As an extension of my monthly self-care routines, facials have become a top priority when it comes to maintaining healthy skin. For months I've noticed excess oil, stubborn breakouts, and dry cracked lips forcing me to seek an alternative to my everyday skincare routine. Unable to solve my skincare troubles, I decided it was time to seek the help of a professional to help revive my dull skin.
I love learning about skincare and how to address my personal needs. Not only did I need a relaxing spa treatment but I wanted tips on preserving an all-natural glow. Meeting with the aesthetician, I learned plenty about how and why skin reacts to our environment along with products and at-home treatments to continue until my next appointment. A living breathing organ, there are so many factors that keep our skin from prospering.
As we age, staying up-to-date on products and treatments that promote clear skin from the inside out is important. Check out the common concerns and tips everyone can use to maintain healthy skin no matter your type.
Shahirah Ahmed/xoNecole
1. Skin Sensitivity
Most of us don't have sensitive skin but most of us assume we do. What we mistake for sensitive skin is just skin irritation from the products we use. A good way to test how sensitive your skin is is by the amount of redness that appears under your skin. Knowing the sensitivity of your skin is the perfect step in perfecting your skincare regimen.
2. Environment
Our daily environment plays a huge role in our skin health. Dirt from face masks and everyday pollution are two examples of elements clogging our pores. Facials are necessary to clear up those minor annoyances that accumulate over time. Sunscreen of SPF 30 or higher is the best protection to maintain youthful-looking skin. Most likely in your daily moisturizer, this layer of protection is a preventative measure keeping the elasticity of your skin over time.
3. Exfoliation
Exfoliation is the process of removing dead skin cells from the outer layer of your skin and should play a major role in your skincare routine. Using an exfoliant can leave your complexion looking brighter and improve the effectiveness of topical skincare products by enhancing absorption. Regular exfoliation can also help prevent clogged pores, resulting in fewer breakouts and smoother skin.
Using a chemical exfoliant vs a mechanical exfoliant also makes a major difference in the overall health of your skin. It's advised to stay away from mechanical exfoliants due to the harshness of the ingredients. According to L'Oréal Paris, this type of exfoliation calls for the use of a tool or product that will act to physically remove dead skin cells from your skin's surface. When you're too rough, or applying intense pressure, it causes your blood vessels to break under the skin.
Applying a chemical exfoliant once a week is the best bet. Advised to use at night due to the sensitivity it can cause, chemical exfoliation involves the use of enzymes to dissolve dead skin cell buildup from the surface of your skin—no scrubbing necessary.
If exfoliating in the morning, follow up with a sunscreen of 30 SPF or higher, as it can cause skin sensitivity when in the sun.
4. Extractions
One major concern when scheduling my facial appointment was stubborn breakouts. I soon learned that I developed a tiny white bump that typically appears on the nose and cheeks. These occur when keratin becomes trapped beneath the surface of the skin due to excess dirt, sweat that gets clogged within the pores, or even sun damage. Keratin is a strong protein that's typically found in skin tissues, hair, and nail cells. After expressing concern, my troubles were diagnosed right away as it is common in people of all ethnicities or ages.
Once my issue was identified, the process of clearing up the remaining areas was a breeze. Extractions are important to remove whiteheads and blackheads to give your skin a newer, fresher foundation for skincare products to penetrate and be more effective.
5. Hydrate
As a follow-up to both exfoliation and extractions, a mask with vitamins A, E, and hyaluronic acid was used to replace moisture in the skin. Known as the most efficacious or the best form of vitamin C, L-Ascorbic acid helps neutralize free radicals, minimize the look of fine lines and wrinkles, and brighten skin tone. The use of Vitamin C also proactively fortifies the skin's defenses against environmental assaults while encouraging the skin to rebound from previous damage. The best part of this special ingredient is the reduction of fine lines and wrinkles for a beautifully even skin tone, aiding in the restoration of skin to help you appear younger for longer.
Vitamin E is most commonly known for its benefits for both skin health and appearance. When applied to your face, it reduces inflammation, making your skin look younger. Finally, hyaluronic acid also helps reduce the visibility of fine lines and wrinkles by retaining moisture in the skin, creating a plumping effect. When the skin is protected and hydrated, increased skin cell production can take place, as the skin isn't thirsty for hydration which leads to smoother, plumper skin cells.
6. Follow-Up
Immediately after my customized session, I could feel the glow from the inside out with my face feeling clearer and fresher than ever. We each have unique needs when it comes to caring for our skin. If it's been a while since having a facial or booking an appointment has been on your mind, this is your sign to stop neglecting your self-care, add that spa day to the calendar. Follow-up for a facial appointment maybe once a month or every three months, depending on personal needs.
