My Irish skin is sensitive and suffered sun damaged from years spent living within a few blocks of Southern California beaches. I also lived in the Eastern High Sierras where I spent many days downhill and cross-country skiing. The residual effect of these years lives on in my skin showcasing an active, well lived life… but totally neglectful of early skin care and protection!
I know better today.
Here’s my basic cleansing routine. It can, and does change daily, monthly, and especially across seasons. Our skin adapts us from minute to minute to our environment so even during the day or an evening, I will add skin products as my skin changes, even as simple as a cool misting of Lavender HydroSoul on a steamy summer evening.
Here’s my Cleansing Routine:
1. Greeting My Skin
I always start my cleansing by massaging a few pumps of Nourishing Cleansing Oil into and all over my face and neck. As I massage the Cleansing Oil into my skin, I will add dribbles of water to my fingertips and continue massaging these two into my skin. I have always loved ‘greeting’ my skin this way, whether it is AM or PM. I remove with a warm wash cloth.
2. Cleansing
I choose one of our Cleansing Milks, my favorites are Patchouli Rose, Rose, and Simply Basic Cleansing Milks. I pump a dime to nickel-sized amount (about 1-2 pumps) of Cleansing Milk into the palms of my hands add water and massage all over my face. I always include massaging down my neck, to décolleté, and I even include ear lobes. I also love the combination of a small pump of Tea Tree Gel and a Cleansing Milk, this creates a creamy Gel Cleanser. Also, here’s another favorite, try one pump Tea Tree Gel combined with one or two pumps of Neem Immortelle Purifying Infusion, and massaged all over skin, this pair reaches deep down into pores to draw impurities to the surface.
About once a week after cleansing I will apply a Clay Mask. During the height of COVID I was applying a mask daily! I am not sure why I felt drawn to daily masking but being isolated, the time spent on my own selfcare felt absolutely essential. I would be very creative, mixing Oil Serums, Butters, Balms and used light mists of Hydrosols throughout the drying process.
M I X I N G T H E M A S K
I add a ½ - 1 teaspoon of French Rose Clay or Green Tea Clay into my clay dish, add HydroSoul, or spring water and mix, and apply directly to skin with fingertips or our evanhealy Fan Mask Brush. I leave the mask on till dry, then remove with warm wash cloth and sprays of HydroSoul. Sometimes I will add the Green Tea or Rose Clay (¼ to ½ teaspoon) directly into the Cleansing Milk in my palms, add water, combine, and massage into my skin. I don’t leave it on too long, but I do like the gentle addition of the clay, my skin is soft and smooth, my pores minimized and purified. I finish w a warm water rinse and wipe excess off using my favorite evanhealy Linen Face Wash Cloth.
3. HydroSoul
I seem to choose my daily HydroSoul based on, of course, my skin condition, but also my emotions, and my intuition. I ‘saturate’ my skin with one or two of my favorites, which again, change with the seasons and skin requirements. In the summer I love to hold Tulsi in one hand, and Rose Petal HydroSoul in the other and mist my skin with this fragrant, Ayurvedic pairing. Sometimes I walk outside, stand barefoot in the grass and enjoy the experience of misting of Hydrosols in nature. The immersion in the natural world, feet planted in the earth, feeling the fresh air gently whisper across my skin as I spray is a total skin care treatment in itself.
In Winter, I choose to pair Doug Fir and Frankincense HydroSoul. In fact, I could easily list them all as my favorite with no exaggeration. HydroSouls are the copper distilled essence of the plant. They draw us into the plant spirit and its therapy is subtle, soothing, integrating and relaxing to skin and psyche.
4. Protection, Nourishment, and Remedy
Moisturizing skin after prepping with HydroSoul creates the perfect palette for the next step of my daily skin routine: protection, nourishment, and remedy. This definitely changes day to day, season to season. Having prepared my skin with an Oil Massage, a Cleansing Milk, and a saturating mist of HydroSoul this has now allowed me to see and feel what my skin requires for protection for the day. I tend to have dry skin, so my go-to basic is always a choice of one of our Oil Serums, such as Pomegranate Repair Serum or Chilean Wild Rosehip Seed Oil. And now with the addition of our three new Face Balms: Rose Vetiver, Blue Cactus, or Patchouli Frankincense, I can add a swipe of Balm on top of my daily Oil Serum.
Other choices for my skin include our Whipped Butters, and the Blue Cactus Beauty Balm. I use a fingertip sized amount of both the Whipped Butters and the Blue Cactus Beauty Balm.
The Whipped Shea Butter with Olive Leaf is my favorite when my skin needs extra protection. It saves my skin in extremes of climates, whether it’s too hot or too cold. I combine the two together in my hands and lightly press, and or massage into my skin. I always finish with a misting of a HydroSoul as a skin blessing.
Violá, a peaceful face.
Blessings,
Evan