My skincare and makeup go-to's

I can’t believe I have never done this blog post! It’s been top of mind over the last year since I’ve been buckling down to research, educate myself and invest in clean makeup and skincare products. You see, in the past, skincare was never a ‘fun’ subject for me because I have such sensitive skin — we’re talking I try out a new eye liner, I wake up with itchy, puffy eyes and have to go to urgent care to get prescribed a steroid dosage to rid of the contact dermatitis. Let’s just say, ‘experimenting’ with new products and the sample section of department stores is my worst nightmare.

A little bit of background on my skincare journey

Also, as I was growing up, clean beauty wasn’t really a thing yet. This resulted in a lot of ‘patch’ testing, trial and error and hoping for the best with the products that were available. Once I tried I product that worked, I stuck with it, because I was too afraid to venture into unknown territory. Makeup and skincare just wasn’t ‘fun’ or accessible for people with skin like mine.

It wasn’t until about four years ago when I started to get introduced to new beauty brands through my blog. I wanted to collaborate and try new products but also wanted to make sure what I was sharing on my blog was tried and true products I’d actually recommend to followers. I realized more than ever I needed to buckle down and investigate what I could use and what I could not. I can’t count how many products I’d receive and would have to turn away because I either knew they weren’t clean and going to flare up my skin or I tried it and learned the hard way. During this time, the ‘trend’ of clean beauty because a thing. Now don’t get me wrong, I am all about the clean beauty bandwagon — ethically and environmentally, I love that this is now a priority for most people. But I can’t also help but feel frustrated that it took this many years to finally have options for people with sensitive skin like mine.

With more options available (places like Sephora have an entire department dedicated to clean beauty products), I’ve felt more comfortable to test and try new products and develop a solid skincare routine and (almost) everyday makeup routine.

Let’s break down what makes clean beauty, clean!

According to Goop, Clean beauty is made without ingredients shown or suspected to harm human health. Clean, for us, means a product that is made without a long (and ever-evolving) list of ingredients linked to harmful health effects, which can range from hormone disruption and cancer to plain-old skin irritation. To name a few of the offenders we avoid: parabens, phthalates, PEGs, ethanolamines, chemical sunscreens, synthetic fragrance, BHT, and BHA.

How can I tell if I have sensitive skin? How can I tell if a product is considered ‘clean?’

-Seek out Clean labels

While ‘clean’ beauty is fairly new and the beauty industry often feels like the wild west — it’s best to stick to reliable brands and labels/seals that identify products as clean — on Sephora, for example, the Clean seal represents products formulated without parabens, sulfates, SLS, SLES, phthalates, mineral oils, forameldyde and more.

-Learn how to read ingredient labels!

When you have sensitive skin you will learn to read the ingredient list over and over before investing in a product. Personally, I cannot have any products with synthetic fragrances in it — I avoid any products like the plague that say synthetic, parabens or ‘parfum.’

According to Goop, fragrances are a major culprit for flare-ups: The FDA has little power over the personal-care industry—a point that is perhaps most glaring (and maddening) when it comes to ingredient labels: Cosmetic companies are not required to disclose ingredients that are considered trade secrets, namely fragrance. This loophole means that any skin-care, makeup, or bath product can contain multiple toxic ingredients with no mention of them so long as they are considered part of the fragrance formula (which includes not just scent but also color and experiential elements, like how the fragrance sticks to your skin). Despite the unforgivable lack of transparency, what has become evident is that trade-secret label terms—fragrance, perfume, parfum, flavor—are often Trojan horses for thousands of toxic ingredients that are commonly used by conventional brands, making them the biggest red flag to look for when shopping.

Seek out an a professional!

If you have flare ups but are unaware of what is causing them, I’d suggest meeting with an allergist to do patch tested.

Patch test everything!

Even if a product is labeled ‘clean’ or ‘natural’, ALWAYS do a patch test. I place some of the product on the inside of my forearm - a spot that will typically always show a reaction (usually redness, itchiness or hives) contained within the area you’ve placed the product. I patch test for 2-5 days to see if a reaction occurs BEFORE placing any on my face.

Only integrate one product at a time.

We’ve all made this rookie mistake of buying new products and putting them all on the next day excited to try them out! Well, if you have sensitive skin, this is the worst thing you can do because you are unable to identify a culprit in the reaction. When I purchase new products I 1) Patch test on my arm for 2-5 days. 2) If the patch test goes well, I’ll put the product on my face and do a trial for one week. *Please note, sometimes it can take longer than a week for your skin to react, but often times if you have sensitive skin within 24-48 hours you’ll notice a reaction. 3) If after a week the product is still showing no signs of reaction, I will repeat these same steps to integrate any new products.

This process helps me eliminate any products that result in a reaction because I’m able to identify which one in the process upset my skin.

Read reviews / do your research!

Before purchasing any clean beauty products, I always look up reviews on the product I want to purchase. I also turn to reliable beauty websites that typically do their part to review these products. My favorites are: Goop, Credo and Sephora.

And last but not least, here are my tried and true skincare and makeup favorites! All of these clean beauty products I use on a daily or weekly basis. Disclaimer: 95% of the products on my list are labeled ‘clean’ - I am able to use a couple makeup products that are not (I’m hoping to replace soon with cleaner options). Also, although these products work great for my skin, they may not be the best fit for yours! I highly recommend patch testing and doing your own research before investing in any products listed here.