Every day around 6 p.m., I do a face mask. Is it excessive? Overly indulgent? Fiscally irresponsible? Yes, yes and yes. But I love it. Splurging on skincare is my vice, and perhaps the best part of my day. I haven’t always been a skincare freak, though — in fact, I used to do the bare minimum.
I first started an extreme skincare routine while I was studying abroad in Cape Town, South Africa. The exchange rate was in my favor, so I splurged on Lush face masks. When I first started my daily face mask routine, my skin was incredibly lackluster. I thought that my skin would be absolutely magnificent after a few masks and that I could return to my low maintenance routine of just using a light daily cleanser. But I was wrong. I got hooked on face-masking and my life was never the same.
I have since refined my routine. First, I cleanse using an electric skin brush. Then I mask for 10-15 minutes. Finally, I moisturize. When I first started getting into skincare, I thought the more I masked, the better my skin would get. Unfortunately, after masking for quite some time, my skin began to plateau. I was making some key mistakes in skin care process. I wasn’t cleansing or moisturizing properly!
First and foremost, you need to cleanse your face — it’s the most crucial step in any skincare routine. If you’re doing any type of skin treatment, it will be rendered ineffective if you don’t first wash your face. It seems simple, but many believe that just splashing some water on your skin is adequate preparation for a mask. Using warm water or even steaming your face can make the cleansing process much more effective. When you warm your pores or expose your face to steam, it can help loosen the sebum (oils and wax) that builds up inside pores. From my experience, if you do an incredibly thorough cleanse, you’ll yield amazing results from a face mask! Moisturizing after you remove the mask is also crucial to maintain a healthy tone.
Honestly though, and I’m about to drop a little bit of tough love, if you do not eat vegetables or drink water, all of this topical skincare will be for naught. Diet has a huge impact on clear skin. Frankly, you are what you eat, and if you eat trash, you’ll look like trash. Trust me, I used to eat a ton of trash.
Everyone is different, but there has been some substantial evidence pointing to a connection between milk and acne. Recently, I’ve cut my dairy intake and upped my veggie intake. The results? Clearer skin! Similar studies have been done with sugar and greasy food. Basically, they all conclude that high-fat, highly-processed foods cause inflammation throughout the body — and on the face, that inflammation manifests itself as acne. From what I can glean, if you follow a common sense, FDA recommended healthy diet and maybe drink some extra water, your skin will appreciate it.
There’s one more thing that I would recommend for skin care, and that is maintaining a healthy sex life. Much like a good cleanse and a health diet, orgasms are amazing for your skin. Dermatologist Elizabeth Tanzi, director of Capital Laser and Skin Care told Refinery29: “It’s really simple — sex decreases stress, which, in turn reduces stress hormones in the body, which helps to lower inflammation.”
To recap: cleanse, mask, moisturize, eat well and have some orgasms and your skill will glow! If you want to yield results from your skincare routine, none of this can be done in isolation. But if you incorporate all of these steps into your skincare routine, it will pay off.
