My skincare routine

I love trying new things in skincare but these are a few things that I must have! I can tell when I have these items in my skincare regimen because my skin looks its best when I use these items!

Morning Face Wash:

Therapy Systems Balancing Gel Cleanser

$36 for a large, $12.50 for a small trial/travel size

can purchase at The Cosmetic Market in Cool Springs, Nashville, Hillsboro Village or Chattanooga, Therapy Systems in Green Hills Mall and Private Edition or www.thecosmeticmarket.com

This cleanser is gentle and really gets the dirt off! This item is a must have! Some nights when I don't need to, or want to use an active cleanser then I will still use this wash in its place. This cleanser has no active ingredients so you can use it all the time and you don't have to worry about over-stimulating your skin. This fabulous sudsy wash really gets the dirt out and you'll end up with an amazing deep-clean! When I go on vacation I always buy a travel size and that's all I use. It's safe to use if you're out in the sun constantly but it's strong enough to clean off all that sweat, sand, and dirt from the beach! I love this product!

Morning Toner:

Mario Badescu Seaweed Cleansing Lotion

$15.00

Can purchase at any of The Cosmetic Market Locations or at www.thecosmeticmarket.com or www.mariobadescu.com

I LOVE this toner!!!! I know it's called a Cleansing Lotion, but it is used as a toner. I get the pressed cotton rounds to use this toner and it works wonders! After I cleanse my skin I will simply wipe this all over my face, neck, chest and where ever I can reach on my back and the back of my neck. This toner gives you an amazing tingly-fresh feel and it gives you that extra swipe of deep clean. Even after you wash your face there can be bits of dirt left on your skin because your hands cannot clean all that dirt off alone. So, I use this cleansing lotion and it will just give you that extra dose of clean. Plus, seaweed is an amazing nutrient for your skin so that will never hurt!

Daytime Treatment:

Skin Ceuticals C E Ferulic

$145

Can purchase at all the Cosmetic Market locations, as well at Private Edition and www.thecosmeticmarket.com

This is a pricey serum but it's waaaaay worth it! This serum gives you a healthy dose of vitamin C, vitamin E and ferulic. This serum will help prevent and repair age spots, sun damage, any type of hyperpigmentation, fine lines and wrinkles, and really can help all skin issues. If you don't have any wrinkles or hyperpigmentation yet or if you already have skin damage this is for you! Skin Ceuticals does amazing research with their products and once you read up on their research you can't deny the power of these products! I love this serum it's pricey but it is worth it to really help maintain or repair your skin!

Daytime Moisturizer:

Trader Joe's Enrich Moisturizing Face Lotion S.P.F. 15

$2.50

Can purchase at Trader Joe's

I love this moisturizer! I love shopping at Trader Joe's!!! There are some amazing foods and I really enjoy shopping there but I always tend to walk right past the bath & body section. So, one day I decided to really enjoy my shopping experience and really look at everything in the store and I fell in love with their beauty products! (I'll write more about a few other treasures I found there later!) I always love finding a good, easy moisturizer for the morning so it was around $2.50 and I thought, "Hey, let's give it a try!" I did, and I love it!!! It's light, it doesn't break me out and it's waaaaay affordable!

Night Time Face Wash:

Therapy Systems Glycolic Cleansing Lotion

$36 for large size, $12.50 for a travel/trial size

can purchase at The Cosmetic Market in Cool Springs, Nashville, Hillsboro Village or Chattanooga, Therapy Systems in Green Hills Mall and Private Edition or www.thecosmeticmarket.com

This face wash is AMAZING!!!!! This is the first thing I ever bought when I started working at The Cosmetic Market four years ago and it is still a must have! This face wash has stayed a constant in my life and I really cannot live without it! I suggest this face wash to about 99% of my clients that I have because it really is effective but gentle! When I first started using this face wash my skin needed MAJOR help but just by using this face wash it changed my skin completely! I will usually wash my face with it 1st to remove all makeup, I even remove my eye makeup with it but PLEASE make sure that you keep your eyes closed!!!! This will burn baby burn if you get it in your eyes! If you tend to get stuff in your eyes when you wash your face just get you a cheap makeup remover like Mario Badescu's Make up remover it's only $6! So, I wash my face 1st just to remove eye make up and take off the top layer of dirt. Then, I dry my eyes and lips and keep the rest of my face damp. I sit up and do one more pump of this cleanser and I massage this cleanser for the 2nd time all over my face for a minute or two. This cleanser tingles and it really deep cleans! This cleanser is an active cleanser because it contains glycolic acid which is derived from sugar cane. Glycolic acid is a very small molecule so it can go really deep into the skin and help pull up a lot of dirt and debris. So this cleanser majorly deep cleans, exfoliates to help lighten hyperpigmentation and smooths fine lines and wrinkles. This cleanser covers everything from acne to aging! Love, love, love it!!

