This past weekend Matt set up a spa day for me in lieu of our one year anniversary coming up and it was beyond amazing. It took place at Depasquale and it was my first time ever visiting this spa/salon. On one side it’s a full service salon and on the other side of the building a full service spa complete with “womens’ relaxation rooms” and “steam rooms.” Basically, it was love at first sight. They set you up with your own towel, slippers, and a warm robe. It’s heavenly and if you’re ever in the area it’s DEFINITELY worth paying a visit to.
So anyway, the point of this blog is to let everyone in on something I found out while getting my facial. Now, I just want to start off by saying that I’m probably the only idiot that was unaware of this, but in the event that there is someone else out there who didn’t know they were harming their skin more than helping it, I’d like to share.
I am a big fan of exfoliating. I’ll buy anything with the little micro-scrubber beads in it. I have been using a Clearasil face wash for probably over a year because I loved the results I saw when I used it. It is VERY strong and not really useable for people with sensitive skin (like Matt, he hates it). I, however, was addicted to it. I used it every day. So while getting my first ever facial I was asking the aesthetician about my skin. I generally feel like I have oily skin, not over oily, but just enough to bug me, so I asked her what I could do about it. Believe or not, I actually found out I was making my skin oily! My love for exfoliating came around to bite me in the ass. What I was doing, (which is what I think everyone probably already knows, but I didn’t!) is that I was over exfoliating my skin. I was scrubbing off new layers of skin every day so my skin never had a chance to protect itself. The over exfoliating and lack of newness was making my skin super oily. Who knew? (Aside from everyone and their mothers). SO ladies and gents! If you’re exfoliating every day, STOP! Once or twice a week is fine, apparently. Stick to a cream rinse wash for those in between days. Also, I would strongly suggest giving yourself a spa day and getting a facial. The aesthetician can tell you a lot about your skin and your daily skin care regiment and if it’s helping or hurting, just general things that you might not know. She can also suggest how many times on average you should see an aesthetician or dermatologist to keep your skin at its healthiest. Also, if you’re not wearing sun screen every day, START. Even on those overcast days where you can’t feel the sun on your face, those are actually the worst days for your skin. On cloudy days the sun works extra harder to break through, however, only harmful rays are strong enough to penetrate the clouds and you are more susceptible to sun burn from those harmful rays. I suggest investing in a face lotion with built in SPF so you don’t have to worry about it, you can never go wrong with that! (my personal fav, Olay complete all day moisture lotion SPF 15; about $6 or $7 at drug stores).