Winter Skin

As wonderful as the snowflakes and Christmas lights are, this winter weather can really take a toll on your skin. The decrease in humidity can throw your skin for a loop and you suddenly may be experiencing break outs or excessive dryness. When the skin’s acid mantle is impaired, which is a very fine, slightly acidic film on the surface of your skin that acts as a barrier to bacteria, viruses and other potential contaminants that might penetrate the skin, dirt and pollution have little pockets of broken skin they can enter which cause unwanted breakouts. It seems ironic breaking out when its winter and not when your face is melting off in the summer but it actually makes a lot of sense. The dry patches, and cracked skin make it easy for yucky toxins to get in! On top of that (as if it gets worse) not having a moisturizer that is heavy enough can lead to TEWL (Trans-Epidermal Water Loss.) This occurs when that acid mantle isn’t in tact and your skin basically lets moisture evaporate through the broken barrier. I know right? Double Whammy of dehydration and breakouts. Ways to prevent all of this from happening are to make sure you up your oil content in the moisturizer you use. I suggest adding a Facial oil to your moisturizer or upgrading to a higher concentration of oil to water ratio moisturizer. I almost always switch the moisturizer in my clients regimen at this time of the year, and suggest adding a hyaluronic acid serum to help balance out any water loss in the skin. Here is a list of a few products I suggest to look into during these cold winter months! 

If you have any questions, please reach out! I suggest purchasing online through dermstore, as an authorized retailer you won’t be exposed to any expired or watered down products. 

XO - Finnley 

Dermalogica’s Phyto Replenish Oil: feather-light treatment oil works in three phases to strengthen, hydrate and shield for healthy, luminous skin. Camellia and tamanu oils help restore the skin's natural barrier. Then, an essential blend that includes orchid flower and chia seed oil smoothes visible lines and locks in critical moisture. Finally, sunflower, rice bran and rosemary extracts create a luminous antioxidant shield against free radical damage. Ideal for daily use on normal to dry skin.

Eminence Organics Facial Recovery Oil: naturally moisturizes while combating the early signs of aging. With a mixture of fine organic botanicals, including olive oil, sesame oil and rosemary, this potent skin oil reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles while soothing sensitive skin. Use day or night for a smoother, younger-looking complexion. 

Osmosis Beauty Immerse Facial Oil: alleviates dehydration with nourishing, natural ingredients for a soft and supple complexion. Essential oils of lemon and lavender soften your texture for a glowing appearance. Dehydrated skin is left looking fresh and radiant.

Men’s V76 by Vaughn: Can’t leave out the guys, here is my favorite beard oil to recommend and a perfect stocking stuffer for the man in your life! V76 by Vaughn Beard Oil softens coarse beards and mustaches while soothing facial hair and skin. The oil's easy absorption leaves skin hydrated and protected while a blend of saw palmetto and safflower oil prevent dryness, roughness and help to soothe the skin.

— Now for Hydrating Serums, you use these after you cleanse before you apply your facial oil or moisturizer! 

SkinCeuticals Hyaluronic Acid Intensifier: Its potent blend of pure hyaluronic acid, proxylane, licorice root and purple rice work to boost skin's hyaluronic acid levels, improving skin texture and restoring elasticity.

PCA Skin Hyaluronic Acid Boosting Serum: Infused with a powerful blend of deeply hydrating ingredients, this face serum minimizes the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Filled with ceramides, B-Vitamins and 3 types of hyaluronic acid molecules. 

SkinMedica HA5 Rejuvenating Hydrator: This bad boy blends five types of hydrators that immediately go to work replenishing your skin's hyaluronic acid. Ideal for all skin types, this hydrating serum balances moisture levels to smooth and soften rough texture, lines and wrinkles. Free of fragrance, it boosts the overall health of your skin and provides a staggering eight hours of continuous moisture. The humectants draw moisture from the air and deliver it straight to the areas of your skin that need it the most. It's so potent that it almost immediately begins to smooth the appearance of furrows. 

Summer Skin & Body Scrubs

I look forward to the Fall, where fires with flannels and jeans are my life. But right now, we are baring those legs in this hot summer heat and it's nice to keep them looking fresh! Here's a list of what I do, and some fun body scrubs to throw into your summer routine! 

1. Invest in a boar-bristled brush to buff in circular motions on your legs, especially in areas that you find a tendency for weight gain or cellulite. Mio Body Brush is the one I use & love!

2. Get a good SCRUB! You'll want to use this after you shave your legs if it's sugar based, and before if it is a salt based scrub.

3. Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate. Get an awesome moisturizer, I really love FATCO Calming Body Butta It's only $16 and a little goes a long way & its really rich because they use Tallow. Go check out their website and get you some. 

4. Get a summer Glow! I actually love Loving Tan Deluxe Bronzing Mousse in Ultra Dark. Even being as pale as I am, It works really well. I use the hand-mit applicator every time and the exfoliating mit to keep up with the patchy spots between applications. (always before bed) 

Time to go in depth on some Body Scrubs (i love my job) 

1. Beauty Counter - Brown Sugar Scrub ($40 for 8.0z), my favorite! This stuff is gold. I had been looking for a scrub like this forever, and thankfully I found it at a Women in Business Mixer I attended, hosted by The Spotted Pig. Reasons this is my number 1, it gives strong exfoliation with the size of the sugar, and the hydrating oils leave you incredibly soft. The aroma is simply to-die-for, a lemongrass citrus uplifting blend, perfect for the minimalist.  

