Skincare help?

[Steph]

I am a pretty new customer to SN (stil in the sampling stage) and I have recently purchased samples of jojoba oil and rasberry moisturizers and Green tea serum. My skin has been pretty dry and flaky lately. Using the Green Tea and jojoba moist. doesn't seem to be enough. I usually use the Nuetragena sensitive skin moist. but my nose gets really oily from using this. I have a big problem with whiteheads around my nose and lips and now black heads seem to be becoming a problem too. Can the jojoba moist. or the SN foundation itself be worsening my whiteheads problem?

I hope you ladies can suggest some products for dry skin and reoccuring problems with whiteheads. I usually only get one or two pimples once in a while so i'm not to worried about blemishes and such. I have been thinking about sampling the pore refining toner, emu moist. and the oats serum. What do you think?

[Xarata]

If sensitive skin products have been working for you, perhaps you should try SN's sensitive line? My skin seems to prefer minimal effort on my part but will get oily in the summer and dry in the winter. i like the sensitive line because it seems to maintain a good natural balance without drastically changing how my skin works. I like the rose serum and i sometimes use the lavender moisturizer on my face (i moisturize my hands and use the excess on my face). Soapwise, i usually just use a natural soap in the shower or a wet washcloth (no soap) at the sink.

For acne, i know a lot of people use the AHA toner and green tea and aloe serums.

[Steph]

Thanks for answering! I also noticed that when I apply my SN foundation after moisturizing, my skin gets really flakey and appears really dry even though it looked fine before I applied the SN foundation. Should i be using some sort of primer before foundation?

[Xarata]

If you have some areas of dead/flakey skin, powders do tend to show them off. As you figure out your skincare routine with the right balance of moisturizers, you should have less issues with dry areas. In the meantime, try exfoliating once or twice a week (either with the microdermabrasion gel/cream or a microfiber cloth) to help remove some of the dead skin(i prefer to use the microdermabrasion gel in the shower because it's easier to clean off). You can also try misting your makeup after applying to help it set and meld more naturally. I use a hydrosol like the strawberry one SN makes.

You can also try applying your foundation "wet" to begin with. There's a couple of ways to do that- my favorite is with a fairly dense, but porous/absorbent cosmetic sponge. You mist the sponge with a hydrosol and dip it into your minerals (shake some out into a jar) and it goes on similarly to liquid foundation. Other ways include swirling your brush and then misting before applying to your face, or mixing a small bit of minerals with a small blob of moisturizer in your hands.