Night Time Toner:

Mario Badecu's Glycolic Acid Toner

$18

Can purchase at any of The Cosmetic Market Locations or at www.thecosmeticmarket.com or www.mariobadescu.com

You would use this just like you would the Seaweed Toner. Now you don't have to have two separate ones for day and night. I just like to take care of different issues day and night. This toner will take care of extra deep cleaning since it has glycolic acid in it. You don't have to worry about this being a glycolic overload if you use it with the glycolic cleanser. This one is very gentle! But if you have very sensitive skin or you don't want to worry about buying two different toners I would definitely suggest getting the seaweed cleansing lotion. I will use the glycolic toner after I cleanse and I will use however many cotton pads I need to get it clean. Some nights I will go through 4 or 5 cotton pads. You don't have to do that but I really like to make sure I get all the dirt off! If you use a toner you will see how much dirt and makeup stays on your skin even after you cleanse.

Night Time Treatment:

Therapy Systems Topical A

$68

can purchase at The Cosmetic Market in Cool Springs, Nashville, Hillsboro Village or Chattanooga, Therapy Systems in Green Hills Mall and Private Edition or www.thecosmeticmarket.com

This is an amazing skin treatment for all skin types!! This is more of a gel texture and it has micro-encapsulated retinol in it. Retinols are a form of vitamin A. Retinols are usually very harsh on your skin. Retinols help "trick" your skin into thinking that it needs to be healed. When your skin is wounded and needs to heal it will produce more cells which means nice plump skin! So that's kind of the idea of retinols. So with that, retinols tend to be really harsh on the skin so most people either don't follow through with retinols or they won't keep using them once they're done with their first round of treatments. The nice thing about micro encapsulated retinol is that your skin does not have to damage itself to get cell turnover. I use this almost every night, usually more like every other, and I can't even tell that I'm using retinols! This product will really help keep my skin smooth, help rid my skin of lines and wrinkles, keeps blemishes away and really keeps my skin tone even. I love this product! It's a great product to have if you want to start working on your skin for preventative reasons or if you need to go ahead and start working on wrinkles and damage that is already present. ***If you use this or any other type of retinol please do NOT get waxed!!! Stay off of it for 5-7 days before you get waxed and at least 4-5 days after! Also!!!!! Use your sunscreen!!!***

Night Time Moisturizer

Therapy Systems Oil Free Moisturizer

$48

can purchase at The Cosmetic Market in Cool Springs, Nashville, Hillsboro Village or Chattanooga, Therapy Systems in Green Hills Mall and Private Edition or www.thecosmeticmarket.com

This moisturizer is great! I love that the first ingredient is aloe! So, not only is this moisturizer fantastic but it's also soothing! The feel is light and almost a lotion/gel if I could describe it. I tend to be more dry-normal but I still love this one. It still gives me the perfect amount of moisture and even my husband loves it! He is more prone to breakouts and I'm more prone to dryness but we both love it and works well for both of us so you can see how versatile it is. This jar will last you forever as well!!! Sometimes I will use this one in the morning and then I will put on the Therapy Systems Oil-Free S.P.F. on top of that. This is one amazing moisturizer for all skin types! I love that it won't break you out because it is so important to hydrate your skin day and night and some people don't want to because they're afraid it will break them out but you won't have to worry about this one!!!

Day & Night Eye Cream

Therapy Systems Line Tox for Eyes

$75

can purchase at The Cosmetic Market in Cool Springs, Nashville, Hillsboro Village or Chattanooga, Therapy Systems in Green Hills Mall and Private Edition or www.thecosmeticmarket.com

I love this eye cream!!!! This eye cream does it all! It helps for puffy eyes, dark circles and fine lines and wrinkles! I love this eye cream because you can put a tiny bit on and it keeps your eyes beautiful! I can put it on in the morning and it won't mess up my makeup and I really love it. I also love the ingredients! This eye cream has peptides which help keep the wrinkles at bay, licorice which is a natural skin lightener so that will help with dark circles and then there is a natural draining affect with the eye cream so puffy eyes are gone! I also love the smell! There is neroli oil in it and the smell is amazing! In the morning the neroli oil wakes up my eyes and at night that feel of it really helps calm them after a long day.

