Skin Care

A lot of you have asked what I use for skincare. I'm going to write a quick post about what I use and what I think is the best stuff out there (that's affordable at least)

The company Mychelle is my favorite right now. Her line is all natural and it really works well. You wouldn't have to use her cleansers and toners, but her creams and serums are fantastic. Anything with Hyaluronic Acid is going to make your skin look great. It draws moisture to the skin and pumps up the lines and wrinkles. You can also take it internally. There are several liquid Hyaluronic Acids that you take by the tsp. I saw a differenc in my skin 30 min later! Bum deal is that it's about $30 a bottle. But, it's fantastic for your joints too so you get a nice double deal!
Another company I like is Juice Organics. They too have a great selection of serums and creams. Sometimes I'll use Avalon Organics cream cleansers because they are pretty cheap on Vitacost.com, but I'm not a fan of their creams at all.
Reviva Labs makes an amazing Glycolic Acid cream. I get the 10% cream. A little goes a long way, so it lasts me several months. It works as well as Retin A does in my opinion (I used to use Retin A and then read it can cause birth defects). It sloughs off the dead skin so it helps with wrinkles, blackheads and acne caused by clogged pores. Using a good scrub every 2 or 3 days helps with this as well. I like Desert Essences Refining bamboo body scrub a lot. It's for the whole body, not just the face and it works fantastic!
As far as makeup goes, you really want to make sure your foundation and powder are all natural. Not every mineral makeup is okay. A lot of times it's just regular makeup with minerals added. I'm yet to find anything that doesn't have junk in it at department stores except Physicians Formula's Organics line. It's really free of junk and works well. I use their concealer and have used their powder. I haven't used the liquid foundation because I don't personally like liquid foundations. I've tried many mineral powders from Bare Minerals to the stuff they sell at health food stores. I've found that my favorite by far is LA Minerals (www.laminerals.com). Their foundations are fantastic and don't have Bismuth Oxychloride in it which can be many so many "natural" mineral makeups. Bismuth can really irritate your skin and cause allergic reations. LA minerals also has sample sizes so you can find your color and if you like a matte finish or some sheen. I really like their bronzer as well. I'm sure there are other good mineral makeups out there, it may just take some searching. You really just want to make sure your foundations are free of mineral oil, parabens, talc, & are bismuth free.

Hope this helps. Feel free to post questions or if you have a favorite makeup/skincare line...tell me about it!