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The collegiate resource Urban Dictionary defines the word “glow up” as a “mental, physical, and an emotional transformation for the better”. I think we all enter moments of reflection in our lives where we decide that we want to be better in some way. Some of us experience this after some time goes by & we suddenly realize our habits aren’t benefitting us, or maybe we’re motivated by a loved one’s observation of the way we’re living. Either way, the decision to glow up comes after we resolve to change for the better & we take action – which is something a boss bitch does.
Now that I’ve taken the time to educate everyone on the meaning behind the title – I had a moment of clarity probably right before the pandemic started, which led to my decision to have my own glow up. I realized that the years of sleep deprivation, questionable dietary habits, weekends of binge drinking, forgetting sunscreen, and refusing to drink water because it didn’t have caffeine in it, might be finally taking a toll on my skin (amongst other things, which will be topics for future blog posts). I realized that the fine lines in my forehead weren’t going away as quickly as they used to & the undereye bags were lasting a little longer than I liked. I also had taken some pictures at a party and frantically zoomed in on a few, shoving them in front of my fiancé & exclaiming “what the fuck is that on my face” because I never had lines on the sides of my face before when I smiled. Either that or I hadn’t noticed up until that point, but I was fairly convinced with the number of selfies I’ve taken historically, I would’ve known prior to age 30.
My poor future husband always reacts the same way, which is to say, “what are you talking about?” and when I attempt to explain, he always makes it a point to tell me how beautiful he finds me and never actually confirms that he sees what I see. I do appreciate him telling me I’m beautiful, but I’m usually in a moment of panic because of I’m “aging”. So, I typically don’t thank him for his reassurance and instead move on to googling Botox and facelifts because I’m overdramatic.
I’m not to the point of Botox or facelifts, but I did notice slight changes. I began to research what I could do as a preventative, or a “slowing” of the aging process. I never knew it would be difficult finding skincare products at the point of “not having full blown wrinkles but not exactly 16 anymore”, but it took longer than I expected. Plus, while attempting to find anti-aging products, you’re also trying to factor in other pre-existing skin conditions. The anti-aging products aren’t always all-encompassing, so you wind up having to use them in addition to other things, and they don’t always take effect immediately. If they’re crap, you won’t know for at least a month or so, and then you’re pissed because you bought crap & even more pissed that you wasted precious time during your battle against “looking old”.
Time is of the essence, god dammit.
Being that the “slight changes in skin’s elasticity” don’t start showing up until your late twenties and early thirties, I decided to put together some products and tips based on my own experience- products & tips that I know are effective. This way I can maybe spare some of the other ladies out there in their own battles against the biological clock, the time and money you inevitably spend before getting the right stuff.
Important note: in conjunction with the right products, you also need to be engaging in healthier life choices in order to really see a difference or to prevent those “differences” from happening. You can buy all the latest and greatest serums and lotions you want, but if you’re not eating the right food, taking vitamins, drinking water, &/or getting your beauty sleep – you’re not going to ultimately do yourself any good, and chances are you won’t see any noteworthy aging “reversal”. I’m not a doctor or medical professional (I’m terrible at math & science) so I recommend visiting one with questions about diets and vitamins. And, if you have any weird reactions to the skincare products I’m recommending, discontinue using them unless someone with the appropriate credentials tells you otherwise.
1. Wash your fucking face. Do it in the morning and at night before you go to bed. Wash all your makeup off before you even think about letting your head hit the pillow. Prior to my decision to glow up, I never used to wash my makeup off before going to bed, and that was 100% due to being a lazy bitch. I can’t speak to what you’re medically doing to your skin by leaving makeup on it all night as you sleep. I will say that the makeup is coming off of your skin throughout the night, either by you sweating it off or general movement, and it’s staying on your pillow. You’re then proceeding to roll around in your own filth for the remainder of the night, and the night after that; essentially, until you wash your pillowcase again. That’s pretty gross.
You should have two different cleansing processes, especially if you’re wearing makeup. You should use a general facial cleanser to get all the dirt, makeup, and bacteria off of it. Then, use a targeted product, like an anti-aging cleanser, afterwards. Otherwise, you’re essentially wetting your face and rubbing bacteria around with there’s no guarantee you removed anything. There’s also no guarantee that your face is going to benefit from the targeted treatment because if you don’t remove everything first, it may not have the chance to actually penetrate your skin.
