Dommely beauty routine

Sometime soon-ish, the Masocast podcast will be publishing my third (THIRD!) interview :).

It’s been recorded already, but editing and post-production is a full time job (not for me, for the fabulous @UnspeakableAxe who creates the podcast).

We asked Twitter peeps for questions just before the interview and one was ‘what is your beauty routine?’ I can’t find that question now to credit the asker, but I know Axe did ask me, and I also know I didn’t answer it in any meaningful way (because it’s kind of dull and detailed and off-topic). So where else would I do ‘dull and detailed and off-topic’ than here?!! :)

Firstly let me say this: I did pretty much NO skin care for most of my life. What I DID do in my youth was slather on baby oil and go out in the sun every summer to ‘get brown’, and that was about it. I knoooowwwww!

I have had a cancerous mole cut out of my back already. There will be more, and honestly if I don’t get any skin cancer on my face, I’ll be pretty fucking happy. My sister, who was never the sun-worshipper I was, had to have her face sliced open to get rid of cancer last year (she’s fine). This is Australia, everyone of a certain age gets skin cancer.

So that’s my history pretty much.

About 10 years ago, I started seriously looking at my skin and wasn’t all that thrilled with what I was seeing, so I did a shit-ton of research and started a serious skin care routine based on peer-reviewed studies (yes, I AM that nerdy), my dermatologist’s advice, and product testing by online reviewers who based their product recommendations on scientific research. I was not willing to pay stupid money for snake-oil.

The issue with many commercial skin care products is that they often take scientific research, dilute the active ingredients, do a bunch of beautiful packaging and marketing, and suddenly you’re paying $150 for a $10 product that doesn’t actually work. On the other side, you can also find instructions to make some ‘scientifically proven’ products at home for next to nothing, but to get the benefits, many require some very specific attributes (pH balance, a particular concentration, stabilisation, a carrier to increase penetration, etc) that DIYers might not appreciate or that are difficult to achieve at home.

Skin care is hella confusing!

So a summary of the big hitters in skin care (or the ‘ABCs of skin care‘ (that’s my cute dermatologist btw :)):

Vitamin A in useful form is retinoic acid or tretinoin, available in most places by prescription-only (most popular brand name is Retin-A). Designed for treating acne, a handy side effect is proven impacts for anti-ageing, wrinkles and collagen production. Retinol is the over-the-counter, cosmetic version of tretinoin which needs to be converted into retinoic acid before it has any effect on the skin, so it is relatively inefficient.

Even the lowest strength tretinoin is stronger than the highest strength retinol product.

Vitamin B or niacinamide (B3) is an anti-inflammatory and can be useful to treat acne as well as acne rosacea. Studies showed significant improvement in fine lines and wrinkles, hyperpigmentation, redness, and skin elasticity and recent ones show it may have some benefits in skin cancer treatment or prevention.

Vitamin C or l-ascorbic acid can reduce and protect from UV damage by the sun. It can also reduce unwanted facial pigmentation and is used as an active ingredient to treat melasma. 

Exfoliation: Another big ticket item in skin care is gentle exfoliation (not your grandmother’s almond scrub!).

There’s plenty of research around, but here’s a start if you’re interested (this study is very critical of over-the-counter (OTC) ‘cosmeceuticals’ claims in general (for good reason), but refers to positive research about (not-OTC) retinoic acid and niacinimide, and includes plenty of links to other articles to get you started down the rabbit-hole).

So I started a very strict daily skin care routine based on peer-reviewed research, quality products, and proven routines (and trust me, even when you know what’s good for your skin, figuring out what to use when is still hellishly confusing!).

My skin type: I want to say first (in case you’ve met me or seen photos, and want to reassure me or call me a liar :)) that if you aren’t looking closely (and seriously, who does), my skin looks great. Overall it’s clear and bright and looks pretty smooth with not a lot of signs of aging.

Up close and for real: I have mature skin, not a lot of static wrinkles, though heaps appear when I smile (around my eyes, crows feet etc). I have a few deeper lines that I treat aggressively and with hatred :P. My skin is lax in some places, and I don’t have great skin texture with visible pores, especially on my nose and cheeks. My skin is a little unpredictable: Some days it’s prone to looking reddish, but I’d say ‘normal’ overall with some oiliness at times in the t-zone.

Having given that brutal description, the reason it looks good is because of my skin care routine :).

