Spring is coming. Go to your bathroom and toss out all your old skincare products. Seriously! Take 15 minutes to look through all your products and throw out anything older than a year. It is one of the easiest ways to improve your skin health and complexion.
All skincare products contain organic ingredients and they will start to go bad over time. Expiration dates on the products might be further off, but at a practical level, skincare products start to lose their effectiveness after about a year. And worse, products can go bad. If one of your products has visibly changed colors since their first use, throw it out immediately. If the product smells, it’s gone. If its texture has changed, toss it. If it’s runny, if it’s crudy, if it’s not how it’s supposed to be, bye.
Now then, gather up the makeup brushes. Run them individually under cold water, holding them so that the bristles point down. Avoid getting water under the metal that holds the bristles. Hot water may damage the bristles and the binding glue holding them. Half fill a bowl with cold water, add some baby shampoo, stir the makeup brush. Be gentle. We don’t want water to to get under the metal band. Use your thumb and finger to gently massage the bristles, working the soap throughout. Rinse under cold water. Pat dry, then leave it on its side to dry. Do not store wet brushes with bristles up.
Why is it important? One, you’ll have an easier time applying makeup. Two, there’s a lot of stuff that builds up on objects we use and we do not want to put any of those contaminates near your face, let alone applied gently on top of your pores. Ideally, natural brush cleaning happens once a week. But practically speaking, when you do get around to cleaning your brushes, disinfect them after washing by repeating the process but using a 1:1 ratio of vinegar and water instead of baby shampoo. Rinse and dry as normal. When dry, they will be free of odor and germs.
Clean and almost ready for spring. An exfoliating treatment will give your skin a similar blank slate to begin the season. At the least, as the air becomes more humid, bring back the cleansing gel to your skin care routine. After cleaning, protect: make sure that your daytime products contain SPF because you’ll want to enjoy the warming weather. Heavier moisturizers can also be switched out for more comfortable, lighter lotions. If you have a skin condition that requires heavier moisturizers, keep doing what your physician has recommended.
If you would like advice about creating a skincare regimen that is effective for you and the season, call or request a consultation with one of our aestheticians. We’d be happy to help!
