It is the hardest thing to get into the habit of, but once you start, you will be thankful you did. Try and get into a routine, morning and night, where you can find 5 minutes or so to do your skincare. It doesn’t have to be a fancy routine that takes hours, but with consistency, you will find your skin can handle the climate change much better. Something a simple as rinsing your face with water and moisturizing it can be enough to leave your skin feeling good all winter!

The colder weather doesn’t have to be a time where you fear for your skin’s appearance. Using these three simple tips you can maintain your beautiful skin all year round.

If you want to learn more quick makeup tips that you can add to your everyday makeup routine, check out www.elysemorency.com. You can also find Elyse on Instagram at @elysemor where she talks about the real and raw life of motherhood and makeup!

Ready for a confession? I sleep with my makeup on. Well, at least until a couple of days ago I slept with my makeup on.

How did I get to a place where I did not care that I was going to bed with a full face of makeup, more times than not? I was waking up, dragging my finger under my eyes to get rid of any night-time smudging and felt pretty decent heading out to my kids’ drop-offs.

I know. Ew, right?

When I think back, I think about how I was one of the lucky ones who’s acne cleared up as I moved out of my teenage years, just as life got busier and busier. Before I knew it I had four kids, was running my own business that often requires on-camera makeup and boom…. trading any time I could have given to my skin for a nightly Netflix binge with my husband.

But over the last few years, as I wiped and washed my makeup away, mid-morning, I thought, “girl, you look rough.” That was odd because I am getting a lot more sleep now than I did back when my four kids were really little. I also started to wonder if all of the makeup that I was piling on a few times a week was staining my face. Especially my forehead and cheekbones.

But I went on with my neglecting my skin.

The day before my 35th birthday, a family member mentioned that I might begin noticing sun spots soon. They were common within my family, so I took a mental note to ramp up my sunscreen, not just worry about applying sunscreen to my kids.

The next day, there it was, almost taunting me. An age spot perched proudly on my cheekbone. Okay, maybe it had been there for a while and I was looking for one, but it oddly jumped out at me as if to say “happy birthday Joanna!”

Not cool, 35, not cool.

I made a note to point my new friend out to my dermatologist next time I went in for my light dusting of Botox. Yes, I get Botox and it took me a long time to pull the trigger and I love it. My body, my choice right?

Earlier this week as I settled into ICLS’s comfy procedure chair, I turned to the specialist that I see, and said, “what can we do about this age spot?”

She started asking a bunch of questions, including wanting to know what my skin care routine was. I told her… non-exsistant. Then she brought in another specialist and the doctor. They looked closely, took some Visia photos, and confirmed, I have Melasma.

Melasma, otherwise know as pregnancy mask is a hyperpigmentation, creating tan patches of skin on my face caused by hormonal changes. This was most likely sparked by the hormonal changes during my pregnancies, especially my grande finale, twins.

I was told maybe there could be a small sun spot nestled in there, but what I was seeing going on with my face was indeed Melasma.

So, what are we doing about it? First of all, I am establishing a skincare routine. ICLS kindly gifted me all kinds of goodies, and I am excited to share them and my skincare journey with you.

First, ICLS formulated a very unique Universkin product tailor made for me. Based on Dr. Sapra and Kelli’s recommendations, the Uiverserskin product is a serum completely specific to me and my skin care concerns. This is exciting because unlike most skin care products available, Universkin avoids the “one-size-fits-all” approach and focuses on what I need.

Next I was sent home with a Clarisonic Brush. The Clarisonic Brush is quite unique as well as it cleanses 6x deeper than regular manual cleansing. Which means it’s much better than my hands, or in my case, none at all.

Those, along with a cleanser, and an SPF and I am on my way. Seriously, I am super excited to actually have some direction with how to care for my skin. I have heard one too many times lately when I go makeup free, “are you sick?” I have also become way too reliant on my all over foundation and the layer of makeup that was getting thicker and thicker each year.

I will keep you updated with my new skincare journey. I want to know from you, do you have a skin care routine? Do you have any problem areas that come with your skin, and if so has age, or pregnancy impacted it?

To learn more about ICLS head to icls.ca.