My passion for skincare began as a teenager. I suffered from acne. Not only on my face, but also, to my embarrassment, on my upper arms and back. The woes of hormone changes. This was in the 1970’s and choices for creams and cleansers were not plentiful. My mother used Ponds Cold Cream and Ivory soap for make-up removal and washing, with no moisturizer that I could find in her arsenal of skin-care products.
I began to look at Seventeen Magazine and Vogue, with Veruschka and Twiggy gracing their covers. My hair was frizzy, unlike their satin smooth tresses; and my skin was not like theirs either. I was darker. I recall taking a complexion survey in one magazine and the only box I could check on what type of skin I had was “ruddy”. Really? Ruddy? I don’t think any beauty company today has a cream or cleanser for anything called, ruddy complexion.
Noxema and Neutrogena began making their way into my life; however, when Open Sesame health foods store set up shop in my home town, that is when I began trying a new wave of ‘natural’ products. The price tags on products at counters in department stores were not in my budget, but at the health food store I could experiment without going broke. Rachael Perry’s beautiful graphics on her skin-care line enticed me. And the fresh fragrances and ingredients in her products inspired me to use them for many years.
Well, I am no longer in my teen years. I have the great pleasure, as you do, of living in this wonderful era which offers an incredible array of products that address nearly whatever a health and beauty enthusiast would like to have at their finger-tips for great skin.
But it’s a jungle out there! Department store counters and beauty supply shops stock an enormous collection of brands, each with an endless assortment of cosmetics and skin-care choices. And as soon as you enter their vicinity the representatives are working to get your attention. It can be intimidating. Who has good advice? Organic? Vegan? Where to begin?
We are all different and have different needs for the type of skin we have, so proceed as Magellan would, and set out to explore with enthusiasm. And, please, a good dose of common sense.
My tip for beginning is to seek information and products from companies which have a focus in skin-care products. When shopping for luggage, one does not usually have a successful experience buying a roller bag from a perfume maker. And when one wants a great perfume, better to go to a company with many years of experience in distilling fragrances.
I purchase my makeup from companies with a history in that specialty and do not expect them to create miracles in exfoliation or lightning creams.I like companies that focus a great deal of development in skin care, specifically.
Start slowly. We all know what it’s like to go home with an expensive purchase that ends up being intolerable in fragrance, or non-performing. It’s defeating.
Approach a skin-care representative and tell them you are trying to find a (cleanser, exfoliator or moisturizer) that will be right for you. You need at least a three day supply to try it effectively. If they do not have a sample, would they please make you one. They will!
And then be responsible. Don’t misuse their good will. Go back and give feedback. Buy something you like and then explore something else.
It makes sense.