Okay! There you have it! I know it seems like a lot but this is your skin people! It is so, so important to take care of your skin! I have tried so many things and I hate that things can be pricey but these things work!!! They are tried and true from yours truly :) I hope you enjoy!

Self Tanning Time!

Spring has sprung and it's time to have a nice glow! I am going to show you a few higher end products and a few affordable drug-store products as well.

Neutrogena MicroMist Airbrush Sunless Tan $8.99

This spray mist is really great. But-it will choke you to death if you are in a small room spraying yourself!!! I will usually spray this on after I have put a self-tanning lotion on and let it set in. I rarely use this product. I only use it around the day before a big event. It does a good job but it does run out pretty fast.

Jergens Natural Glow Foaming Daily Moisturizer $8.50

This is a fantastic product!!! I love this one because usually self-tanners dry you out and you can't put a moisturizer on for the first 6-8 hours of applying a self-tanner so your skin gets really dehydrated. This one is great because it gives you your daily dose of moisture as well as giving you a nice healthy glow. You can put this on every day and not look orange. I am very fair and I apply this almost every day and it really just gives you a nice glow. Since it is a foam a little goes a long way so this product lasts a really long time! I love this one! Another good point is that it dries really fast so you can get on with your day.

Jergens Natural Glow Healthy Complexion Daily Facial Moisturizer $8.50

I love this product as well!! And to be honest with you, even though I am very fair I usually go for the medium to tan color in all the Jergens products. It still gives you a natural glow and still gradually gives you a beautiful, natural tan. I love this products because once again, self-tanning products tend to dry you out and this product gives you your beautiful glow and also gives your skin a drink of hydration. This product does not break me out at all!! I love this product as well because it has your s.p.f. 20 in it too so you're protected from the damaging sun. Your face will not hold onto self-tanner as long as your body so applying this every day will give you a nice glow.

Jergens Natural Glow Firming Daily Moisturizer $8.79

This product is fantastic if you're looking for a nice, natural glow. This will really give you a very soft look, nothing too dark. This is a great one to put on every day and it also firms! The smell is great and you can put it on every day! This product lasts a long time and will gradually give you a very natural tan. It does take a little time to dry but it's a great daily product that will give you a really natural glow.

Model Co. Tan in a Can $42

This is one heck of a spray tan!! We will use this at work right away if we notice we look too pale. It smells like cotton candy and dries fast. This one is worth the money!! This product is fantastic and I really love it! The only issue with spray tanners is that they run out so quickly but I only use this for special events. I apply self-tanning lotions, creams, foams all those things daily but I only use the spray tans when I am going somewhere important. So-this one is worth the money!! I apply it by using the Jergens Foaming Moisturizer first, I let it dry, then I will spray this one in circular motions and then rub it in all the way. Sometimes if you just spray aerosol cans and let them dry they can be a little splotchy so I like to spray a little and then rub it in so it looks even and natural. This Tan in a Can has a clear and an instant bronze spray. I like the instant bronze because you can see where you're applying.

Now St.Tropez is one of my favorite higher-end self tanners! We just got a bunch of new products in from this line so I am not familiar with a bunch of the new products but I will try them out and let you know what I think about them! I'm sure I will LOVE them!

St.Tropez has a self-tanning lotion, mousse, and spray and they are all amazing! These products range from $35-$40. A little goes a really long way in this line and this line is amazing because if you have a hard time not getting a natural look from self-tanners then this is the one for you!! I always get an amazing glow from this one and it looks very natural. These are great products to get when you need a good glow fast!

St.Tropez also has gradual tanning products. These are great if you just want to build a beautiful color within about a week. The gradual tan also has lotions, mousse, and sprays as well. The St. Tropez tanner for the face is AMAZING!!!

Finding the perfect self-tanning products are just as important as how to apply them!!! I always will exfoliate in the shower first. Make sure that you are nice and dry before you apply your self-tanner. On a normal day I will just use either the hydrating foam from Jergens or the firming moisturizer from Jergens. I would just apply one of those products on a normal day. If I need a nice glow for an important event I will apply a spray tan after I let my tanning lotion or foam dry. Once a week I will exfoliate and start all over again. You don't want to keep applying self-tanner over and over again. You need to start over once a week and slowly build back.

I hope this helps and if you have any questions just let me know!!!!