2. Violets are Blue - Salt Scrub in Sunflower Oil & Grapefruit ($38 for 6oz), The first time I tried this scrub I was thrown off because the salt is really rounded without gritty edges. But I was in love with the Dead Sea Salt because it contains 21 minerals including magnesium, calcium, sulfur, bromide, iodine, sodium, zinc and potassium. Also, the hydration from the sunflower oil and the aroma of the Grapefruit essential oils are truly invigorating. I played with it until i figured it out. Keep it cupped in your hand the whole time, instead of rubbing all around with your fingers and hands. Use the cupped area of your hand with your scrub as an "exfoliation pad" and move in circular motions, keeping the scrub controlled and contained. Ultimately it came in my number 2 spot, because salt irritates the legs if you apply it after you shave and if i'm taking the time for a body scrub, I am taking the time to shave my legs.

3. Gavee Gold Diamond Cell Salt Polish ($125 for 100ml), This is my top pick for total luxury scrub. As far as design, price and ingredients you are getting 5-star quality. Infused with oxygen-infused Omega 3,6,9's, Diamond Powder (yes, i said diamond), Metal-Free Purified 24k Liquid Gold, 12 mineral cell salts, and hemp oil you are going to feel like royalty after your done scrubbing up. I think the ingredients speak for themselves on how luxe this product is. I just use this on my face, but for those living lavishly I would use it all over. 

Hope you enjoyed, leave your comments below! 

Winter Essentials 2017

Hey dolls! I’m going to give a short-list of my top 5 favorite winter essentials <3

Living here in HuSTLe City, we deal with psycho-ex-girlfriend-type-crazy weather. Which, would obviously reek havoc on anyone's skin so we have to combat it with yummy skincare & cozy things, SUCH AS

1.     Hydralift Firming Gel Mask

-       Key Ingredients: Hyaluronic Acid, Green Tea, Rose Absolute Moroccan Oil and Aloe

This little number is my baby, I absolutely love this mask. Totally gives me that supple skin during winter months, I fear without, I may not have.

2.     Vita Liberata Self –Tanning Night Moisture Mask

-       Key Ingredients: DHA, Vitamin E, Sunflower Seed Oil, Sheabutter and Aloe.

I like to take care of all my self-tanning needs at night since I work so closely with my clients; I hate to smell like self-tanner. I love how my skin feels with this nighttime mask and the gradual glow it creates.

To warm your soul <3 ... 

3.     Sonoma Lavender Lilac Dot Footies

-       Oh man, these babies are my life. Nordstrom’s website describes it best.. “They are relaxing, spa-like slippers with lavender and flaxseed inserts that can be warmed or chilled to relax sore, achy feet and improve circulation. For even more healing, apply lotion prior to wearing.” – I love to heat them up for 30 seconds, and lay in bed and watch a movie with my little girl.

4.     A Blanket Scarf – I love the one that came in the FabFitFun Winter Box! I find myself throwing it on all the time this year <3

5.     Lush Floating Island – Luxury Bath Oil

-       Sandalwood oil, vanilla bean and lemon oil create a dreamy scent to soothe the soul, while organic cocoa and shea butters transform your bath water into a silky, softening sanctuary.” – Lush Website

Let’s be honest, LUSH anything in your bath is Fing wonderful. My bathtub is my sanctuary. And I especially love all of the luxury bath oils during this time of the year.

There you have it my top 5 winter faves!

XOXO

Fin 

Why I Partnered With Osmosis

 There are so many awesome skincare lines on the market today it can become a bit foggy trying to decipher the big differences between them all, that was until I came across Osmosis. This line approaches healing skin conditions from a direction that I hadn’t seen in any other line I’ve worked with.  The founder of Osmosis, Dr. Ben Johnson, previously worked with lasers in a medical setting, where he noticed how damaged the skin would become before you would see any sort of benefit; so he created a line that would only benefit and build the skin. The big difference is Osmosis works with the skin and its natural ability to heal itself, there is no forced exfoliation causing damage to the skin which in turn stimulates the wound healing process to get the skin to do what you want (cell turnover, stimulate collagen production, remove pigmentation or blemishes). You see chemical peels, lasers and harmful ingredients that take the skin to this broken layer and yes ultimately stimulate it to repair itself, are still taking it to an inflamed broken level…is that really what we want to do if we are trying to build our skin? I think not. I want to nurture your skin and give it what it needs to thrive in a healthy way, which means healthy and effective ingredients. Osmosis products have something called a “Liposome Delivery System” which if you think about a birth control patch, or nicotine patch it’s that same technology of sending ingredients all the way to the dermis of this skin (the deepest layer, where blood flows) Other lines without a liposome delivery system deliver about 2-5% of the ingredients in their products, verses Osmosis which delivers all of it. Here is a bulleted list of how Osmosis creates healthy permanent change in the skin:

•  Clinical ingredients with a holistic, noninflammatory approach

•  Solutions targeting the source of aging and skin conditions

•  Targeted Liposome Delivery Systems

•  5 patents and pending patents

•  free of toxic chemicals, SLS, phthalates, parabens, gluten, artificial

•  colors and fragrances

Omosis provides the tools needed to create the ideal environment to encourage permanent change and overall radiance. Our unique philosophy is based on analyzing the skin and body as a whole to treat skin conditions at their source, restoring beauty and wellness.

I teamed up with this line because I want to treat your skin as the precious, miraculous, healing organ it is all on its own. Using Osmosis homecare in combination with my professional treatments will create the perfect team for your skin to maximize its potential to give you the best skin you could ever have, no matter what skin concerns your facing.