I have a solid skin care routine all year round, but it become a little difficult to follow through during the summer months.  Between outdoor activities, concerts, and long evenings, enter my lazy simple natural skin care routine! I had to find a way to create a simpler minimalist natural skin care.

Now, I have a minimalist skin care routine to keep my skin glowing and healthy during summer. 

Minimalist Natural Skin Care Routine 

After testing several minimalist skin care routines with natural product, here is what I learn - 

1) I found that if I wanted to have a minimalist skin care routine, I need decongested pores so that the few products I used can really be effective and get in my skin instead of seating on top of my skin.  Exfoliation is your BFF with a minimalist natural skin care.  

2) Multi-taskers are my best friends 

What type of natural products worked for my minimalist skin care?

The most effective products: deep cleanse my pores, exfoliate and nourish your skin, and deeply moisturize my skin. I found natural multi-taskers that help with all of these this. They are all natural and super effective. 

Who thinks exfoliating is a must in your skin care routine?

I did not use to exfoliate my skin regularly, but now that I do my skin looks amazing. Today, it is all about exfoliating.

First, I love the Province Apothecary exfoliator | REGENERATING + STIMULATING EXFOLIATOR|.

If you are looking for a brightening natural exfoliator, this exfoliator will do more than you expect. After I use this exfoliator, my skin is smooth and also glowing. 

They used simple ingredients here and this exfoliator is so effective. This exfoliator grains here are small; they are micro-grains that are very gentle on the skin. They recommend to mix 1 tsp exfoliator and 1 tsp luke warm to make a runny paste. 

Then, I gentle rub it my skin in circular motions for 3 to 5 minutes without forgetting my neck. I sometimes use a facial brush to help the process. I clear it out with a warm damp cloth. my skin is always left soft with a nice glow to it. Love it ?

It is very gentle but super effective. If you have dry, sensitive, or irritated skin, this vegan exfoliator is gentle enough for you. If you have oily skin, acne-prone, or combination skin you need an exfoliator to remove the excess oil that can naturally clog your pores.

I wanted to try this the Juice Beauty GREEN APPLE Brightening Gel Cleanser  for a while and I am very pleased with it. 

What I liked about this cleanser? It is non-greasy and lightweight. My complexion was brighter and this natural cleanser left my skin with a nice glow just after one use. That was surprising!!

Another thing I like about this cleanser is that it helps with my skin texture. I have small bumps under my skin; what was even more surprising for me was the texture of my skin after I used it. One of the promise of this natural cleanser is that it exfoliates and visibly refines the skin with organic raw cane sugar. And it just did that. My skin was so smooth I used it.
Also, if you have combination or acne-prone skin, this cleanser has ingredients that will wash excess of oil that might clog pores. 

HOW TO USE? This is very easy: Wash your hands first; you don't want to cleanse your face with dirty hands. Then, wet your face, neck, and décolleté.  Put a pea-size amount of the cleanser in the palms of your hands and massage in your face, neck and décolleté. Rinse well. Cleanse morning and evening. 

For so long the formations of organic and natural products were not meeting the needs of beauty lovers. But, over the last five years, so many small green businesses have been doing an amazing job at crafting non-toxic skin care and makeup products with luxurious textures and great results. SO, green beauty is having an amazing moment.

To be considered “natural,” the formula of beauty products must be free of metallic aluminum, triclosan, talc, mineral oil, parabens, phthalates, sodium lauryl sulfate, silicones, polyethylene and polypropylene (microbeads), petrolatum, formaldehyde, toluene, and chemical sunscreens (such as oxybenzone, avobenzone, and octinoxate), BHT.

I tried many organic and natural beauty products and here is the list of the products I loved in 2018. These products will make your skin glow and make you feel great in your skin.

The Best Moisturizer

I have been using this Josh Rosebrook | Day Cream |. This day cream is a rescue facial cream. Every time I apply It, my skin becomes super nourished, smooth and soft. This day cream that contains organic evening primrose and almond oils that promote soft and healthy looking skin. These oils are also full of antioxidants to fight skin aging signs. This day cream also contains aloe vera to quench thirsty skin. 