For a “general” facial cleanser I like to use CeraVe Hydrating Facial Cleanser
($13 on Amazon). The cleanser is gentle enough for even the most sensitive skin types, but actually removes all crap from your face without leaving any weird residue behind. I also noticed a lot of cleansers make my face feel tight after rinsing them off, which I can only assume meant the soap was drying the fuck out of my skin, but this one doesn’t do that. If I’m washing my face in the morning, I use Bliss Jelly Glow Peel as a second step ($9.97 on Amazon). I LOVE this stuff; it’s an amazing exfoliator, and you can actually see the shit it’s removing because the dirt/dead skin get rolled up into little balls when you first massage it in. Your face feels smooth af once you rinse, and then you have the perfect canvas if you’re putting makeup on. (I don’t use this at nighttime because if I use the anything with glycolic acid in it too much, it irritates my skin.) The final cleanser I use is CeraVe Acne Foaming Cream Cleanser.
($11.97 which is hefty for a cleanser, but it works so well I’ve deemed it 100% worth every penny). I’ve never had an extreme problem with acne, but I do breakout if I’m really stressed out or during hormone fluctuations (another added joy of being a woman). This stuff has completely abolished breakouts for me. Any acne cleansers I’ve used prior may have done a decent job, but they’ve stripped my skin of hydration completely to the point of peeling/irritation sometimes. This cleanser has hyaluronic acid and ceramides in it which helps to hydrate your skin, while simultaneously knocking out any blemish-causing bacteria with benzoyl peroxide.
2. Toner is important and you should use it. I never understood the purpose of toner when I was younger, which is probably because I was once again being a lazy bitch and didn’t want to. I read somewhere last year that it was important to maximize your skin’s absorption of whatever products you use after cleansing, so I began implementing it into my routine. I tried a few toners that burned the hell out of my face, so I switched them up until I discovered T.N. Dickinson’s Witch Hazel Astringent. For only $6.99, this toner does a FANTASTIC job – it preps the skin for serums/lotions, minimizes pores, helps fight breakouts and other irritations, and also calms any puffiness you may have around your eyes from not sleeping well. Or if you cried for awhile. I don’t cry often, but when I do, my eyes well up for at least a day afterwards. I splash some of this toner on a cotton ball and swipe it under my eyes (don’t get it INTO your eyes because that will suck) and all the evidence of tears vanishes. It’s also 100% natural, which is probably why it doesn’t burn your face off. Otherwise that would probably add to the reason why you were crying to begin with.
3. Moisturize. If your skin is dry and flaky, nothing is going to get absorbed properly into it. It’s like adding soap to a dry sponge – the soap will lie on top of the sponge, and essentially be useless. Dry skin also exaggerates the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Dry skin is just not good. Therefore, moisturizer is a VITAL part of your daily and nightly routine. I have tried SO MANY different types and even if I found one that worked for awhile, nothing repelled dry skin during the winter. NOTHING. Then, I picked up a bottle of CeraVe Facial Moisturizing Lotion AM SPF 30. I avoided trying this one for awhile because of the price tag ($11.24) but after seeing how well their other products worked, I wanted to give it a go. The heavens opened and angels began to sing after I used it consistently for just a few days – my skin was NOTICEABLY more supple, toned, and fine lines were fading. It 100% protected against sunburn during the summer as I was outside more often, and if I happened to get the occasional sunburn, it helped my skin bounce back quicker. The hyaluronic acid in it acts as anti-ager too; hyaluronic acid binds to water in our skin to help it retain moisture. And once the winter months set in and my face didn’t turn into a peeling mess, I became a lifer. During the pandemic, stores weren’t stocking things as quickly and I couldn’t find it anywhere, so I switched to Cetaphil Healthy Glow Daily Cream with my fingers crossed, and this one worked just as well as the other one did (thank God). For all over moisturizing, I started to use Advanced Clinicals Hyaluronic Acid Cream which worked wonders on any dry skin I had on my arms and legs. More notably (for me anyway) was how well it worked on my HANDS. I was working in healthcare for the past five years and my hands were literally cracked and peeling during the winter, because I was washing them profusely throughout the day & using sanitizer, then adding in the cold weather. I began to just accept the fact that this was my life every year from November until February, UNTIL this lotion fixed the issue entirely. (I bought it at either TJ Maxx or Job Lot for $5.00, so you can probably find it there too for less than most of the stores have it listed for online.)