Daily skin care routine for my face (with links to products I use)

Morning

• Red light therapy: Before I get out of bed, I use a red light on my chest, neck and face (Red Light Man Red-Infrared Combo Mini – discount code SKINCARE for 10% off)
  (this is new for me, but research on the benefits is pretty definitive so I am curious to see. I can expand on this more if people are interested)
• Cleanser: Wash with gentle cleanser & pat dry (Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser)
• Vitamin C: 3 drops of Vitamin C serum all over face & neck (Timeless 20% vitamin C + E ferulic acid serum – use 5OFF to get $5 off)
• Peptides: 3 drops of peptide serum all over face & neck (The Ordinary “Buffet”)
• Rub whatever is left on my decolletage
• Scrub my hands & nails because Vit C can make your nails yellow
• Brush my teeth so the serums can sink in & dry off a bit (ideally you’re supposed to let each individual product sink into the skin, but ain’t nobody got time for that!)
• Exfoliant: 10% glycolic acid lotion all over face (Paula’s Choice Skin Revealing Body Lotion 10% AHA)
• Vitamin B: Light moisturiser with niacinamide (CeraVe Facial Moisturizing Lotion PM Ultra Lightweight) or Olay Regenerist Microsculpting UV cream SPF 30
• SUNCREEN: Light, non-greasy sunscreen ALWAYS when I leave the house (they have stopped making my favourite sunscreen that was perfectly invisible and light-weight *sobs*. I’m using one I’m not very happy with at the moment, but have just ordered this one: Australian Gold Botanical Sunscreen SPF 50 Tinted Face Mineral Lotion so we will see)
  (I cannot emphasise this enough: If you go out AT ALL (even if it’s for 5 minutes, even if you wear makeup or moisturiser with sunscreen in it), use sunscreen. You can do all the skin care in the world and none of it is going to counter the damage the sun does to your skin)

I drink a lot of water. Not specifically for my skin, but everyone and anyone says it’s good for your skin. By a lot, I mean probably 3 litres a day (hard to say, I have a 600ml water glass that I just sip all day and refill every time it’s nearly empty).

Evening

• Cleanser + ultrasonic brush: One minute wash with gentle cleanser & Clarisonic Mia 2 (model no longer available) with ‘Radiance’ brush head (Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser + Clarisonic (mine is similar to this, buy from reputable source, there are MANY counterfeit devices)
• Vitamin C: 3 drops of Vitamin C serum all over face & neck (Timeless 20% vitamin C + E ferulic acid serum – use 5OFF to get $5 off)
• Peptides: 3 drops of peptide serum all over face & neck (The Ordinary “Buffet”)
• Scrub hands and nails because Vit C can make your nails yellow
• Vitamin A: Apply a pea-size amount all over face & neck (Tretinoin Gel USP 0.1% *see notes below)
• Exfoliant: 10% glycolic acid lotion all over face (Paula’s Choice Skin Revealing Body Lotion 10% AHA)
• Vitamin B: Heavier moisturiser with niacinamide (Olay Regenerist, Micro-Sculpting Cream)

*Tretinoin: I use 0.1% because my skin is tough as old boots and I’ve used it for years: If you are going to try it, DO NOT START THERE. It will pretty much 100% cause redness and peeling and irritation and be thoroughly unpleasant. Start with 0.025% every couple of days and see how it goes. If you are starting out you should also not apply it to a damp face, damp skin increases it’s permeability and also the irritation. This product can also make your skin more sensitive to the sun (see my ‘SUNSCREEN’ addition in caps for during the day). Niacinimide (which is in the moisturisers I mention) can reduce the irritant effects.

I would warn anyone wanting to start with a more structured skin care routine that what’s described above is what works for me, and I’m in no position to recommend it to anyone. A lot of those products can irritate the skin.

I strongly suggest that IF you want to start any kind of skin care that’s more involved than ‘put moisturiser on if I remember’, start with one product at a time and see how your skin reacts. Hitting baby skin with a bunch at once will probably not go well and you will struggle to figure out where the problem is if you get irritated.

My routine seems like a lot of work at first, but once it becomes a habit, it’s less onerous than it seems. If it was a lot of trouble, trust me, I wouldn’t be doing it.

And yes, it does work: My skin looks better now than it did 5 or 6 years ago, so I’m calling it a big win.

To bring this vaguely back on-topic for this blog, I would love to have my submissive know my routine and hand me products as I need them, like we’re some surgical team. That would be fun :).