RADIANT COMPLEXION

Post by Amy Nadine, Graphic Design by Eunice Chun

If you ask any of my clients, they’ll tell you this is exactly what I swear by for happy, beautiful skin. Of course I share it with them for their benefit, but selfishly it’s also to make my makeup even more gorgeous! Because as a makeup artist, I’m only as good as my canvas and the more radiant and smooth the skin is, the more evenly the makeup goes on (and the less I have to use!). So here are my favorite skin savers to get you through the summer:

• Exfoliate (every other day)— I can’t stress cell turnover enough. Wrinkles and sullen, dry skin come from dead skin cells just sitting on the surface, which is why it’s so important to scrub them away to signal your body to create new ones. The older we get, the less often collagen is regenerated, but if you exfoliate every other day, your body has no choice but to make new ones. The best one I’ve ever found comes from Beverly Hills dermatologist Dr. Lancer and is simply called Polish. You apply it with dampened fingers to your DRY face and you’ll feel it heat up as you swirl it around with medium pressure. Try to scrub in circular motions all over your face and neck for about two minutes. You’ll die when you feel how smooth your skin is.
• Peel (once a week for a month then once a month) — Glycolic peels are crucial to firm and tighten the skin. Unfortunately, night creams with glycolic acid typically range from 10-20% and take time for your skin to get used to without getting red, irritated or scaly. But a year ago I got my hands on AHA’s Brazilian Peel which is the first at-home medical-strength peel with 30% glycolic acid that automatically shuts itself off so it doesn’t burn your skin. (The reason why you used to only be able to do glycolic peels at the dermatologist or esthetician’s office is because they had to keep an eye on it and take it off at a precise time, making it too risky to trust that we could do it on our own at home). Anyway, you won’t believe how tight your skin is after each use (with zero redness) and how it really smooths away any wrinkles. A must for my clients to do the morning of a red carpet event (or for me before a party!).
• Quench (several times throughout the day) — Somehow we think if we apply lotion in the morning then again before we go to sleep, our skin will stay moisturized. Um, no…. we have to give a quick spritz of hydration periodically throughout the day to keep it quenched! There are many moisture sprays out there and as long as you use one, it doesn’t matter which one. My favorites happen to be Melvita Floral Sprays because they’re really invigorating and rich in only the finest ingredients that are organically certified from France (that whole line is amazing). I keep one in my car and another one at my desk to remind me to rehydrate often. Spray 12 inches from your face and it’ll actually revive your makeup and set it (not mess it up).
• Protect (daily or again after swimming or exercising) — Obviously I don’t have to tell you how crucial it is to protect your skin from the sun’s harmful rays with a broad spectrum sunblock. But selfishly I beg my clients to do it! Because if you’re taking birth control pills or are pregnant, you might get melasma, a darkening of the skin either above the upper lip, on the forehead or around the eyes and once you get it, it’s really hard to get rid of. My dermatologist Dr. Jessica Wu told me that not only can you get melasma from the sun, but even if you’re sitting under an umbrella with a hat on and sunblock, you could still get it from overheating internally. Great! So ideally it’s best to stay indoors or keep cool with an ice pack or lots of cool beverages, but if that’s not realistic, just make sure to keep protected with a broad spectrum sunblock. My new obsession is Murad Essential C Sun Balm because it’s a convenient and powerful roll-up stick that doesn’t go on white (my pet peeve) and is incredibly hydrating (most aren’t).
• Hydrate (morning and night) — If you’ve never heard of Egyptian Magic, you’re in for a big treat! Kate Bosworth actually introduced me to it a couple years ago and I’ve been addicted to it ever since. There are only six ingredients in it (olive oil, beeswax, honey, bee pollen, royal jelly and bee propolis) so you can’t get a more natural product. Be sure to really warm it up between your fingers to melt it into an oil and trust that it will. not. break. you. out! I can tell you that with 100% confidence because all of my clients, from the more acne-prone ones (like me) to the dry-skinned ones, are using it and it’s actually helped calm down problematic skin with the perfect amount of good oil to get oily skin to stop feeling the need to overly create too much while it deeply moisturizes the driest skin to where it’s no longer categorized as dry.