It’s the first day of a brand new year – welcome 2022! – and I am exactly 1 month into a quest for healthier skin, as discussed in this post here. It’s time for an update!
To get a better understanding of which skincare issues I was dealing with, I recommend reading My Dried Up, Broken Out Skin. It talks about my previous skincare ritual and why it was not working for me. It also contains some ideas and products I was planning to try in order to get my skin into strong, healthy condition once again.
The photo on the left was taken on 1 Dec 20201, and the photo on the right was taken 1 month later on 1 Jan 2022.
I have to say, I’m pleased with how things are going! My skin is definitely softer, smoother and brighter. I no longer look like a raisin! Do I have perfect skin now? Do I look 10 years younger in just 1 month? No and no. There’s nothing realistic or even, for me, appealing about those goals. I wanted healthier, stronger, more hydrated skin, and I think I’m well on my way.
Some things have gone completely according to plan – and some things have not. This is what I expected though. Our skin is as alive and dynamic as we are, right?
So let’s dive into the details, week by week, step by step. If you want to skip all of the details and just know what I’m doing right now, then skip down to week 4 here.
Week 1
Washing – As planned, I ditched the soap and went back to the cleansing face oil, which has always worked really well for my skin. I saw an immediate difference just by doing this alone! Yet after a few days of consistent oil cleansing, I decided to test out an old favorite, the calendula cleanser by Neal’s Yard Remedies. This was, after all, a time for experimentation and openness to new things. And because my skincare ritual contains a lot of oil-based products, perhaps a water based cleanser would be good?
So I integrated the calendula cleanser into my ritual, replacing it with the cleansing face oil for some washes. Calendula cleanser is really easy and nice to use. I like it because it does not leave my skin feeling dry as almost every other creamy cleansers do. I like that it does not foam. I like that it washes off, but doesn’t leave my skin feeling stripped and tight. In my opinion, it’s the next best thing to a good oil cleanser.
Exfoliating – 2 mornings per week, I exfoliated with the Wyld caffeine skin polishing oil. Since I do this in the mornings, I skip the entire washing step. If I were exfoliating at night, I would need to cleanse my skin first before using the caffeine skin polishing oil. But in the mornings, there is no makeup or daytime grime to wash off first, so it can function as both a gentle cleanser and exfoliator.
This is probably my absolute favorite part of the entire skincare ritual. It works so well for my skin and just makes me feel so alive after every use, I look forward to this so much and have to stop myself from exfoliating too often!
Do I always exfoliate on the same days each week? Nope. Just every 3-4 days or so.
Masking – The sea me mask by True Organic of Sweden arrived, and I was excited to try it out. I followed the package instructions, yet was disappointed with the result. My skin felt quite dry after using it. No glow to speak of. I decided to give it another try next week.
Toning – As planned, I used the Wyld rose otto toner, one that I have been using for years. During this time, however, I was gifted with a bottle of rose water by Loelle. More on that in week 2…
Moisturizing – The biggest shift for me was incorporating a face cream into my ritual. Before I only used face oils. But now I truly understand the value of both.
For face oils, I started out with rotating between the Wyld rose gold elixir and the Wyld seaberry skin repairing oil. The latter has always been my favorite. In fact, I’ve always felt a bit confused as to why people raved about the rose gold elixir so much, yet felt kinda meh about the sea buckthorn elixir. It didn’t make any sense to me…. until now.
By the end of the week, I had dropped the seaberry oil completely, as my skin just drank up the rose gold elixir in a way that it has never done before. Also, the scent! It matters. Especially in these cold months shrouded in darkness, opening that bottle of rose, rosehip, calendula and lavender infused oil is pure gold for all of the senses.
The key for me was using just a small amount. In the past, I think I used too much of the rose gold elixir, which made my skin feel too heavy and oily. A small amount works best. I put a dime sized amount in the palm of hand, rub both hands together and then press my hands into my face, using very gentle pressure around my eyes. The oil absorbs rather quickly.
Then I applied a face cream – the frankincense intense lift cream by Neal’s Yard Remedies. It took some time for me to get the right amount of this. At first I kept using too much. Again, it only takes a small amount. I apply it exactly as the label directs me to.
How my skin is doing:
Going back to oil cleansing and adding in a face cream were the biggest game-changers for me, I believe. Within days, I began to notice a shift in my skin. It was so much softer and smoother already. I also have less acne. Maybe my breakouts were related to dryness after all.
However, a few days into this new ritual, my right eye became swollen.
Once the swelling in my right eye finally cleared up, I woke up to find that my left eye was swollen completely shut.
I was now a day or two into week 2….
Week 2
Came into this week with swollen eyes. Now, eye swellings are not uncommon for me. I’m obviously allergic to something, I just have no clue what it is. The swellings typically occur 3 or 4 times per year, and they’re very annoying. It takes nearly a week for the swelling to completely disappear.
