your face.

perhaps it's an early midlife crisis...or the fact that my ten year reunion is in less than two months but i've been freaking out about my skin lately. yes. seriously.

i'm trying to be prepared for further skin issues while attempting to maintain a youthful appearance to my skin. i'm also trying to learn the things that i can do and teach my girls early on so they'll know...and in a way i kinda feel like i'm cheating my girls since my mom was very sick and died when i was pretty young. i've had to do a lot of googling and a lot of asking other women in my life, like my grandmother(who passed away almost 6yrs ago), my aunts, my mother in law, skin care pro's etc. i want to be able to show my girls things and share in those mother moments with them that i wish i would have had with my mom but never got the chance.

so! in my effort to figure out how to best treat my skin...i've learned and am learning a lot of things that i can and should be doing with them. i've gotten some face wipes for the girls so that in the mornings when we are brushing our teeth together, they can get into the habit of washing their faces as well...which has been pretty fun because now they want to do face masks once a week with me too :). they've even enjoyed to sugar scrub in the shower to exfoliate the skin on their feet, hands, knees, and elbows - it smells like chocolate, what girl wouldn't love that?! i'm learning new things and trying to share them with my girls...they are so silly! they really enjoy the pampering of getting all lotioned up after bath time with a pretty smelling girly lotion. it's been fun and it seems to be a little of a stress reliever because instead of trying to get into what i'm doing, they have their own things that they can use and do what mommy is doing :).

and now to share with you what others have shared with me about some skin care products, remedies, etc - everyone's skin and body is different so what may work for you may not work for someone else, so before you give up, try a few different things...and you don't have to break the bank to do so:

under eye bags:

SLEEP
proper/balanced diet
hyrdration(drinking lots of water)
preparation h(no i'm not kidding) - rub a little under your eyes, my girlfriends swear by it!
tea bags(wet ones) - just rest them on your eyes for about 10-15 minutes at night before your nightly skin care regimen
spoons(yes weird i know) - stick them in the freezer 1-2 minutes and apply to eyes 10-15minutes
compress(hot and/or cold)
cold cucumbers - rest them on your eyes for about ten minutes, lying flat on your back
cold eye cream - keep your eye cream in the fridge
peppermint tea - put the dry tea bags on your eyes

clear/radiant skin:

SLEEP
proper/balanced diet
hydration(lots and lots of water)
good ole' soap and water
Mary Kay Timewise
Avon's version of ProActive
Cerave(dermatologists recommended)
Clinique
ProActive
Acutane
Neutrogena Oil Free Cleanser
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
AcneFree
Noxema
Clearasil
Arbonne
Beauticontrol
Aubrey Organics Sea Buckthorn bar soap(Dr Oz recommended)
Shakelee
Philosophy
Dermatologica

now I realize this is QUITE a list just for a daily skin care regimen for your face but like I said above, no two people have the exact same skin so what may work for you, may not work for someone else...this is a just a list compiled of some of my friends and their recommendations...some things i have used and some i have not...right now though, i am planning on giving several of these products a go and see what i like best and what works best for me and i will definitely report back to you on that one :) and if you are like me, you want to get in the habit of taking the best care possible of your skin!