Kaiser Pharmacy Find

On one of my last trips to the Kaiser pharmacy to get an Rx refilled I did a little shopping in their "over-the-counter" area. (Can't even get out of the pharmacy for under a hundred! ha ha) I found an Acne Wash that has an active ingredient I hadn't paid too much attention too. So I thought I would pay a little more attention to it and purchased Kaiser Pharmacy Brand Acne Wash (Benzoyl Peroxide 10%) Even if you are not a Kaiser member you can purchase the over the counter items still. I forget how much it was but I do remember it not being over $7 for this 5. fl oz. bottle.


This is a creamy, thick gritty chalk like, white colored acne wash. It doesn't lather much and has a slight chemical scent that goes away when washed off. I used it morning and night for about two weeks and noticed my face was for the most part clear from hormonal acne but I still had a fair amount of stress acne. This didn't do anything to reduce the small stress acne bumps I get. It did dry out my face but not too much for my normal combo skin; although, it did dry out my eyes too much, so I avoid my eye area and the burning dryness around my eyes stopped. Ha ha I am prone to stress in which stress causes an over production of sebum, in turn causing stress acne. I am starting to see that I need treat stress acne and regular acne differently.

Using this alone wasn't enough so after two weeks I introduced the Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash, Pink Grapefruit Foaming scrub and this added an exfoliating aspect to my daily routine. Using the Neutrogena first before the Kaiser acne wash clears dead skin and dirt allowing the active ingredient in the Kaiser acne wash to get into my pores. This combination makes my skin feel smooth and fresh for hours after I wash and I am happy with it so far.

I feel so Alien and jealous sometimes when friends tell me that all they use on their skin is a bar soap. No lotion, no concealer, and they have practically flawless skin! I am dumbfounded when they tell me that I create my bad skin or thin eyelashes by doing all this stuff weird stuff to them. Everyone isn't born with clear, soft, moisturized skin. Long, curly, full eyelashes. It takes work for some of us. It's not odd or unusual to need more than a bar of soap for everything on your body, so don't look at me like i'm weird. ha ha ha... I am here to help myself find out just what I need and maybe help someone else along the way. Don't give up and keep trying new things if the one your trying right now just isn't working.

Bottom line is that I am realizing that for my skin type and stress levels I need to be unrelenting, rigorous and consistent with my skin care routine, morning and night.

Hope you have a great skin day.
Jamie~

That's the Order of Things

Hey y'all! Recently a friend asked me a question in regards to the order in which she should put on her moisturizer, foundation, face primer and so on.

I have to admit, this baffled me for quite a while. I also had no clue why I had to slather SO MANY products on my face before I even started in on the makeup. I mean makeup is heavy enough on the face alone and even the lightest of makeup is heavy for people who aren't use to wearing makeup. It took me a while of adding one product at a time to build up and research to be able to have all this stuff on my face and not be reminded every second of the day I have like five ba-g'illion layers of stuff on my face. ha ha

Some people do it differently, some may say it doesn't matter what goes on first, and some even say none of it is needed. I disagree with the last two because it does matter what product goes on first and moisturizer is ALWAYS a must. Even if you have oily skin, there are ways to be able to have moisturizer on and control oil. Moisturizer is the most important product every girl should carry on them especially in the winter time. Moisturizer helps give your skin a healthy glow, some come with SPF to protect you from damaging UV rays from the sun, and can also prevent pre-mature aging, and fine lines. " But it gives me acne..." Some moisturizers can, but with a regular routine of washing your face every morning and night and a the right product developed specifically for acne and oil prevention like Dermalogia's, mediBac clearing line, Oil Control lotion for $37.00 net wt. 2 fl oz. or for those who don't have that kind of money to spend, Neutrogena is a great alternative with it's Oil-Free Anti-Acne Moisturizer for $7.99 net wt. 1.7 fl oz. Granted these don't always work for everyone. You have to do a little research and testing on your own. Most drug stores will return a makeup or skincare product if you are not satisfied with it. The more expensive brands have samples packets you can take home and try for a couple of days. Just go into any store that caries the brand you are interested in and ask a sales associate for a sample of that product. Okay enough rambling about the importance of facial moisturizers and on to the order of things!


