Hi beauties!!! Joni has had to leave us due to time contraints, so I have been asked to take over. I'm so excited to be able to assist you with any questions you have, pass on tips and secrets...

I received an email from a member who asks:

Is washing your face with soap and water enough?? Why do I need to worry about cleanser, toner, moisturizer, etc?? And what is the proper way to be washing my face....

Well, lets start with the basics. Soap and water - its been used by women since soap was invented! The pioneer women used lye soap (made from wood ashes) and added bear fat to give their skin a bit of softness. We certainly don't like the idea of bear fat and ashes for our skin care today....LOL Besides, regular soap is very drying and leaves a film on your skin. It clogs your pores and is actually worse than not cleansing your skin!

Before you go out and buy whatever cleanser you can find, lets step back a bit and assess what skin type you have. How do you know if your skin is oily, dry, combination, or senstive? Here's a little test to take: Wash your face with what you use now. Rinse well and wait 30 min. Then take a small square of tissue and blot your nose and chin area. Hold it up to light. If you can see a moist looking spot, its oil and you have oily skin. If its not, we'll move on to the next test. Run your fingers over your cheeks. Do they feel tight and uncomfortable? Is there no oil showing on your tissue?? You have dry skin. If you have tight feeling cheeks but a bit of oil on the tissue from your nose and chin, you have combination skin. Now, last test...is your chin, cheeks, or nose (or all 3) look red, irritated, or itchy? If so, you have sensitve skin. These tests are neccessary if you really want to know your skin and take the best care you can!

Now that you know your skin type, lets figure out what kind of skin care you should use. Brands are not as important as much as the FORMULA you use.

For dry skin, you need something with some substance; something that is going to put precious moisture back into your skin. Dry skin users should look for a CREAM based formula. Heavier creams are prefect for nighttime use, but there are lighter creams to use in the daytime that will not make your skin feel like its swathed in oil.

Oily skin users need something that is light, airy, and helps keep oil production at a minimum (oily skinned people age very slowly, by the way :-)) Your best bet is to get a GEL based formula. Gels are very light, rinse cleaner, and help matt the oil. Some can be bought that have microgel beads in it, which is an extra bonus!! If you have alot of trouble with clogged pores (blackhead, acne, etc) look for DEEP CLEANSING on the label.

Combination skin can be tricker; you have an oily T zone (forehead, nose, chin) and drier cheek area. Look for LOTION based formulas. It will clear the oil without drying your cheek areas.

Sensitive skin needs extra TLC. Harsh formulas and over cleansing can irritate and redden sensitive skin more. Look for BOTANICAL based formulas (made from all natural plants). They are specially formulated to be kinder and gentler on your skin.

Now you're ready to cleanse your precious delicate facial skin. First, wet your face, then apply a dime size amount of cleanser to your hand. Rub your hands together, then starting with the forehead, gently apply in circular motions. This gets the circulation going without scrubbing your face. Move down your nose, and an upward motion on your cheeks (and please use a light hand...scrubbing is not only bad on your skin, but breaks down the inner tissues and makes your face saggy). Starting on the outer corners of your eyes, use your RING finger (which has the least amont of pressure) to carefully apply under your eyes, taking care of keep the cleanser out of your eyes). Don't forget your neck - use upward strokes up to the chin. You can do the circular strokes on the general face area, but don't do this under your eyes. Eye skin is the most delicate of all your skin! Rinse with tepid water...and rinse....and rinse. You want to make sure all of the cleanser is off.

VIOLA!! Clean glowing skin!!! And you're off!!! Umm...wait a minute....you really AREN"T done yet. Even the oiliest skin needs a moisturizer!! Yes, even oily skin! The oil your skin produces is not moisture. So, using your skin type, select a moisturizer too, in the same base formula as your cleanser. Apply as you did with the cleanser, and make sure to apply carefully under and on the outer corner of your eyes.

Now, there are other products that help keep that dewy fresh skin you now have. I'll go into them a bit to give you an idea of what they do:

*Masks - usually a gel or lotion formula that is left on the face for a short time, then peeled or rinsed off. What it does is gets deeper into your pores, removes the deal skin cells on top, and freshens your face. They can be used as often as 3x a week. The peel off masks go even deeper and should be used no more than once a week. *Exfolients - usually a "scrub" made of cream with tiny abrasive particles that remove all the dead skin layer on the top. Scrubs are great, but for the safety of your skin, use them SPARINGLY (oily skinned should not use them more than once a month; they overactive the oil glands) I seriously recommend you NOT buy the scrubs with particles made of ground walnuts, apricots, or other material that have sharp edges. Microgel beads are just as effective and much kinder to your skin.

*Toner - this used to be called astringent. Its usually alcohol based, and for dry skin, a big no no. Toner removes the last bits of cleanser and other impurities from your pores, which is great for oily and combination skin. Sensitive skin can use it too, but look for the no alcohol formulas made from botanicals. Use a cotton ball to smooth over your face and feel that fresh healthy skin!

Washing your face everyday is a must. Wearing makeup, being out in the envrionment, and other pollution takes a lot out of your skin. Even if you have not worn makeup that day, your skin is still full of the dust and other impurities floating in your home. And for those who don't wash their face in the morning, you're doing your skin a disservice. Nighttime our skin tries to repair itself and extra oil, skin cells, etc, are lurking in the corners of your face. Make sure to wash and moisturize morning and night for the best skin possible.

One last caution; no matter how dark skinned you are, no matter how little sunlight you think you get, you should apply a sunscreen suited for your skin type every day!!! Even cloudy days hold some risk.

If you have anything you want answered, any tips you want to see, just send me an email at jeri@wosib.org, and I'll include it in a future newsletter.

Until then, stay beautiful!!!
Jeri
WOSIB Beauty Editor