what are your beauty secrets?

So I've been trying to get into the habit of taking better care of myself and appearance. I've had problem skin since at least 6th grade so that's always been a sore spot for me. I've switched to mineral makeup for the last while. I'm washing my face every night. I went out and bought new moisturizers. The day one I have is Neutrogena, it has SPF and ingredients like glycolic acid. I also splurged on a night one by Olay ($17 is a lot to me lol) with lots of good ingredients. I've already seen an improvement in my skin since Tuesday...actually I saw improvement by Thursday morning. I also got eye makeup remover because I figured it's bad to go to sleep with mascara still on.

The thing is when I'm working I'm so lazy with stuff like this, or I leave it to the very end of the night and I'm too tired to bother (especially things like flossing -_-). Being unemployed now I can be up at 5am doing this stuff and not have to worry about getting enough sleep before getting up for work. Well my mom's always said it takes a month to develop a good habit, so I hope I can keep my regimen up.

So what's your regimen? I'm especially interested in skin care, firstly as I already said I've always had problem skin, and secondly they say to start young before the signs of aging kick in. On that note, anyone think eye cream is worth it, or is face moisturizer good enough? Oh and any tips for full body moisturizing? I hate doing it! Takes so long and hate the feel of lotion. Wish there was like a spray on kind lol.

So yeah what do you do to take care of yourself?

ugh I know what you mean about being lazy and then too tired by the end of the day.. I can never be bothered to remove mascara

I dont really have a routine, the only thing I do everyday is wash my face in the morning, just with water because soap always makes my skin feel awful!

I use moisturiser ocasionally, I used to put it on almost every day but now I only do about once a week or when my face feels dry. And I know what you mean about the full body moisturising, it takes ages and I always feel like I'm using too much lotion! I only do that about once every 2 weeks even though I get dry skin on my legs :S

Apparantly you're supposed to exfoliate your face once  a week, so sometimes I do that and I guess it does make a bit of a difference.

I've always just used a bar of facial soap like a dove or neutrogena one. Sometimes I'll buy a foaming face wash and it works well for me. I try to use toner every night and I exfoliate with a mild exfoliating cleanser once a week. I only get one zit per month and it's right before my period. If I use an acne medicine (like a Clearisil spot treatment, it's gone in two days)... however, I accidentally threw my spot treatment away.
I've never had skin problems though. I wash my face when I wake up and then use a light moisturizer since I have oily skin I can't handle something too heavy... and then wash/toner before bed. I also have an all-nautral eye makeup remover to get all that off...

Alex likes to put everything off until right before bed, too and then usually falls asleep without getting anything done.  I harass him, especially when it comes to brushing his teeth, but he always says, "Why?  I'm going to do it in the morning anyway."

After dinner (for us, that's around 9 PM) I floss my teefers and rinse with a regular mouthwash like Scope.  If I shower that night (sometimes I put it off until the morning, depends on who is doing laundry or how many showers I've had that day) I do everything in the shower, otherwise I do everything at the bath tub.  Our sink is still under construction 'cause Alex keeps putting that off until the last minute and forgets about it.  But we're not going to be here much longer anyway.

After flossing and rinsing my mouth I use baby wipes to get my makeup off and a wet cotton swab to get my eyelashes off.  Then I wash my face with regular bar soap (we have herbal lavendar soap), rinse, use St. Ive's apricot scrub.  I only do the St. Ive's every other day.  After the St. Ive's I rinse my face with cold water and use my shower lotion.  I think it's by Olay?  It keeps my forehead from getting flakey and makes everything really soft.  It's also light, not heavy, like a lot of moisturisers I've used.  After rinsing that off I rinse with cold water.

Then I brush my teeth, use Listerine, and go harass Alex to brush his teeth.  I rarely get acne, usually around my period I'll get one or two tiny ones that go away by the end of the day.

I hate to say it, but acne is mostly from genetics.

Of course washing your face helps, but you have to experiment to find out what works best for you. Sometimes washing your face with soaps can over-dry your skin; this results in the skin producing more oil to moisten the skin, which then causes - you guessed it - pimples.

I wash my face when I take a shower after my workout, which is usually around 5-6 pm. I use that apricot face scrub CD mentioned (God I love it) and use an exfoliator once a week. I wake up in the morning and don't wash my face - I just don't need to, my face isn't overly dry or overly uh, oily? I found that if I washed my face in the morning and put makeup on afterwards, it felt too dry.

So it's all about experimenting and seeing what works best for you. Of course the occasional moisturizers are fun (try applying a beaten egg, a mashed banana, or oats and water) and can perk up your skin - just be sure to rinse well.

I use Dove soap as it has a moisturizer.  Learned this reading a comparasion yrs ago.  There are others, but Dove is as cheap as any.  Also, I only exfoliate once a week, and also use St. I., apricot scrub.

I feel the same about body moisturizer.  I don't like to bother, except for special occasions.  My fav is baby oil and for my arms and legs, for a glow, I use suntan oil.  

After washing face and I never use extreme water temp, I use a mild astrigent, then since I've gotten older my skin feels dryer so induldge in some expensive cream, which I always get for my birthday.

Sometimes on weekends I simply put some vasoline on my lashes and brows and smooth the brows into shape.

I feel the same, putting off brushing teeth, etc till bedtime, then I'm so tired and sleepy I barely get it done, so try to do it earlier in evening.

I've heard it takes 9 months to grow an eyelash.  Mascara is drying and not good to leave on overnight and can cause lashes to break...........altho I've been guilty of this.

When moisterizing your face, don't forget your neck.

Flossing:  my dentist used to have a sign.  You don't need to floss your teeth............just the ones you want to keep.

Yep I just went to the dentist last week after years of not going, I've got some cavities between teeth from not flossing enough :(

CD - my bf is like that too, my pestering doesn't seem to work though.