Morning routine

Cleanser
Daily exfoliater
Toner
15% Vitamin C Serum
Eye cream/ Moisturizer
Tinted face moisturizer
Primer
Foundation Moisture Tint
Concealer
Powder
Makeup

I start out withNeutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash Pink Grapefruit Facial Cleanser , then recite my ABC once rinse off and move onto Dermalogica's daily microfoliant which is a powder. I recite my ABC's once again and rinse. I pat dry and spritz Dermalogica's MultiActive Toner on my face and let it dry. I use next the 15% Vitamin C Serum by glo-theraputicals. Once all of that stuff is dry I apply my Age Defyer Eye by Cures by Avance. My face moisturizer by Dermalogica, Sheer Tint Moisture SPF15 in light, is next. Let it set for a few seconds, then on to my Primed & Poreless Face Primer by Too Faced. Make sure not too get the primer on your eye lids as this will cause slippage. Next is foundation, and in this case I don't use foundation daily, I use MAC's Moisture Tint spf15 in Light as my foundation. This is the only time I recommend your tinted moisturizer go on after your face primer. Make sure you get the foundation on your eye lids as well. This will help your eye shadow stay longer. Concealer, powder then makeup are next, in that order.

A side note about your eyes and the order of products. Moisturizer, Foundation, concealer, powder, Eye primer (not the same as your face primer,) and then your eye shadows.

It really looks like TOO much, right? It doesn't take very long in the morning 10min tops to do everything up to my tinted moisture acting in disguise as a foundation. Ha ha .


Nightly routine

Eye makeup remover
Makeup remover
Exfoliating cleanser
Cream cleanser
Exfoliater
Spot lighting gel
Eye cream/ Moisturizer
Face moisturizer
Spot lighting gel (JIC)

At night you want to make sure your face is clean and fresh so some of these products are not needed. I start out with my Neutrogena's Make-up Remover Cleansing Towelettes for my face then use Dermalogica's soothing eye make-up remover. It is important to use an eye makeup remover. They are gentler on the sensitive skin around your eyes. To wash my face I start with Neutrogena's Oil Free Acne Wash as an exfoliater, recite my ABC's once the rinse. Next I use a sort of cream cleanser, Dermalogica's dermal clay cleanser and recite my ABC's then rinse. I pat dry my face and use Murad's Exfoliating Acne Treatment Gel, let that dry then dab small amounts of Murad's post-Acne Spot Lightening Gel on the spots and scars I would like to lighten. After it is dry I put on my Age Defyer Eye by Cures by Avance and Dermalogica's Active Moist, face moisturizer. Lastly I put on a little more post-Acne Spot Lightening Gel just in case it migrated during the lotion application.

Now not all of this is needed to keep your face looking healthy. Cleansing, eye makeup remover and cream, and face lotion are the key essentials to keeping your face looking fresh and young looking for the better part of your life.


There is quite a bit of information to soak up in this blog, and I thought that even a person who rarely wears makeup should know how to take care of the skin on their face and how to get nicer, fresher looking skin when applying makeup. I am not a representative of the products I have provided links back to the Manufacturer's site. I do not receive any free products from them (unless I get a sample at a beauty store) and I do not get paid for linking to their site. Most of the products I have referenced I paid full price for, unless it is an item provided through the BeautyFix program. My collection has been growing slowly over the past 3-1/2 years. Do your research and go for the essentials first.

I hope this was helpful to you. If you enjoyed it please subscribe to my blog, it only takes a minute or two and you don't get any junk emails from Blogger.com, just the first one to confirm your account. I would really appreciate it. Also don't be shy to comment, ask questions, or suggest products you would like to see reviewed.


A special thanks to Heather for our question of the month.

Clear skin and flawless makeup,
Jamie Fox~