How I Deal With My Sensitive Skin

How I Deal With My Sensitive Skin

As a girl with extremely (I mean, extreeeemely) sensitive skin, I truly know the struggle of finding products that work without breaking the face (and the bank). I’m so excited whenever I get to try out a new product; however, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t deathly scared at the same time. Having sensitive skin is still a struggle for me, and that applies to every step in my skincare routine—from cleansing to exfoliating to masking to even MISTING—you name it. Personally, I struggle with redness the most, especially on my cheeks. I’m also super acne-prone, so I pretty much have the best of both worlds. I get weird flare-ups at random times of the month (probably hormonal) and whenever I eat spicy, salty foods.

However, believe it or not, this is actually a huge improvement from before. I used to get very painful cystic pimples and the simply putting on a light moisturizer used to hurt and burn. Even though I’m still learning and constantly improving, here’s what I’ve been doing the past year to get my skin to where it is now.

  • CLEANSING SLOWER & LONGER — This may seem pointless and time consuming, but when I started to really take my time and work the cleanser onto my skin, my skin was getting better. Before, I used to just slap on my cleanser, rub it for 8 seconds max and rinse off. Now, I take at least 30 seconds. And twice a week (usually in the shower), I take 1 minute and use only my RING FINGERS to massage the cleanser into my skin. Why? The ring finger is the finger with the lightest touch, which means, instead of buffing my face aggressively, I’m being gentle and light with how I touch my face. This usually tones down the redness as well.
  • LIMITING ALCOHOL — …including the alcohol in my skincare products AND the Friday night drinks. Now that I’m constantly looking at skincare products due to my job, I’ve learned a lot and I’m more aware of what’s in the ingredients list. Alcohol shouldn’t always be a “NO NO”—a little bit is A-OK and so many products are made with it that’s it’s really hard to avoid. However, the higher the alcohol is up on the ingredients list, the more my radar goes off, and I try to avoid it as much as I can. As for consuming alcoholic drinks, I’ve cut back A LOT. Before, I used to drink 3-4 times a week and it ranged from 2 beers to 8 tequila shots. Now, heavy drinking nights are only limited to about 3 times a year and I only have a couple cans of beers each week, sometimes going weeks and weeks without any alcohol.
  • USING NO FOUNDATION — This was probably the hardest thing to do. I started wearing foundation in middle school (probably the reason why my skin sucks) and I wore it all throughout high school, pretty much every single day. When I started college, I cut back to wearing foundation about 3-4 times a week. When I went back home for summer break and stopped wearing foundation (because I didn’t go out for a week at a time lol), my skin cleared up and it tolerated new skincare products SO MUCH MORE. Now, I don’t even own ONE foundation. I have a CC cream, but I only use that on special occasions. I own two concealers and I only use them whenever I need it. Sometimes I’ll even go an entire 2-3 weeks without putting on any facial makeup products.
  • USING NO MORE THAN 6 SKINCARE PRODUCTS IN ONE ROUTINE — including cleanser. This is actually a recent change, as when I started to get more into skincare, I was trying out so many samples at one time. I was using two different kinds of serums, a new kind of toner along with one I know works for me, two masks at the same time, etc.. etc… and that was overbearing on my skin. I still love trying out new skincare products but I know that 1 new product per week is the best formula for my skin.

Like I said before, I have so much room for improvement and even though I have made some good changes for my skin, there are things I’m still struggling with.

So, here is a list of what I should be doing more of:

  • EATING HEALTHIER — This is SO hard for me because I love food—especially fried chicken. I also love fries, pizza, heavy pasta and lots of different kinds of spicy foods. I also have a major sweet tooth and I crave something sweet every single day. If anyone has any kind of tips & tricks on how to eat healthy but in a manageable way, please let me know down below because yo gurl needs help.
  • DRINKING MORE WATER — similar to masking, I have phases of drinking lots of water as well. Trying to remember to drink water in the midst of a busy schedule can get pretty annoying.
  • STOP TOUCHING THE FACE — a huge habit of mine. I’m unconsciously touching my face whenever I’m trying to focus or whenever I’m thinking about something, which is almost all the time. This leads to more dirt and bacteria hanging out on my face, which aggravates more pimples and redness!
  • CONTROLLING STRESS — I tend to stress out very easily and whenever I’m stressed, my skin is the first sign to show. My cheeks get extra red and my face feels extra hot cheeto hot.

Remember, everyone has different skin, no matter what “category” your skin falls into. If you have any other tips to share with others, please comment down below!

If you want to check out products that specifically cater to sensitive skin, click here

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