I never have two eye swellings that close together though. And it was more than that – my eyes were also very itchy and watery. Something wasn’t right.
Was I possibly reacting to the calendula cleanser? The frankincense intense cream? The sea me mask? Hard to say since I had introduced them all at the same time. But the cleanser was definitely coming closer to the eye territory, as I used it to remove any eye makeup or morning gunk. It couldn’t be the Wyld products, since I had been using them for so long before. I also didn’t change my laundry detergent, or my diet, etc.
I decided to remove the calendula cleanser and see what happened.
Washing – Morning and night, I went back to the cleansing face oil. Except for 2 mornings/week when I used the caffeine skin polishing oil.
Exfoliating – 2 mornings/week, I continued with the caffeine skin polishing oil.
Masking – Another try with the sea me mask, which was even worse the second time, unfortunately. Instead of getting a “glow” from the mask, I felt that my skin looked duller than ever. And it felt too drying. It was as if my age marks and lines were more prominent after using the mask too.
Maybe this one just isn’t for me, as the friend who recommended it to me definitely loves it. Though I have to say, she’s at least 10 years younger than I, and has a really different skin type. I also just asked myself why I need to use any face masks right now, which is something that I’ve always had better results with in warm summer months. And it will be hard to beat the clay mask. Especially when mixed with raw honey and rose gold elixir, it’s the absolute best. But still, I don’t think it’s something I need in dark, cold winter months.
Toning – I was gifted with a 100ml bottle of rose water by Loelle that I finally tried out this week. Their rose hydrosol differs from the Wyld rose otto, in that theirs comes from Morocco rather than Bulgaria. I had never tried a rosewater from Morocco before, and wow, what a treat! It’s quite different than the Rose Otto, and I have been incorporating it ever since. When toning, I reach for either or. I wouldn’t say that they are interchangeable, but it really depends on my mood.
Moisturizing – Once the toner has almost completely dried, I applied the rose gold elixir. A minute or so later, I applied the frankincense intense lift cream.
How my skin is doing:
It took nearly the entire week for the swelling in my left eye to clear. Yet my eyes were still quite itchy as well. I began to wonder if it was the frankincense intense lift cream that I was reacting to instead, since I apply it around the eye area? The cream contains SO many ingredients, including some soy based products, and sadly my body doesn’t react well to soy products, not even in my diet.
That said, the frankincense intense lift cream is definitely helping my skin. It’s becoming even softer and smoother, as the look of total dehydration begins to fade. I can’t give it up. Not yet at least.
One thing I am experiencing again, however, is acne. Nothing terrible. But I am breaking out in all of the usual spots – forehead, chin, cheeks. Perhaps it’s just hormonal thing this week?
Week 3
Washing – Still using the cleansing face oil mostly. But I have started adding the calendula cleanser back into my evening routine. It’s so easy for removing makeup! I’m also a bit curious to see if I will react to it. So I continue oil cleansing in the mornings, except for 2 days/week I use the caffeine skin polishing oil. In the evenings, I’m reaching for the calendula cleanser again. No eye swellings.
Exfoliating – Still using the caffeine skin polishing oil every 3-4 days, always in the mornings.
Masking – I’m not.
Toning – Still using either the rose water by Loelle or the rose otto by Wyld.
Moisturizing – Still using the rose gold elixir followed by the frankincense intense lift cream. But in the latter part of week 3, a new player entered the scene! A healing cream made with tallow, tamanu oil and raw honey.
I’m working on another post now to explain how this tallow tamanu cream came into being, but basically I was looking for a way to heal my 1-year old’s skin after a prescription cream led to horrific eczema break-outs all over his body. Some research led me to the idea of using tallow from grass-fed animals, combined with skin-healing oils and some raw honey. So I went into my studio and worked with a few ingredients until I had a cream that I was satisfied with. In my next post, you can read more about how a combination of just 4 ingredients is healing his skin.
By the time I made this cream, I was starting to feel more and more uneasy about all of the ingredients in the frankincense intense lift cream, especially since my eyes were possibly reacting to it. I am one of those label-reading people. In the food I buy and eat, as well as in the products I use in our home and apply to our bodies, I care very much about what I’m buying. And yet I understand the value of a face cream 100% (which always contains various preservatives, emulsifiers, gums, etc. due to the amount of water in them). It is doing wonders for my skin – and in just a matter of weeks! I have plans to start experimenting and possibly, hopefully, even create a Wyld face cream now. But that process will take some time and work indeed. A new project for the new year.
