Diva Style, or WHAT THE HELL AM I GOING TO WEAR????
Skin-Care for all of us!
Let's face it - we do some serious damage to our skin as goth folks; plucked eyebrows, layers of makeup and glitter, eyeliner all over the place, mascara or fake eyelashes. At 22 this all looks great, but at 35, you start seeing the damage. How do you make sure that your skin isn't toast by the time you're 40? Well, take it one step at a time.
The very first thing to acknowledge is that your skin is going to age, and this is a NATURAL PROCESS! I know there are all these products on the market that are supposed to make you look younger and all that. Screw em; nine times out of ten they do more damage than good. Please don't buy into the hype! I've seen some Heap Mama's with GORGEOUS skin. You're not going to look 22 forever - get over it, and take care of what you got while you've got it!
Secondly, throw away all your medicated/extra strength/superduper (and super expensive!) products. They're useless. Clearasil, Oxy-10 all that crap will totally utterly rip your skin apart after a while. There is precious little other than general cleaning that will clear up your skin if you've got a skin problem; you have to treat your skin from the inside out first. Your skin-care routine can be simple household products that won't cost you an arm and a leg, and won't take you well over an hour to apply, wait, and rinse off.
We're all told that drinking lots of water will help you have clear skin. This isn't always true - some water fresh out of the tap is not good for us at all, and some of us actually have body types that cannot abide the 8 glasses of water a day we're told (screw Western medicine - learn about Ayurveda, as it makes a hell of a lot more sense). If you smoke, if you drink a lot, if you eat an unbalanced diet, if you take in too much oils, or not enough, your skin is going to show it. Balance out your diet first, and drink a few cups of green tea if you can (obviously without sugar!). Try this for a month and see what improvement you can. I assure you there will be some.
What about external skincare? Well we all know about the "normal, oily, dry" skin thing, but in reality we all have a combination of all three. If you try to correct this by just using one type of medication, you'll probably end up pushing your skin to the opposite spectrum. I find that just doing a basic regimen does just as good as trying any major treatments, so here's my simple breakdown:
Witch hazel is just wonderful, amazing stuff. I cannot go on about it enough. It's perfect for skin, any type of skin, and goes on so nice, making your skin feel supple. To be honest, after a cleanse it's the only thing you need. Expensive creams are just that - expensive, and your skin needs to breathe. There are various treats you can give it of course, and I've found that the Oil of Olay stuff works great - I've literally put the Total Effects stuff on, fussed about for a few minutes, looked in the mirror and gasped at the wonderful change. Don't get caught up in the "face goop" trend and all will be well!
The rest of your body shouldn't be neglected either! And again, the "skin goop" merchandising has done a number on both our skins and our wallets! It doesn't need to be so. There are nice alternatives to all the expensive stuff in the store, but treats always work nicely.
-Ideally, you should always shower BEFORE taking a bath. Take the example of the Japanese and the Swiss; you want to wash all the gunk of the day off the skin first, not sit in a bath and stew in it. A quick shower to cleanse the skin and then you can soak as long as you like in the tub. Think of it as a cleansing then toning on your skin, just like you'd do for your face.
facial scrub - cornmeal and water (yes, that's all I use!)
Stupidly simple, isn't it? Yes, it is. It should be; anyone can use the above. You need some sort of scrub to "wake up" your skin and remove the dead cells. You can either just use the cornmeal with a little water or you can buy something that isn't too expensive, but be mindful there will be lots of chemicals, and the idea is to give your skin a break.
cleanser and toner - witch hazel
special treat - oil of olay total effects
And those are the basics! No need to get all expensive, but do take care of your skin, folks!
Find your niche, and WORK IT!
-There's lots of bath products out there, but simpler is better. I really enjoy the products put out by Lush. There's at least one soap there that appeals to everyone. Don't worry about the fact that it doesn't create suds like other soaps - that's just a special effect! It will still get you just as clean. I'm very partial to the Honey soap as it does wonders for my skin. Honey is a great emolient and skin-repairer (but if you're allergic to bees, don't use it!)
-Loofah sponges, back brushes and who knows what else are out on the market to help remove dead skin. Don't buy them; they harbour bacteria and all you end up doing is scrubbing bacteria into your skin over and over and over again. Just use a brusque washcloth or some bath salt scrub - something you can wash off.
-Bath salts aren't difficult, people. Just get some rock salt and some essential oils, mix up something you like the smell of, and you're done! It's loads cheaper than buying the stuff. If you're partial to bath salt scrubs, add some olive or sesame oil to the salts. Again, this isn't rocket science.
-Don't overgoop the bath! You only want to add oils now and again; if your skin is dry, use a light oil - sesame oil works nicely. Olive oil is good as well, but you don't want to marinade in it. Your skin needs to breathe!
-If you really must have a treat, I suggest either an oil rubbed into the skin while still wet, then dry off, or my own personal splurge; Body Butter from The Body Shop. Expensive, but worth every pence. We have incredibly hard water where we live, so it's sort of a requirement for me to use this stuff, and it's kept my skin looking great even when suffering from pregnancy mask (whoever said your skin gets better during pregnancy lied).