4. It’s time to accept the fact that you need a night routine, sis. I didn’t like coming to terms with it either. But, the sooner you do, the later you’ll wrinkle. There’s a lot of options designated for night time usage, and I’ve had the best luck with retinol serum. I was using the Advanced Clinicals Retinol lotion for awhile, and just recently switched to Skin Nutrients Double Strength Retinol Repair Serum
(pictured first on the left). I paid $1.00 at Dollar Tree for it, and lowered my expectations of how well it would work. This just goes to show you that sometimes price doesn’t correlate with efficacy – this shit is amazing. After putting this on at night, my skin is clear and glowing by morning. Since waking up by itself is hard, it’s nice to have a little pick-me-up like your face looking less elderly when you look in the mirror. Retinol makes your skin more sensitive to UV rays & sunlight reduces it’s power, so use this bad boy at nighttime only for the best results. If I’m dealing with some breakouts or skin irritation, I also utilize Advanced Clinicals Tea Tree Oil at nighttime for some added defense. If my eyes are swollen because of seasonal allergies or whatever the hell else, I use The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5%.You only need a few drops, and it goes a long way. I also bought a satin pillowcase (which is optional) because it’s said that it will lessen creases in your skin long term. I can’t confirm or deny this yet, but it does feel nicer on my face than the polyester pillow case I was using prior. I bought mine for a dollar at Dollar Tree, and I wash the pillowcase 1-2 times per week to keep it clean.
5. There are benefits to facial massage. Before you roll your eyes & skip to number 6, hear me out. I’m not talking about “facial massage” in terms of booking an appointment at a spa once a week and drain your cash flow – I’m talking about buying a basic jade roller, or something designated as a facial massager for low cost, and utilizing it at home on a daily basis. I had a jade roller that I was using for quite awhile (I picked it up based on claims that it prevented wrinkles). The jade roller itself didn’t show me any huge difference with wrinkles, but it helped me out A LOT with sinus issues. I never used to have allergies when I lived in New Jersey, but when I moved to New England six years ago I began to get sinus infections at least twice per year, and sinus headaches on a weekly basis during the spring and fall. One particularly bad sinus infection about two years ago had me nearly in tears – it lasted almost a month, and the area below my eyes hurt just to touch. The jade roller improved the circulation in my face which I think in turn, helped prevent/treat sinus problems. After I broke two of them, I started looking for other options in the same category. During a Googling sesh, I found a device called the Solawave. (pictured above on far right, in rose gold) The website states the Solawave combines “microcurrent, red light therapy, therapeutic warmth, and facial massage” into one. I was pretty intrigued because I obviously had benefitted by the massage aspect, but had only heard of dermatologists offering light/microcurrent therapy. I also liked that you could charge the device with a USB cord, because again, I have lazy bitch moments and I need the convenience factor. It’s been about a month since I started using it, and not only have the sinus headaches been kept entirely at bay (during allergy season, I might add) but my face is RADIANT. I’ve never used that word to describe my own face before, but it’s the truth. Another surprise benefit of the Solawave – it improves the “overtired” feeling in my eyes. Over the years, with extended computer usage for work/school, I’ve complained often about my eyes being tired pretty much 24/7. With the eye fatigue, came headaches and nausea if I didn’t take enough breaks throughout the day, and I would have to go a few days without staring at screens in order to reset. I use the Solawave under my eyes every day with The Ordinary Buffet Serum as an additional anti-aging step, and the heaviness/twitching of both eyes hasn’t happened in at least three weeks. Based on THAT by itself, I’ll recommend the product all day long. Click here to get the Solawave & get 10% off your purchase.
6. There will always be anti-aging gimmicks. Do your research first and utilize numbers 1-5 consistently in addition to a healthy life choices prior to dropping serious cash on anything else. There are hundreds of products in addition to thousands of advertisements EVERYWHERE promising to be the game changer in the anti-aging industry. In the modern world, you can’t even log into Facebook or Instagram without some type of ad popping up on your newsfeed about SOMETHING you “need”. Ladies, if you needed that shit, you would’ve heard about it earlier. Plus, I can promise you that if you haven’t done steps 1-4, changed your diet, drank some water, gotten onto a consistent sleep schedule – you don’t NEED to do anything besides make the basics a routine. If you’re planning to truly glow up, you need to invest in yourself first.
xoxo