One of the added bonus here: this cream doubles as a sunscreen; it is SPF-30 and contains 12% Zinc Oxide (Non Nano, Uncoated, Micronized). We so often forget to apply sunscreen during winter, but we need sunscreen all year round; this day cream make it so easy to have our sunscreen daily. Also, it applies without a white cast. No white cast on my  dark skin tone.

The Best Face Serum

The| Youth Serum| from  Honua Skin Care is just ammmmazzzing!! If you want to keep your glow this winter, you got to use this serum.  I used this serum in many different ways and it works great every time. I applied it when my skin felt tight and irritated and it calmed it. I had flaky patches that disappeared overnight after I applied this serum. I used it my moisturizer; it absorbs so quickly without stickiness which makes it perfect for skin care layering. 

Let's talk ingredients; one of my favorite things to do. Their main ingredients: { Aloalo & 'Awa} Firming, tightening and wrinkle relaxing. {Lau Comfrey } Amazing skin regenerator for youthful skin. {'Ōlena} Anti-inflammatory powerhouse and skin brightener {Noni } Magical skin healer, rich in anti-aging antioxidants,Vitamin C & Selenium to help will cell regeneration. When checking their ingredients list closer, I see that they use grapefruit seed extract (GSE) and Organic Rose a.k.a damask rose. GSE has amazing anti-aging properties. Damask rose has been used for centuries as a tonic to moisturize, hydrate, plump dry and mature skin. I also love that they use hydrosol organic damask rose. I feel like this serum will become one of my skin care staples

The Best Facial Wipes | Facial Cleanser

I love the  Ursa Major Facial Wipes. They have a lovely mint scent. These wipes are vegan, cruelty -free, and biodegradable. These wipes will remove dirt, makeup, or sweat that is on your face without drying it out. 

These wipes comes in individual packages with makes them very practical for trips or to carry around in your purse. These wipes are perfect for on-the-go lifestyle. 

The Best Eye Cream

The Good Beauty Lab Medicine | Starry Eyes| has been a staple of facial care routine. This eye cream is amazing; it is perfect for long night and for dealing with dark under eye circles. It brighten my dark circles and nourish my skin at the same time.

Good Beauty Lab Medicine explains " When we formulated Starry Eyes we wanted a product that would rejuvenate and sustain healthy skin. Knowing that the skin around your eyes is very thin and vulnerable naturally missing essential fat or muscle, we specifically formulated Starry Eyes with a combination of ingredients generous in vitamins A, B, C all essential for  brightening dull discolored, lackluster skin. Butters and oils all designed to nourish and feed the skin and oxygen boosting ingredients to deliver nutrients.".

The Best Mask

Sometimes you try something and you're like "Yes!" That's a love affair. I wanted to share about this beautiful antioxidant face mask |Matcha Tea & Chamomile| from Plant Apothecary for a while. When I have these moments when my skin is sensitive and irritated, my pores are clogged, you name it; this mask works so great. 

​Second, this mask is so soothing and my skin is glowing and so soft after I use it. I found that this mask works with my skin instead of against it. It doesn't stress it or make it uncomfortable. For me, natural or organic products should work with our skin to detoxify and care for it. This mask is not for dry skin; it contains matcha green tea.

 I have always been curious about Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) because they use mixture of herbs to help the body and the skin function correctly. So, I was so excited when to take a class Sandra Lanshin Chiu about TCM at the WELL Summit last October in Brooklyn, NY. Sandra is an Acupuncturist, Chinese Herbalist, Skin Specialist, Treatment by Lanshin

Chinese Medicine in a very short nutshell -

Chinese medicine is about finding ways to live your life in a better way.

In TCM:

• Herbs are primarily in this type of medicine.
• It takes 4-6 months when using TCM for your skin to recover. TCM doesn't not relieve the symptoms; its goal is to restore and reestablish regular functioning of the organ. TCM focuses on blood circulation.
• Puffy face might be due tension in the body. What we think is fat is sometimes just fluid stock. Try Facial Gua Sha at home watch the video here!

