Friday, November 18, 2011

This CorpGoth's Skin & Hair Care Routines

I missed out on Le Professeur Gothique's Naked November Homework Assignment & didn't show you my bare face. However, I don't wear a ton of makeup on a daily basis, so my naked face isn't that different from the face I regularly post here!

For work, I only wear lipstick, black eyeliner, & sometimes a touch of eyeshadow. I rarely wear foundation/concealer/powder unless I want to really impress someone (say, I'm doing a training session) or I'm feeling awfully fancy that day. I try to limit the face makeup to costume events because, no matter what I use & how diligent I am about removing all the makeup as soon as the day is done, I get nasty pimples.

"All Is Vanity" by
C. Allan Gilbert, 1892
In my 20s, I wore foundation a lot more often, & my skin was horrible. So I'd wear more makeup to cover up the blemishes! I became a vicious cycle. I tried all kinds of products to clean my skin & supposedly fix the acne. I asked my doctor for help. Nothing worked until I just stopped wearing so much makeup. Limiting how often I wear foundation to just special events means I mostly just get breakouts in the week after that event (like right now, after last weekend's vampire ball!) and occasionally due to hormonal issues, but not the constant bad skin I had for so long.

Also, my skin care is dramatically stripped down, making my life easier & skin happier. I remove my eye & lip makeup with baby wipes -- plain ol' generic, supermarket-brand baby wipes. I've tried organic, natural ones, but the cloth was rougher & the cleanser stung my eyes. Yuck. And all the makeup remover products I've tried don't work as simply & cleanly. After that, I usually rinse my face with tap water. Done!

When I wake up in the morning, I rinse my face with tap water again & put on a light Olay moisturizer.  About once a week, I lightly scrub my face in the shower with a puff to exfoliate. Otherwise, I try not to mess with my skin or it will go crazy.

My hair needs a bit more work. I use a modified 'no-poo routine,' shampooing about once a week & using just conditioner & water the rest of the week. I learned about this from the Curly Girl book & related websites, as a way to help de-frizz naturally curly & wavy hair. Most shampoos are too harsh & full of detergents that cause frizz, plus, in stripping away natural oils, they encourage your scalp to overproduce oil. A lot of environmental/natural-living types are eschewing shampoo because of all the unnecessary chemicals in it -- you can whip up natural, cheap alternatives that work better (but that smacks of effort to me).

I'm OK with a simple rinse-&-condition, leaving the shampoo for when I get a buildup of hairspray & other products (I'm just not that natural ;-). I also add this fantastic leave-in conditioner from Beauty Without Cruelty. Really makes my hair silky soft, plus enhances the waves.

5 comments:

  1. We have similar routines, I rarely wear makeup unless it is fun makeup (and that really only happens for roller derby events), and I also do the whole no poo thing. Love it! Burts bees lotion on my face in the morning and I'm all set for the day.

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  2. Aw, thanks for participating by talking about your regimes! Simple is often the best way. :)

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  3. It's funny how the solution to acne is not to use more products, but use less! So much for the five-item routines sold at the drugstore.

    I tried once-a-week 'pooing, and it left me with a greasy itchy scalp. I do shampoo/conditioner twice a week, plain water the rest of the days, and that seems to keep it in line. Yay curly girls!

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  4. I use Dove soap or Cetaphil on my face, with jojoba oil if it's feeling dry and aloe vera gel for breakouts. However, I DO wear "slap" -- my foundation is the one thing I won't leave the house without since it has sunscreen. Also, because of my rosacea, protecting my skin from the elements is a very good thing. I break out less when I put on my slap. Eye makeup and lipstick are reserved for events, of course.

    I can't go more than a day and a half without washing my hair -- major oily scalp and limp hair, plus I work out in the mornings. The only time I could skip the daily styling was when I had pink, blue or purple hair -- I'm guessing the bleach dried things out enough that skipping a day wasn't a problem.

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  5. D - Yep, keeping it simple really pays.

    LovleAnjel - I think they promote those '5-item routines' just to make more money!

    lazysubculturalgirl - Hee, 'slap' ;-)

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