Get the Most from your Skincare Rituals...

Taking Care of your Tools...

• Keep a small spray bottle of isopropyl alcohol with your tools and makeup brushes. Before and after every use: remove product, dirt, and debris, Spray with alcohol, and wipe down tools with clean cloth. Keep your tools in a sealed container,like a pencil case or a bag, to protect from airborne dust and bacteria.
  

• Wash your makeup brushes at least once a week. Mix a couple drops of baby soap or clarifying shampoo with warm water. Swish brushes around inmixture, then rub gently on a makeup cleaning mat or a towel until they no longer leave behind any residue. Rinse and leave out to dry. You can also use a blow dryer on cool.
  

Being Mindful…

• Try to avoid touching your face if you haven't washed your hands. when it does happen, wash your face, use a face wipe, or a witch hazel and lavender essential oil toner ASAP. It seems silly and obvious, but it is a major source of acne - our hands are full of bacteria! And often ,touching our face can be a subconscious gesture. Overwashing can be harsh on our skin, so be gentle and follow with a light moisturizing product after.
  

• Before you reach for a product as a cure, ask yourself: have I been getting enough sleep, drinking enough water, wearing sunscreen, keeping my hands/face/tools clean, have I been stressed, etc?No product can moisturize dehydrated skin - drink up!
  

• Store and use your products properly. Keep them somewhere dark, dry, and cool. It is better to bring them back and forth from the bathroom, which can be a breeding ground for bacteria. Avoid getting water in your products. Touch them with clean, dry hands only, and if possible use a tool that you can disinfect to scoop product out. Try not to double dip into your makeup. Use clean hands and implements to apply, and use your bottle of isopropyl alcohol to wipe down implements like mascara wands before sticking them back in their container. Most products do best within their first 6-12 months. The more preservatives included in the product, the longer they will last, but the more drying and irritating they will be for your skin.
  

• Turn your skincare practice into a ritual! Check in with yourself while you're doing your makeup, say an affirmation while you're brushing your teeth, try a meditation while you're facemask dries, try dry brushing! Sprinkle a little mindfulness into all your mundane tasks and make them more magical.
  

Following your Intuition...

• Each individual has a skin type completely unique to them. What works for one person, does not work for everyone. A huge part of finding what works for you is trial and error.No one is meant to have perfectly clear, smooth, glistening babyfresh skin,free of any sign of living. Some people have darker circles under their eyes, some have laugh lines, others have large pores that act like a dirt magnet, some have rosacea, and others scars from a youth of painful acne. THAT IS OKAY! All we can do is take care of our skin the best way we can, to ensure it is able to do its job - protecting the valuable package wrapped up inside it. Take care of your skin because it is a part of you, and you deserve it, not because you want to look perfect.
  

• Skin can be complicated. Products and outside elements can strip or suffocate our skin, knocking it off balance. Sometimes, a symptom may be the opposite of what you think. If you're skin is extremely dry, and you're confused because you are constantly applying product, try taking a look at the ingredients for words like "alcohol" and "preservative" - if the products you are using are clean, consider that you might be overusing them, and your skin has stopped producing natural oils because it thinks it doesn't need to. Or, if you're skin is oily,maybe you are producing excess oil to overcompensate for the lack of moisture your skin experienced before. Start small with doing certain rituals once a week, and spread them out. Do a mask one day, a face scrub a few days later... ask your skin what it wants and LISTEN. Maybe that peeling skin you thought was dry is actually just dead skin cells that need to be scrubbed off because your skin cells are regenerating. The same is true for conditions like dandruff- there is more than one reason for a flaky scalp - it could be dryness, or maybe it’s oily flakes, or product build up that needs a good clarifying. Go deeper, and really get to know you're body.