K-Beauty’s NEW Routine is Skincare Simplified:

While some people love the self-pampering time it takes to complete a typical seven step K-beauty skincare routine twice a day, the rest of us either don’t have the time or finances it requires to purchase and then apply all those products.  But we still want the same level of skincare benefits.  The new K-beauty trend is “skip-care” which basically means all the benefits of a seven step routine, using fewer products.  Basically, it is a sort of “skincare detox”, eliminating extra steps using only essential ingredients to cleanse, hydrate, treat, plump, refine, tone, protect, and glow. 

Summer is the best time to minimize your skincare regime so you spend less time in front of the mirror and more time in the fresh air.  Look for products that do double or even triple duty but give all the same benefits.  Use a toner that doesn’t strip skin’s natural protective barrier and gives the skin a burst of moisture at the same time.  Try a moisturizer that refines skin tone, tightens pores, controls excess oil and imparts a glow.   Mineral sunscreen with ingredients to trap and hold moisture, while protecting the skin with antioxidants at the same time is a win-win.  Choose an eye cream that hydrates and smooths while reducing under-eye puffiness and dark circles.  Night-time face creams that secure the moisture barrier of skin, promote cell renewal, protect with antioxidants, and treat fine lines and uneven skin tone cover a lot of skincare concerns in one go.  Apply it over a powerhouse serum with gentle AHA and BHA acids that gently exfoliate, reduces pore size, treats hyper-pigmentation, promotes cell renewal, and provides hydration. 

It’s not only a good time to reduce the number of skincare steps to achieve amazing skin, but a great opportunity to choose products that are less harmful to both you and the environment.  I am choosing my products with Sephora’s stamp “Sephora Clean” which are free of these ingredients: sulfates SLS and SLES, parabens, formaldehydes, formaldehyde-releasing agents, phthalates, mineral oil, retinyl palmitate, oxybenzone, coal tar, hydroquinone, triclosan, and triclocarban.  All skincare, makeup and hair brands with the Clean seal have less than one percent synthetic fragrances.  Here are some of my top choices of innovative products that will guarantee that I will not spend the entire season indoors performing a time consuming seven step routine to achieve amazing healthy skin that glows: 

SHOP: CAUDALIE Moisturizing Toner at Sephora

SHOP: TATCHA The Water Cream

SHOP: BIOSSANCE Squalane + Mineral SPF 45

SHOP: SKINFIX Barrier+ Lipid-Boost 360° Eye

SHOP: FARMACY Honeymoon Glow Night Serum

SHOP: HERBIVORE Moon Fruit Superfruit Night Treatment 

xoxo Shelley

#skipcare #kbeautytrends #bestnewkbeauty #sevenstepskincare #summerskincare #cleanbeauty #greenbeauty #skincaredetox #simpleskinecare #facethis.blogspot.com #ShelleyGoodstein 

“Cica”: The Hero Ingredient in Skincare Breakthroughs

“Cica”, the nickname for Centella Asiatica, is a leaf from wetlands in Asia used for centuries in ancient Chinese medicine to soothe, heal, and repair wounds, burns, and skin conditions.  It’s also known as “tiger grass” as tigers rub themselves in the grass to heal battle wounds. The leaf’s water content contains anti-microbial properties that treat infection and speed the skins’ recovery.  But that’s just the beginning of it’s amazing benefits.  Clinical studies have confirmed the efficacy of cica in medical skin healing, so it makes sense that such a beneficial, natural, and gentle ingredient is beginning to appear in mainstream skincare products.  

K-Beauty has championed cica for several years now, and finally the rest of the world is catching up, as brands create formulations that are hypoallergenic and completely safe for all skin types, backed up with clinical research.  It makes sense as we learn that many of our skin issues are a result of over-exfoliation, pollution, too many unnatural chemicals routinely aggressing our skin, stripping away the micro-biome, our skin’s own natural protective barrier, and excessive use of acids to force our skin into recovery mode in hopes of revealing younger, healthier layers.  Basically, all the things that brands have told us would give us a glowing, youthful complexion.  In a major back step, brands are now promoting natural, more gentle products formulated to protect and heal the skin, often using age-old wisdom and ingredients.  Cica has proven in clinical studies to be completely safe for use on babies, the most sensitive skin types of all, meaning that no matter how touchy your own skin is, cica can help and definitely won’t hurt. 