Featured image by Getty Images
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Skylar sees things differently. At the time, she was shooting content on her iPhone. Temi came into the picture with a new perspective, an understanding of tech, and, eventually, a camera. “He doesn't give himself enough credit,” Skylar says. “He wasn't just my tripod. He wasn't just standing behind the camera and going ‘click.’ He was giving advice. He was giving me insight to how I could look at things from a different perspective. And I was like, 'Oh, he’s an artist.' I think it was maybe a heartbeat of that kind of energy of like, ‘Baby, can you take this picture?’ And it turned so quickly into, we're partners. We can work together in a way where we're advancing each other's creative thinking.”
The pair often says they’re two sides of the same coin. Skylar is an Aquarius. She attended art school, paints, and loves poetry. She’s more than happy to let the couple’s management firm and agency, Kensington Grey, handle their admin work. And, she loves to sleep in. Temi, on the other hand, wakes up early. He’s a Virgo. He loves a to-do list and regularly checks in on the couple’s brand partnerships spreadsheet to make sure everything is on track.
Because his storytelling was steeped in his love of technology, he didn’t always think of himself as a creative person. “Where I [am] the dreamer who wants to pluck things out of the sky and spend all day with my head in the clouds, Temi [is] so good at grounding me and helping me figure out how to make things make sense on paper. We just work together in such a complimentary way,” Skylar says.
It’s been more than six years since Brooklyn-based couple Temi and Skylar started dating, and nearly four since they cemented their working relationship. On TikTok and Instagram, the couple’s travel, fashion, and home content regularly rack up hundreds of thousands of views. They’ve worked with brands such as Coach, Aesop, Away, and Liquid IV, bringing their vibrant perspectives to every campaign they execute. Still, nearly two years since both Temi and Skylar committed to full-time content creation and creative directing, the couple says their romantic connection remains their priority.
“We told each other we would much rather go back to full-time jobs and preserve our relationship than to be full-time freelancers, barely getting a night's rest [and] barely kissing each other because we're so busy shooting,” Skylar says.
Working from home can make it hard to separate work from personal life for any entrepreneur. It can be even more challenging when your business partner is also your lover. Temi and Skylar had already used couples therapy as a tool to help them effectively communicate with one another. When they ran into challenges while working together, their therapist helped them set physical boundaries to help combat the issues.
"We told each other we would much rather go back to full-time jobs and preserve our relationship than to be full-time freelancers, barely getting a night's rest [and] barely kissing each other because we're so busy shooting."
“It actually took us doing very specific physical things to create boundaries between work and play in our relationship,” Skylar says. “So, for instance, we will only have conversations about work when we're out of bed or we're at the table or in the office. Initially, when we started, we had to light a candle to say that, 'Okay, this is a space where we're connecting, we’re not talking about work.' We needed really hard boundaries at the top. And then it became a little bit more organic.”
The boundaries have been crucial to implement, especially because the couple began working together so naturally. When the pair first met, Skylar was NY-based a social strategist for BuzzFeed and was using content creation to drive business to her lingerie company. She was shooting her own content. Temi was working for Microsoft in D.C. He’d recently traded in his DJing equipment for a camera. “I've always loved taking pictures,” he says. “Even when I was a kid, my African mother would wake me up at 3:00 a.m. [during a] party, and be like, 'Come take the family picture.'”
Growing up, Temi says he watched his parents support each other and be the true definition of partners. He knew he wanted the same for his own relationship. But, the couple also wanted to make sure they were being financially responsible. The pair didn’t quit their traditional jobs until they’d saved up two years' worth of their cost of living. And, Temi received his Master of Business Administration from New York University with the knowledge that it could either help him advance in his corporate career or be applicable to his business with Skylar.
Temi and SkylarCj Hart @hartbreakToday, they say their working relationship is more of a “quiet dance.” They still implement some of the boundaries they learned in therapy, but they also lean into their natural strengths and deep love for one another. When we speak, Temi has planned a date for the couple to see Princess Mononoke in 4K IMAX and added it to their Notion so they can factor it into their busy schedules. “I fully plan to date for the rest of my life,” he says.
Skylar says the couple doesn’t just wait for date nights to check in with one another, though. This often happens in the mornings, after Temi has made her peppermint tea and poured himself a cup of coffee. When they ask each other how they slept, she says, it’s not just a “nicety.” It’s a genuine question meant to foster connection.
“A lot of it happens during the day in the midst of work. We'll stop and we'll hug. Or we’ll slow dance in the kitchen,” she says. “Sometimes it's hard to set a whole date night when you have 7,000 things going on. So, we must grasp these moments and check in when we can. And I think it's become so organic to us that I actually didn't even realize how often we do it. But all day long, we're like, 'Are you good? I felt like your energy shifted,' because we're best friends, we just know. We just feel it happen.”
What’s better than being in love? Building wealth while doing it. Watch Making Cents here for real stories of couples who make money moves together.
Featured image by Cj Hart @hartbreak