One night towards the end of week 3, I randomly applied a very light layer of the tallow tamanu cream to my face. This was after my regular skincare ritual – after calendula cleanser, rose otto, rose gold elixir and frankincense intense lift cream. Then I went to bed. The next morning my skin looked better than ever. That morning , I used the tallow tamanu cream in lieu of the frankincense intense lift cream. That night, I used BOTH creams. I watched my skin becoming smoother and clearer, I couldn’t believe it. I was sure that a body cream wouldn’t work on my face, that it would cause breakouts or something, but instead my skin drank it up eagerly.
How my skin is doing:
Overall I’m seeing some positive changes in my skin in terms of hydration, which was the biggest goal. My skin looks and feels sooo much better.
Thankfully my eyes haven’t swollen shut again. At the beginning of the week, I was still dealing with itchiness and low-grade swelling around my eyes. However, by the end of the week, with the introduction of the tallow tamanu cream, I’m experiencing less of that. Not sure if it’s coincidental or not.
And less acne too! Blackheads are kinda crazy on my nose though. Thinking that the tallow tamanu cream is to fatty for my nose. Everywhere else though – bring it on.
I’m thrilled to have a face cream option that isn’t loaded with unknown ingredients. The tallow tamanu cream is working really nicely for right now. Bonus: it’s brilliant for my lips and hands too. I do still use it in combination with the frankincense intense lift cream, which is water based, and I believe they are just giving my skin different kinds of much-needed hydration.
Week 4
I’m really settling into the rhythm of a skincare ritual now. It feels very natural, rather than laborious. I don’t even have to think about it. Also, my intuition is really taking over more and more. I can really feel what my skin needs each morning and evening. Not just which products it needs, but small details. Like how warm or cool the water should be. How much or how little of this or that. The kind of touch.
Washing – The Wyld cleansing face oil in the mornings and the Neal’s Yard calendula cleanser at night. This seems to be working well for now.
Exfoliating – The Wyld caffeine skin polishing oil two mornings per week. Still my favorite.
Masking – On the internet, thousands of people say that if you mix grated apple with raw honey, it makes a very hydrating face mask that also combats acne-causing bacteria. So I tried it one morning (see photo below). Meh. I didn’t experience any of the acclaimed benefits or feel any difference at all in my skin, but perhaps I need to use it more often?
Toning – Rose water by Loelle, because I used up all of my Wyld rose otto, and it’s still sold out – yes, even for me. I’m also finding that I don’t need toner every single morning and night. Sometimes after cleansing, my skin retains enough water for me to go straight into moisturizing. Sometimes not. Again, this is something I can really feel out now. The toner is also nice to use throughout the day for a quick burst of hydration, especially if I’m indoors all day.
Moisturizing – Rose gold elixir first, and once it’s almost absorbed, then face cream. When I use both face creams, it is frankincense intense lift cream first – it’s much lighter, probably like 80% water to be honest – and then once it’s nearly absorbed, the tallow tamanu cream. Again this is something I have begun to feel out to determine which of the two to use, or both.
For both face oil and face cream, I’ve learned that less is more. For me anyway. Moisturizing works best when I use a little bit of product both morning and evening.
How my skin is doing:
It’s hard to believe that I didn’t use a face cream before, and now I’m often using two! Maybe it’s a seasonal thing? Or a temporary thing as my skin heals? We shall see. I really think my skin is benefitting from the different types of hydration – vegetable oil based, water based, animal fat based.
[ Edit on 6 Jan: A friend wrote to tell me that the correct order in a skincare ritual is water based ingredients BEFORE oil and fat based ingredients. So I wonder if this is another reason why the tallow tamanu cream is working so well, as it is an oil-based cream that I apply after the water-based frankincense cream. So interesting. This coming week, I’ll even try to move the rose gold elixir towards the end of my ritual, rather than applying it before the face cream! ]
No big issues with acne this week – though my skin is almost never totally clear.
And no issues with eye swelling or abnormal itchiness either. So were my eye issues earlier in the month related to one of the new products introduced into my ritual? It’s so hard to say. It seems the most obvious culprit, but it’s also unfair to jump to that conclusion. Especially since the health of our skin is determined by much more than the products we use. Products can make a difference, obviously. But so can our stress or anxiety levels, our diets, our lifestyles and environments. And I must admit that the first weeks of December were particularly insane, as both my partner and I were overloaded with pressures at work and home.
Anyway, I’ll keep you posted if anything changes here, but I feel like I may have settled into my winter skincare ritual now. I’m sure things will get shaken up as spring approaches, the light returns and the energy shifts again.
Hair care and body care rituals remain unchanged since I spoke about them last month, as it’s all smooth sailing there now. The only change is that the new tallow tamanu cream has become my hand cream of choice.
I know this has gotten long, but I hope it was helpful. Don’t hesitate to reach out if I can help further. And for those who are wondering when the Wyld skincare sets will be back in stock, I promise this month! So sorry it’s taking longer than expected. Here’s why.
Take good care!
xx
