Acne, blotchy-ness, redness, & dry spots Part I

Hello, beauty babes! Some of you graciously informed me about some of your beauty concerns. I would like to help address those as much as possible as well as give you some directions to look at products you can use. Also, if you have any really specific questions please feel free to post on here, my Facebook or email me. Today I am going to address multiple skin concerns that are a lot of times, related to one another.

I think no matter what skin type you have, you will experience acne, blotchy-ness, redness, and/or dry spots. So here are some of the tried and true ways I use and have read about.

1)The most important thing you can do for your skin is exfoliate it. Every day. Why you ask? Because I said so. Just kidding... because when you exfoliate it gets rid of the old, dead skin cells and speeds up cell turn over and renewal. Also, it makes your skin look MUCH brighter. This helps with all the above skin concerns. So right now I am using St. Ives Apricot Apricot Scrub. If you are prone to breakouts, I would highly recommend this. 

If you are concerned about blemishes, you need to be using a face wash that also has 2% salicylic acid, which helps get rid of those pesky pimples. You can buy the St. Ives face wash just about anywhere... Walmart, Walgreens, grocery stores, and so forth. Another one I like that goes on sale ($16 to $10) from time to time is Wexler's Acnescription Exfoliating Acne Cleanser. That one is at Bath and Body Works (if they still sell it, I am not 100% sure). You will just have to play around and try different ones!

2) Another thing everyone needs to be doing, no matter what skin type you have is daily moisturizing, sometimes twice a day. It is best to use one with broad spectrum SPF in it as well. Broad spectrum basically means blocking UVA and UVB rays. The FDA has really been cracking down on companies throwing that term around and only products that block both are able to be labeled as broad spectrum now. 

So, I have not tried every single moisturizer in the world. Here are some that I like: 

• Mary Kay Timewise Age-Fighting Moisturizer Broad Spectrum Sunscreen SPF 30 ($22 from your local independent consultant or from marykay.com)
• Korres Pomegranate Balancing Cream-Gel Moisturizer ($32 from Sephora in stores and online, korresusa.com, and I am sure more) Downside, no SPF. It is also pore-minimizing.
• For you guys (you can use the other two as well but if you want a more 'manly' one...) Jack Black Double Duty Face Moisturizer SPF 20 [it is broad spectrum] ($17 at Sephora, it can also be purchased at Nordstrom, getjackblack.com, Ulta, and more) This is what my boyfriend uses and he really likes it!

Hopefully this is a nice start for you all. I will definitely be posting Part II and Part III very soon. I am very excited for this little mini-series. Stay tuned!

☮gretchen elizabeth

Please note, I am not paid to do these reviews nor am I doing this for the benefit of any company. It is just my own personal opinions, experiences, likes and dislikes!