You add in a good instagram filter or two on me and you can’t really tell that my skin has many marks from past acne break outs and is overall just kind of red.

I used hard core cleaners when I was younger to deal with some really gnarly acne breakouts. Since I’ve gotten older (and have had much more on my to-do lists) I’ve fallen off of the skin-care boat entirely. I am TERRIBLE at washing my face daily. I will usually rinse with water at the end of the day and sometimes wash my face with any old soap or face wash in the shower in the morning. And, daily moisturizer?? Forget about it.

Everything changed after visiting the Aveda Institute for my complimentary facial as a part of the Portland Fashion Week Style Collective. I wrote a little bit about my experience of the facial and how it led me to visit my dermatologist a while ago… but, wanted to share a few face-care tips I learned as well!

Face-Care Tips for Ladies Dealing with Redness

One of the first things that they asked me in my facial was what I believed my skin was like… was it sensitive? oily? dry? Because of the bad acne of my youth and dry and oily spots on my skin, I’ve always labeled my skin as combination skin in heavy need of acne treatment. Well, evidently… like most things in life, skin changes over time! Those same products that worked for me when I was a teenager don’t work for me now. One of the first things I learned from my facial was that my skin is actually pretty sensitive and not so much oily/dry,  but its just dealing with all the crap I’m throwing at it the best way it can! (This is not the facialists words… but, rather what I got from the discussion.) The Aveda student and teacher both gave me similar tips about my skin-care routine to help deal with my skin’s redness. They include:

1. Use cool to luke warm water to wash your face. What!? I’ve always used HOT water to wash my face… I want it to be CLEAN, right? Well… what I was doing was irritating my skin! Since my facial I’ve turned the temp down when washing my face. My skin feels a lot less rubbery and tight and looks less red already and I’ve only been doing this for a little while now.
2. Stay away from harsh cleansers. She told me to stay away from the harsh acne treatments and face washes. Instead, use a face wash labeled for sensitive skin.
3. Use green products. Now, I’m not talking about green as in good for the environment. I’m talking about the color green. She suggested that when I use concealer I go for a green concealer to help neutralize the red color in my face. My new sensitive skin face wash also happens to be green. I’m currently using one from Neutrogena… although, after it is gone I’m going to splurge on the kind from Aveda because while this one is pretty good, it still has some of the harsher cleansers that I was recommended to stay away from.
4. Moisturize Daily. Urgh…. why am I so bad at this one? I want my skin to look good when I’m 60, but still can’t manage to swipe on some moisturizer! I’ve gotten much better about this since my skin cancer diagnosis because I’m now applying a moisturizer with SPF 50 nearly every day. I’d like to also get in the habit of moisturizing at night as well.
5. Drink more water. Evidently this helps hydrate your skin from the inside out!

What tips have you heard for skin-care? Comment below and share the wealth!