I've stopped using waterproof mascara because it's harsh on your lashes, so sleeping in it shouldn't be AS bad :P

I've been moisturizing my neck as well, and decollete. Bar soaps are too harsh for skin IMO, they would strip too much off your skin and dry it I would think... I use Cetaphil cleanser.

muttlover - you're right most of the time it's genetics. I'm assuming you're referring to the thought that not washing your face enough, and eating junk etc causes it...because it sounds like you're saying if it's genetics, doing any of these things won't help much. Skin that doesn't shed dead skin properly, has follicles that get blocked easily and high amount of androgens (causing increased sebaceous glands size = more sebum) - a tendency for those things is what's genetic. If I don't wash my face and exfoliate with a facial brush, then I'm gonna get zits. Unfortunately for me that's not enough though, I also have Retinol cream (Vitamin A, a mega-dose of that is what Accutane is made of). I've stopped using it though since buying that Neutrogena moisturizer because it has stuff like glycolic acid in it and I thought that might be too much for my skin (though I don't have sensitive skin). So far with the regimen in my OP I haven't had new breakouts. Hormonal acne is a different story (we'll see what happens next time TOM comes around lol).

Sunscreen! You'll thank yourself in the end. I use spf 50.

I started using an olive oil face cream at night. My skin has been doing a lot better now it seems.

I've heard many times that you should moisturize after you shower while you are a bit wet. It keeps the moisture inside of your skin.

i swear by cetaphil face wash (normal to oily skin for me).  you can buy it at any old drug store and is usually about $8 for a bottle.  neutrogena used to leave a residue on my face but cetaphil rinses clean and feels amazing.  cetaphil is also recommended by dermatologists and i saw on a tv show that is a beauty secret that celebrities use!

 

my skin care routine:

i wash my face at night (with cetaphil) in the shower, then i moisturize with clinique "dramatically different" face lotion.   in the morning i usually just rinse with cold water.  if i am going outisde i will apply a light sunscreen (cetaphil makes a good one)

i think over-washing is a cause of breakouts so i try to keep it to once a day

I'm in my upper 40s and I think my skin is holding up pretty well.  I drink tons of water and I always have moisturizers available.  I don't think expensive creams are any better than others - $17 is alot to me too!  

I found a three step moisturizer -  Alpha Hydroxy, Vitamin A, and Vitamin E...at the Dollar Tree.   Best stuff I've ever used.  I went back and cleaned them out.  I stay out of direct sun if I can and I always have sunscreen with me in my bag. I never leave home without it.  

But if you take the time to brush your teeth at night, go the extra couple minutes and do what's good for your skin before you hit the sack.  When you are my age, you will be glad you did! 

Yeah I use cetaphil too. I wash once a day if I don't go anywhere, before bed. If I do go out, I'll wash before I put makeup on, otherwise I find the mineral makeup looks more noticeable.

I haven't seen the cetaphil sunscreen. The Neutrogena moisturizer I have has spf 15 but I don't think that's enough, but I'm worried more sunscreen will be too much stuff on my face...though never tried any specifically for your face.

the cetaphil sunscreen comes in a green box and should be right next to the face washes.  i have seen it at every CVS, walgreens, etc that i have shopped at.   its about $14 for a bottle but it lasts forever b/c you are only putting it on your face. its got an SPF of 15 and even has an expiration date printed on the bottle!  (i got mine about a year ago and its not set to expire until 1/09)

horrible acne runs in my family but i've completely avoided it :) i use prescription acne medication (differin) on my acne-prone areas twice a day, and moisturize my cheeks with oil-free spf 15 moisturizer. i haven't gotten a breakout in like 9 months.

I use moisturizer and sunscreen everyday. I have incredibly fair skin (known as the girl with 'the porcelain skin' at my last job) and I now it's for the best.

I don't get such a nice description for my fair skin, according to my dad I "look dead" :s

Lol! That's so odd. I'd understand if you were ashen or something but not just fair. Pale is the new tan ;D

I use the Neutrogena SPF 45 thats made for your face. Its about $12 and worth every penny. Its not heavy at all and protects your skin much more than spf 15. I read that most people don't even put on the right amount so it makes it less than spf 15 so its best to stick with something more powerful. I just use my sunscreens as moisturizers.

for cosmetics i use bareescentuals mineral powder makeup.
it gives me flawless coverage and my bad skin looks BETTER after using this make up
as for being lazy and tired at the end of the night, i am totally with you on that.
i try to clean my face and teeth really early in the evening (like 7pm) so that by the time bedtime comes along, i can flop to bed and not go through the hassle of a routine!

I love Makeup

I used Clinique and Mac for years then I tried BareEscentuals Mineral  makeup.

I swear by it, It is amazing!!!!! Its very natural looking and makes you instanly flawless! I know it sounds like the commercial but its super the best buy I ever made.

and it can be slept in without feeling guilty every once in a while.

I haven't tried Bare Escentuals, but I'm using Everyday Minerals...I've read a lot of people switching from BE to EM. Oh and you get FREE samples from them :D

Do you use a primer? The thing I hate about any foundation is it rubs off :/

I love makeup too.

Where do you buy "Bare Escentuals Mineral makeup?"

I have some Clinque, sheer liquid I use on occasion and I've used their loose face powder for 20 yrs.

After yrs on the water, I'm suppose to use strong sunscreen on my face, but some, give off a 'fume' that makes my eyes water.  Right now, I have a clear 'zinc' stick in my purse I keep rubbing on my face.  So far, no fumes, altho wondering if I'm blocking pores.

Clarins had a good sunscreen with aloe or white tea, but a little bottle was $25 and it was a little pricey, so am experimenting with others from drug stores.