As you know, here at Eve Organics we offer free skin care consultations as a part of our promise to provide you with the best possible natural skin care regime for you.

We’ve decided that it might help other skin care users if we posted some of these queries on the Eve Organics blog – so here’s a skin care consultation we provided for Liz* recently – with her permission of course! (*Name has been changed for privacy.)
Read on – it might answer some of your long-held natural skin care questions!

If you feel that your skin care routine is getting a little ‘blah’ and needs a revamp – or even if you have one niggling skin care issue you can’t get rid of; drop us a line! There are no catches – just good advice.
Contact us now.

Liz’s Query:

Hi Eve,
I have combination skin (oily T-section) but a lot of dry patches, mainly on hairline of forehead, corners of mouth, and nose. I’m in late 40s and skin is showing lots of ageing signs – redness, thinning, brown pigmentation blotches. When I think about it, the dryness might just be that I’ve been quite slack with my skincare for a while, so maybe I’ll just get more committed to that for a month and see how things improve. I’m happy with the cleanser and moisturiser I already have, but don’t have a scrub, mask or toner. I’ve ordered these from you. Maybe you could check my order to see whether the products I’ve chosen are appropriate for my skin?

I was planning on using the scrub twice per week – would you recommend this? – and if I do this, when would you advise using the mask?
I’m going to try the toner because I haven’t used one for ages (I’d thought I’d try it for a few weeks just on one side of my face and see whether I notice any difference) but I’m not convinced they’re necessary. I’ve heard the reasons: balancing ph (but surely one’s skin would do this by itself?), cleansing (but isn’t that what your cleanser is for?) and moisturising (again, isn’t that what my moisturiser does?). Do you have anything to say about toners??

Thanks for your input,
Liz.

Hi Liz,

You’re more than welcome, we’re here to help!

I’ve come up with a complete skin care regime for you and will explain what each product can offer in terms of the skin care issues you’ve described. I’ve incorporated a cleanser, toner, moisturiser, and scrub/mask into my recommendations; so that you have a complete regime to refer to – but if you already have a cleanser and moisturiser that work for you, then that’s fantastic!

 

Recommended cleanser = Oz Goddess Milk Cleanser

This cleanser is gentle, but effective. If your skin is oily in some areas and leaning towards dryness in others, it’s in need of some balance and some TLC. This cleanser contains sweet almond oil to hydrate and soothe, as well as lavender and ylang ylang essential oils to regulate sebum production and restore balance to the complexion.

 

Recommended toner = Raw Gaia Floral Face Toner

This toner contains lavender and neroli to balance oil production, as well as soothing and calming chamomile to reduce redness and inflammation.

** To answer your question about toners – Toners are a product that a lot of people skip in their skin care regime, and in some cases a toner might be an unnecessary addition to your regime if your cleanser, moisturiser and regular mask/exfoliation/treatment are alleviating your skin care issues in themselves and leaving your complexion in a condition you’re happy with.

However, toners do serve a few purposes – firstly, they effectively ‘tone’ the skin – they help to calm after cleansing, reduce pore size (depending on the toner’s ingredients), and remove any excess cleanser or dirt/makeup that the cleansing process missed.

They also prepare the skin for moisturisation.

Furthermore, toners can often treat issues that your cleanser and moisturiser can’t. Since your cleanser doesn’t stay on the skin, and your moisturiser usually serves mainly a hydrating purpose and restores moisture, a toner can combat any remaining issues such as puffiness, redness, oiliness or enlarged pores.

However – if your moisturiser/mask/treatment contain ingredients that already take care of these issues, then a toner may not be necessary. It’s a personal choice, and depends on the other products in your skin care regime, and whether they meet your needs. **

 

Recommended moisturiser = 100% Pure Coffee Cherry Sun Damage Corrective Cream

This moisturiser serves two functions; it acts to ‘undo’ signs of sun damage, which include the redness and pigmentation you described. At the same time, it actively addresses skin ageing, with ingredients like antixodiant-rich green tea & green coffee, seabuckthorn oil and hyaluronic acid.

 

** At this point, you can tailor the remainder of your skin care routine to meet your needs. You can definitely use both a scrub and a mask in your routine, but in some cases your mask will exfoliate as you remove it, so you run the risk of ‘over-exfoliating’ if you use a scrub on top of this. To help you make this decision, I’ll explain the scrub and mask you’ve included in your order in a little more detail, and you can decide whether they’re right for you. **

The Little Alchemist Lime & Papaya Exfoliating Micropolish = This scrub exfoliates with clay and ground walnut. It’s moisturising as well as exfoliating, so your skin won’t be left feeling dry or ‘stripped’. It also contains papaya extract, which will assist in exfoliation through the fruit enzymes it contains. This could also help with the pigmentation you described. I think you would find this scrub fine for your skin type, as long as you used gentle motions when using it – so as not to exacerbate the redness in your skin. It also smells delicious, which is a bonus!

The Raw Gaia Raw Chocolate Face Pack = This is one of my favourite products in the range, and is incredibly effective. It contains alma fruit powder, also known as the ‘Indian gooseberry’. This fruit has amazing brightening properties, so it’s fantastic for dull or uneven skin tones, and could assist in reducing your pigmentation/dark spots. It also contains organic raw chocolate powder, which is the highest known source of antioxidants in the world.

This mask does exfoliate slightly as it’s removed, so again, I would advise you to remove it gently (I use it in the shower and gently wash it off under a continuous flow of water.)

If you want to incorporate both the Little Alchemist Lime & Papaya Exfoliating Micropolish and the Raw Gaia Raw Chocolate Face Pack into your routine (and they’re both beautiful products), I would start alternating them once a week – so use the exfoliating micropolish one week, then the chocolate face pack the next, and so on – and if you feel this isn’t renewing the skin enough and it still feels a bit patchy/dull and in need of more exfoliation, then increase it to twice a week, still alternating between the two products.

If you would rather choose just one of the two, I would go with the Raw Gaia Raw Chocolate Face Pack.

As an alternative option, you could also try the 100% Pure Nourishing Carrot Facial Scrub, as this too would work well for your skin type.

I hope this information helps, Liz, and assists you in choosing the right products for you.

 

Overall, for your skin type, your cleanser should be gentle and balancing (not oil-stripping, as this doesn’t help with oil production in the long term); your toner should address your oily t-zone and redness; your moisturiser should protect, hydrate and provide nutrients; and your scrub and/or mask should detoxify, withdraw any impurities, and also help to re-balance oil production over the long term.

 

Do be aware that whenever you change your skin care routine, an adjustment period is necessary so that your skin can renew itself and the new layer of skin cells can adjust to the skin care products. This is especially evident when you change from commercial skin care to 100% natural skin care – the skin undergoes what could be referred to as a ‘detoxification period’ of at least a month or so – so give it a little while to settle before deciding if the products are working for you.

Did you find this information helpful? Remember, whatever you’re experiencing, there are probably hundreds of other women out there with the same skin care issue and with similar questions.

If you’d like a personalised skin care consultation like Liz’s, get in touch with us. We won’t publish your query on our blog unless we obtain your permission to do so – so don’t worry! All skin care consultations are by email and are kept confidential unless agreed otherwise.

…Until next time xx