Thursday, April 17, 2014

Cleanse, Exfoliate, Moisturize: Best Beauty Products for Gorgeous Skin


Last month we added some amazingly authentic women who could help us grow Curva-Lish to the next level.  We enlisted these women to become Curva-Lish Ambassadors so that you can continue to follow Curva-Lish for the best resource on what it means to live an inspiring and authentic life of style, grace and purpose.
With that said, we'd like to introduce you to one of our Curva-Lish Ambassadors, Heather Miller!  Heather is a mom of two, a wife and an all-around inspiring woman who shares her amazing journey of being an "UnIntentional Housewife" on her new blog.
One of Heather's many talents is as a former esthetician before she had Jonas and had to quit working. She loved her job because Heather says, "I love taking care of people and making them feel relaxed and beautiful. I loved helping people with skin issues because it’s something I’ve suffered with since the dawn of time (still do). Over the years I’ve picked up a ton of useful tips having a mom for a stylist and being in the beauty business myself."
Heather's Best everyday beauty routine for gorgeous skin:  I know we all have limited time because we’re constantly chasing after our kids and cleaning up messes. However, I am a huge proponent of taking even just a few minutes a day to take care of JUST you.
I think the most important thing that I do that allows me to get ready in the morning quickly and shut it down even quicker before bed every night is that I’ve developed a really consistent routine. I don’t know if I’ve ever gone to bed without washing my face.
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I use two different types of cleaners: one is an acne cleanser with benzoyl peroxide to kill the bacteria that causes my lovely pimples, and the other is a skin cleansing oil. I personally use Garnier Skin Cleansing Oil.  And I know you’re like, “OIL? REALLY? Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of washing your face?” No, it doesn’t. Your skin has a natural Ph barrier and when you wash your face you’re washing all the bad stuff off, but you’re washing away all your skin’s natural moisturizers, as well, so when you’re using a cleansing oil, you’re just basically washing your face in the most gentle way possible.
Exfoliation is the next thing. As we get older our skin cells turn over a lot slower than when we were kids which is why we lose that glow of youth so you gotta scrub those bad boys off yourself. Olay has great ones that pull double duty (which I love because it saves time, duh!) they cleanse and exfoliate and have really lovely anti-aging ingredients in them as well.
I also use a Clarisonic with both my cleaners because it helps work the product into my skin and remove all my make up and it also increases the circulation in your face so that any product you apply after, like a night cream, absorb more effectively. It also keeps my pores tighter and smaller and my blackheads at bay. I use it everyday, twice a day. 
Celebrate Easter with a smile & save 15% on flowers & gifts at 1800flowers.com. Use Promo Code ESTR15 at checkout. (Offer Ends 04/20/2014)The last thing is moisturizing your skin. I can’t stress enough how important this is. I use St. Ives Timeless Skin Collagen Elastin cream and I add a little pump of Palmers Skin therapy oil because it’s good for scars (which I have from acne) and it’s good for discoloration from the sun. I used Palmers Skin Therapy Oil for both my pregnancies (I basted my tummy in it) and I don’t have any stretch marks! It’s also good for doing self mani/ pedis and burns and it even helps with my little Ethan’s eczema.
So there you have it. Those are the basics: Cleanse.Exfoliate.Moisturize. There’s lots of other stuff you can add in, like serums, peels, masks, etc, but these are the ones that are the foundation. 
Stay tuned for future posts from Heather as she continues to share her best tips for beauty and being a Curva-Lish Ambassador!
Heather Miler, Curva-Lish Ambassador and the "Unintentional Housewife