More about TCM -

TCM:
[ ] Amplifies or restores your skin's natural function.
[ ] Once you are treated for acne by TCM - you should not have it back. Eczema might come back, so it is in remission
[ ] Focuses on the internal root condition of your skin. It looks at the whole system to see if it functions well.
[ ] Chinese medicine read the skin.
[ ] You will hear a lot about "blood heat" and "toxic heat" in TCM. TCM looks at your blood systems and circulation
[ ] Identify various type of inflammation during treatment
[ ] Uses herbs and seeds are cooked to create treatments in TCM

To identify a good TCM practitioner, ask them: Do you test your herbs for toxicity? Is your facility FDA approved?

TCM and Rejuvenation of the skin -

We tend to think that having a skin problem has always to do with gut issues, but it is not always the case. It could be from the digestive system.

In Chinese medicine, your skin is your other lung. So the respiratory system is important. TCM does internal [Internal Therapy] and external medicine at the same time.

TCM also uses facial acupuncture to relax the muscles so you skin can go back to function well; it resets your skin.

I learned so much about TCM during this class and it makes me even more curious about it. Did you tried TCM? What do think?

No matter if you believe that these chemicals can seriously affect your overall health or not, there is one thing that you just need to accept. Back in 2009, the European Union (EU) decided to ban 1,328 chemicals from cosmetics. As you can imagine, this decision wasn't taken lightly and the proper authorities did several studies and researches to get to this ban. However, in 2018, in the US, the list of banned chemicals only sums up 30. So, what's going on here? After all, the US is a developed country and there's no way we can only be banning 30 chemicals from cosmetic products when the EU is banning more than 1,300 for almost a decade now.

One of the main reasons for this huge difference is how both regions look at chemicals and their effects. While on European Union, they tend to take the preventive approach, on the US we take the reactive approach.

This simply means that in the case of the EU any chemical shows the smallest evidence that is causing any harm, it will be banned. On the other hand, in the US, we need to see a lot of evidence of the damage before the regulation appears.

Just take a look at talc, for example. Ten years ago, talc was used in EU in many different cosmetic products and even on babies. After all, with great moisture absorption features and a soft texture, a lot of people used it. However, it has been discovered that talc could contain asbestos, which is a dangerous substance that can be related to serious lung problems. So, the EU acted immediately and included talc in their chemicals bans list. However, when we look at the US, you can still see a lot of cosmetic products using talc even if Johnson & Johnson was ordered to pay” $72 million to the family of Jacqueline Fox, whose death by ovarian cancer was linked to her daily use of talcum-based Johnson’s Baby Powder and Shower to Shower products.”  If you are not sure that your products are safe? Ask your skin care and makeup brand to confirm that they use asbestos-free talc.

This happens for one reason only: FDA can't find strong evidence that the use of talc can be harmful. However, and what is very strange in the middle of all this, is that they can't also guarantee that talc will be free of asbestos either. So, what are natural alternatives to talc? Arrowroot starch, tapioca starch, rice powder, and oat flour are all safe alternatives that have some of the same properties as talc. They absorb moisture very well, applies nicely on the skin, and absorb oils to help with shiny skin. Rice powder is my favorite alternative; 100% Pure Fruit Pigmented Powder Foundation and Blushes and their Bamboo Blur Powder are made with rice powder and I found that they are the beat at keeping the shine at bay.  

Talc is just one of the most evident examples. However, the truth is that you can find a lot of dangerous chemicals on the most diverse cosmetic products (and some will even state they are organic). If you are looking for alternatives to your regular cosmetics, I share with you several safe natural skin care and cosmetics that are great alternatives to regular commercial products.

While we may all blame FDA for not protecting our health and for not banning these chemicals like the EU is doing, the reality is that the FDA doesn't have a lot of power in these questions, especially about what concerns to cosmetics. Cosmetics regulations haven’t been updated since 1938 and this is clearly not FDA fault but Congress fault.
 
So, beauty companies can keep getting their skin care products approved like organic even if they are full of chemicals. And until we don't update the legislation and deliver more power to the FDA, we really need to be careful about what we put on our skin. In my post 5 Tips for Transitioning to Organic or Natural Skin Care, I share with you few ideas on how to switch to a safer skin care beauty routine.

We don’t have to use cosmetics that contain potentially dangerous chemicals; there are plenty of natural and organic cosmetic brands that make amazing products.