Happy Spring Equinox...now mix it up!

When I was a young girl I use to be obsessed with drawing. I always had a pencil and sketch pad with me for road trips, play dates and would even draw during family movie night. I was fascinated with drawing people and their faces. It gave me a chance to be creative because I had never met two people who were identical. I can even differentiate between identical twins because I can pay that close attention to minute detail. I normally have to take a deep breath when someone tells me that they have been using the same skincare since high school. Unless you only graduated a year ago that really terrifies me. There are so many common misconception of how we need to treat our skin but one that seems to be recurring is the concept that your skin needs never change. We eat different foods seasonally, we mix up our workouts, we change shampoos and other body care often so why don’t we apply that same concept to our skin. Our skin can help us determine what is going on internally and our face is our most recognizable feature. We each develop unique facial features that evolve over time and can help develop character as well as become part of your personality.

So instead of treating ourselves like we are all the same and don’t evolve here are some of the reasons we need to change up our skincare and how to do it:

1 - We change every day - I’ve written about how I rotate between cleansers everyday and how I intuitively pick out my skincare before. The theme is that our skin is changing everyday so we have to learn to listen to it. If we use the same thing all the time we stop tuning into that voice that could be telling us something is wrong. It starts with your cleansing routine so if you take the time to really connect with how your skin is feeling in the morning or at night when you are about to start your regimen you can ask yourself “What does my skin want?”. To have a few gentle options on hand to rotate with will help you honor your truest intention for your skin and therefore the rest of your routine will be set up for success.

2 - Our skin has different ecosystems - Not only do I treat my skin differently every day but I treat each area of my skin as if it has a different ecosystem. It’s easy to think about how our t-zone immediately feels different so maybe we spent a few extra seconds washing that area but what about treating the blemishes, wrinkles, hyperpigmentation, flared skin or dry spots? Taking the opportunity to address each area of your skin for it’s own issue is vital to your skin’s success. The best opportunity to do this is through your masking routine. Chances are if you having a breakout and want to be proactive about it you will mask with a clay, charcoal or enzyme rich mask. What most people don’t realize is that as nice of a treat as it seems to apply your treatment all over your skin only part of your skin may be experiencing breakouts severe enough for something that detoxifying or active. Instead what you can try is spot treating the mask in the areas of concern and have a different focus for the rest of your skin. A favorite of mosaic template of mine would be to use an active detoxing formula such as Josh Rosebrook’s active enzyme exfoliator with a nourishing treatment around the perimeter of my face such as Pai’s Bioregenerative Rapid Repair Radiance mask and focus on my under eye area with half cut cotton rounds soaked in chamomile tea and aloe vera. This is something that works for me, so focus on what you need to discover a template that may work for you. 

3 - Like working out, you don’t want to do the same focus everyday. Like every other bone in our body our facial structure starts to drop with gravity as we get older. This means our fat pads drop as well and we can look a lot more guant or develop jowls. In order to keep ourselves as youthful and healthy as possible it’s important to focus exercising our skin and different muscle groups everyday. Often times I just put a timer on and while I’m washing my face I start to massage my pressure points. In addition to this I select different products that create different responses in my skin so that I can truly activate any stagnant areas. Consider these daily practices part of your workout routine. So just like one day you work on legs and the other you work out your arms, one day focus on collagen and the next focus on congestion. Write down the top 3 things you want to achieve with your skin and rotate between those needs instead of layering everything at once or heavily focusing on just one so that your neglect other function. Your skin will appreciate the work as long as you give it love in the process.

We are so fortunate to be as unique as we are so it’s important to continue to get creative with our care. Each season is a great opportunity to reevaluate what is happening with your skin health. If you need guidance, book a consultation with me on my offerings or simply email me at hayley@therapeuticskincoach.com. I’d love to help and keep you inspired to take care of your one of a kind self.  

Find more ways to discover Your Best Skin, Your Best Self with Therapeutic Skin Coach