Exfoliating: Do I really need to?

Okay, I'm going to be honest here.  Before a year ago, I NEVER exfoliated my face........ Please don't judge me!  I never knew that I needed to, my Mom never taught me anything about skincare, makeup, hair, or pretty much anything girly; I taught myself.
I remember the first time I exfoliated.  My husband bought me a huge makeup/skincare package for my birthday.  I rummaged through the items and was so excited to try out things but then I saw this big bottle that said gentle exfoliator "hmmm what is this?" I thought.  I still remember being so confused!!  I read the back of it and it said to gently massage into wet skin then wash off with water.  I jumped into the shower and did it all over my body and my face, I could not believe the difference it made, my skin felt AMAZING!  I was instantly in love!

So for all you girls that are like how I was and don't really know that much about skincare or are just trying to learn new things, here is everything you need to know about exfoliators!

1. Exfoliators help blemished skin!  So much in face that it should be your main focus of  your skincare program.  
2. Exfoliating helps you to achieve healthy and glowing skin
3. You know those ugly dark and red marks that remain on your face when you pimples are healing up?  Well Exfoliate and it helps!  The more of the damaged skin that you remove, the more you are getting ride of that red, damaged skin!
4. As you get older, your skin starts to get more dry skin cells.  Exfoliate and get rid of that dead skin and it will make your skin look better and younger!
5. You know those nasty big clogged pores that we all hate?  Well guess what?  Exfoliating helps to remove the makeup, dead skin and just nasty environment stresses from your skin by removing all of those that are deep down in your pores.  
6. Ugh, I hate those brown age spots and I noticed that I have one.  These come from aging, pregnancy and actually can be genetic.  Exfoliating breaks up pigmented areas of the skin and those nasty dark spots start to fade!
7. Living in Utah, I get very dry skin in the winter.  A lot of people think that they need to use a heavier, thicker moisturizer to make their skin moisturized, when actually all they need to do is exfoliate and get rid of those dry skin cells!  Once you do that, your regular moisturizer should soak right in to your skin.  
8. There are many different types of exfoliators to fit every skin type and most of them you can make from home!
9. Exfoliate every 3-4 days
10. Don't forget to exfoliate your lips, feet and elbows
11. The best time to exfoliate is in the morning
12. Apply with Warm, Not hot water

Here is a list of homemade exfoliators:

White Sugar, Coconut Oil and Lavender

Oatmeal and Baking Soda

Brown Sugar, Honey and Olive Oil - Lip Exfoliator

Baking Soda and your favorite cleanser

Blue Cornmeal, Brown Rice Flour and Oat Flour

Sugar, Coffee Grounds, Oil, Peppermint Extract, Vanilla Extract

Papaya, Sugar, Lemon, Yogurt, Grape Seed Oil

The Best Natural Exfoliators for your skin:

Rice: Best for sensitive skin and if your concerned about premature aging

Sea Salt: If you have really rough patches on certain parts of your body, use this!

Oatmeal: For red skin.  This also works if you have sunburns!

Sugar: For those of you with dry skin, this is for you.  

Coffee Grounds: Worried about saggy skin or cellulite, this is the exfoliator you want.

Facial Toner: Do I really need one?!?

Tonight as I was washing my face and doing my whole nighttime routine, I removed my makeup, washed my face, then I reached for my toner. Hmm, I know that toner "tones" your face, right? But what exact does that mean. Honestly, I never really thought about what I needed a toner for, I just always used one. So off to research I went.

It turns out that a toner does a whole heck of a lot for your skin, why don't you hear about toners more when they are a miracle product for skin!!!

So from everything I could find these are the reasons to use a toner night and day.
• Toner restores your pH balance to your face.
Your want your pH to be around 5.5.  Okay but what exactly is my pH balance?  Basically pH simply means the level of acidity.  pH is measured from 1 to 14; 7 is neutral, 1-6.9 is acidic and 7.1-14 is alkaline.   You want your skin to be able to resist harmful bacteria.  Between 4 and 6.5 is where you want to stay.
• Toner shrinks your pores so that makeup and dirt don't get into them!!!
Seriously!!! I you can find so many products claiming to do to this, yet all you have to do is put toner on after you wash your face!
• Toner helps your moisturizer get soaked into your skin.
Isn't that why we moisturize our face, to actually make it moisturized!!
• Toner removes any excess cleanser or residue left on the skin after cleansing.
If you have a lot of excess dirt that comes off with you toner, you need to change your face cleanser because it's not doing its job!

I use my makeup remover, wash my face then use my toner.  I also moisturize every night after the toner dries.

There are 3 different types of toners:

Skin bracers or fresheners - These contain almost no alcohol (0-10%).  These are the gentlest on the skin, and are most suitable for use on dry, dehydrated, sensitive and normal skins.
Skin tonics - These contain a small amount of alcohol (up to 20%).  These are suitable for use on normal, combination and oily skin.
Astringents - These contain a high amount of alcohol (20-60%).  These are recommended for oily skins, they are very drying.  Remember, the removal of oil from the skin can lead to excess oil production as the skin tries to make up for the moisture loss.

I use a skin bracer and love it.  So come on girls, put those toners to work!!