Skin type:

• Combination, reactive, prone to hyper-pigmentation and pore-enlarging, now seeing fine line wrinkles on my forehead where I raise my eyebrow and under my eyes where I sleep on my face (result of genetics and previous sun damage).
• Occasional fungal acne on forehead and hormonal breakouts on chin/jawline, prone to blackheads that I sometimes squeeze and cause to breakout more (ugh!)
• White, more prone to redness than tanning, and freckled

Focus:

• High SPF zinc based sunscreen for sensitive, acne prone skin. I have 3 types that I switch around depending on the day's activity so that I'm always covered, plus cute sun hats and sunglasses.
• Natural, simple ingredients are a must for me. I'm sensitive and breakout to certain chemicals (hello dimethicone!). Also moisturizing and hydrating are a must after I wash my face!
• I try to limit the amount of glycerin I have in my skincare. Glycerin is a cheap filler humectant that tends to dry out my face the longer I use it, especially when it's in my moisturizers.
• I'm moving away from essential oils in my skincare products that I wear everyday, but they are super prevalent in the "clean beauty" world and sometimes are hard to avoid.
• Sometimes I make my own facial oil mixtures and mask recipes at home.

Other Products Not Listed:

• Double Cleansing - Mixture of Castor Oil and Argan Oil, and evanhealy Unscented Cleanser
• Clay Face Mask - Pratima Skincare Neem Soothing Mask and Sandalwood Soothing Lotion
• Homemade Gentle Acid Mask - Honey and Sour Cream :)
• Moisturizing Mask - Whipped Shea Butter and Argan Oil

Ending Note:

My skin is in a much better place right now than it was in my early twenties. I battled irritated skin with cystic acne for 6 years before I finally started treating my face gently and with love. I actually swore off any skincare for a whole summer and only washed my face with water (would not recommend skipping sunscreen now, but younger me didn't understand long term UV damage). My skin mostly healed from the lack of exfoliation and now I can do gentle acid masks every couple of weeks. Once I turned to facial oils and water based toners, there also was no going back to conventional. Now my face rarely has a flare up and my acne has reduced to the occasional pimple and blackhead, in contrast to many under the skin cystic bumps that left redness and scars on my face. I treat my early signs of aging with rosehip seed oil and a Retinol serum. Ciao!