Hey everyone!
I wish I could be more cheerful this week but since I had an affair with a un-sterilized facial hair epilating spring wand and changed all the products in my skincare routine to test out a new brand, I managed to freak out my skin and irritate the heck out of my upper lip, meaning angry, red, bumpy, rash-like skin right above my lip. Brilliant. What do I do now? I still have to go to work and see people and can’t afford to look like a scaly dinosaur. Thankfully, I had several items in my skincare arsenal to save my skin and quickly steer it into the healing process (without going sans makeup).
First off, reduce your skincare routine. If your skin is reacting from a surface irritant, I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to pare down the number of products that could potentially irritate your skin further and go back to the tried-and-true products that work for you. Think cleanser (to remove makeup and grime), hydrating toner (add liquid moisture), basic serum (always lean toward light, hydrating formulas that keep the skin soothed), and a good cream (seal the moisture and soothing ingredients in). Take out all exfoliating or “treatment” serums and essences that contain active ingredients to avoid stimulating the skin further. If your skin is red, think blue to calm it. If the application of whatever you apply does not impart a soothing effect, best to skip it. For me, this looked as follows:
But the ultimate saviour was this baby right here:
I seriously don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have this repair balm. The full size of 50ml retails for $310 CAD but I got this 30ml tube size in an Erno Laszlo holiday set of 3 products from eBay, totaling $47 CAD for the tube! What a steal! Given that I use this balm for skin emergencies, it is totally worth getting the tube since it’s more convenient to open, travel with, and wallet-friendly, and I won’t feel so pressured to use it up before the 12-months-after-opening limit.
Secondly, make sure you apply base makeup sparingly to keep your irritated area free for more re-applications of the soothing balm. In this case, I opted for tinted sunscreen to protect my skin and provide light coverage for my unhappy skin. Obviously, it would have been best to go sans base makeup, but if you really can’t give it up (like me), go for the lightest option you can. I recommend this one here:
Most importantly, hydrate the heck out of your body! Drink water like no tomorrow and avoid the sun at all costs! Nothing like UV rays and internal body dryness to complicate the reaction so make sure you take precautions (especially with the suddenly-sunny and hot weather Toronto has been experiencing).
Et voila! I HIGHLY recommend you all figure out an emergency routine now even if your skin is in perfect condition because you will stress less when it comes to that moment (and believe me, that stress will affect your skin too!) and when you see your skin quickly bouncing back to its normal state, you’ll thank me loads 🙂 Prevention better than treatment, right?
Toodles sunshine! I’m off to enjoy more of it 😀
❤️ XoXo
Sunnie Obsessions ☀️
Fangirl: Sunnie Obsessions 