Cica products are now available to treat acne and breakouts, inflammation, dryness, and fine lines.  It hydrates, brightens the complexion, evens tone, protects against the effects of pollution, and stimulates collagen production and cell growth.  How it works:  Cica contains vitamins, amino acids, phytochemicals, and betacarotene which are antioxidants that help heal the skin, returning it to a healthy state, while providing intense hydration that plumps skin, nourishing the micro-biome without damaging it.  If skin is fed what it needs to behave like young skin, it will glow, be more firm, have a more even tone, be thicker, resist the formation of wrinkles and lines, won’t show signs of stress from pollutants, and heal redness and irritation.  Instead of brutalizing our skin into doing what we want it to do, why wouldn’t we give our skin exactly what it needs to recover and rejuvenate?  Cica might just be the “wonder ingredient” in skincare breakthroughs.  If nature can make a tiger rub on Centella asiatica leaves to heal it’s wounds then why wouldn’t we want to try to benefit from its healing properties ourselves?  

                                               XOXO Shelley

#cicabalm #cicainskincare #skincarebreakthroughs #K-beauty # centellaasiatica #newskincaretreatments #naturalskincare #tigergrass #skincareforsensitiveskin #facethis.blogspot.com #ShelleyGoodstein 

Summer's Best Beach-Bound Fashion Accessories

Summer is just around the corner - really it is - and shopping for the season doesn’t feel quite as overly-optimistic as it has for the last month.  I am plotting my summer getaway, booking tickets, and already anticipating all the style looks I want to bring with me.  I don’t know about you but I want the perfect look for each location, and not just for photo ops, but to step out of my everyday life into full on jet-setter mode.  This year I intend to feel the sand in my toes, the sun and salt on my skin, and the wind in my hair, and having the perfect beach tote and accessories is a must.  And I don’t want to destroy my summer shopping budget in the process.  I need a beach look that give a style upgrade, rather than tossing a bunch of pieces together that have nothing to do with each other, and that won’t break the bank.  This year’s top three beach style trends are minimal neutrals, ombre shades grounded with blacks, and holographic pastels, all of which means I’ll be leaving my canvas and bamboo beach bags with mismatched accessories at the back of my closet.  

Minimal Neutrals: think nude leathers, straw sunhat, Turkish towel, and gold aviators mixed with skin tone-flattering gold and whites for palette cleansing chic. 

Tote:  Rafaella Tote Bag in Sand  $88.00 at Anthropologie

Sunscreen: Amorepacific Sun Protection Mist Broad Spectrum SPF 30  $32.00 at Sephora

Sunglasses:  Bonnie Clyde Polarized Aviator Sunglasses  $84.00  at Nordstrom

Hat:  Palm Straw Hat by San Diego Hat  $76.00 at Nordstrom

Towel:  Herringbone Turkish towel in Desert Sand  $28.00 at Olive and Linen 

Ombre:  sunset shades mixed with black are exotic and graphic, and are more fashion-forward than trendy.

Sandals:  Melissa Beach Shine Slides in Rose Gold  $85.00 at ShopBop

Sunglasses:  Seafolly Curl Curl Sunglasses  $59.00 at Nordstrom

Tote:  Think Rolyn Editor Tote  $148.00 at ShopBop

Swimsuit:  La Blanca V-Plunge CrossBack One-Piece  $129.00 at Victoria’s Secret 

Sunscreen:  Moroccanoil Sun Lotion SPF 50  $32.00 at Sephora

Holographic Pastels:  airy pastels that are more high-tech than saccharin-sweet elevate and lighten and brighten.

Swimsuit:  Recycled Capsule Collection Tie dye Swimsuit  $39.90 at Zara

Tote:  Jen Tote in Hologram by Studio 33  $68.00 at Nordstrom

Sunglasses:  Leith Translucent Sunglasses  $19.00 at Nordstrom

Sunscreen:  Drunk Elephant Umbra Sheer Sunscreen SPF 30  $34.00 at Sephora

Camera:  SunnyLife Underwater Camera  $20.00 at ShopBop

                                                                XOXO  Shelley

#bestbeachtotes2019  #vacationstyle2019  #bestbeachstyle  #summergetawaystyle  #travelwardrobe  #summershopping  #facethis.blogspot.com  #ShelleyGoodstein