Local Spotlight: ShopEco
3 Steps to Your Best Skin Ever
It is our favourite time of the month! It is our love local spotlight blog post, and this week we are beyond excited to welcome Debra Purdy, the incredible owner of ShopEco. Not only does ShopEco make clients feel their best with products and skin care lessons that focus on natural ingredients, but doing so while working with environmental & socially responsible brands. In our opinion, that is a total win-win for our self care routine! We cannot recommend ShopEco enough, where their fiercely knowledgeable team treats you like an old friend, and their products are the epitome of a feel-good purchase.
We welcome Debra from ShopEco:
Great skin doesn’t have to be complicated. While a multi-step skin routine and regular facials
are the height of self care for some, others just want healthy-looking skin without a lot of effort. Wherever you fall on the skin-care spectrum, here are three basic steps to revealing your best
skin ever.
1) Be Consistent
The best skin care routine for you is the one you can do consistently over the long-term. Going from soap and water to a six-step process is going to be, in many cases, a difficult habit to maintain. It’s often best to allow your regime to evolve gradually, adding in just one or two steps at a time and building from there if you choose.
If you’re just starting with skin care, a gentle cleanser and the right moisturizer for your skin type will go a long way. I love Schaf Skincare for “newbies” because it’s a simple, gentle, unisex line with great ingredients suitable for all skin types. Their facial cleanser and moisturizer are the perfect two-step morning and evening routine for the skin care minimalist.
If you’ve had a good basic skin routine for a while but are noticing some unwelcome changes in your skin that you’d like to address, it might be time to kick it up a notch. Whether you’re dealing with irritation, dark spots, dryness, dullness, or fine lines, adding in a serum is the easiest way to supercharge your skin care collection. While they typically cost more up front than a moisturizer, serums are concentrated, which means you only need a few drops per application, and the results can be more pronounced than a cream will provide.
2) Exfoliate
Exfoliation is the quickest way to see a big change in your skin. If you’re not currently exfoliating, you might be surprised at the difference once you start. Starting in our late 20s, skin cell turnover starts to slow down. This means that as we age, dead skin cells begin to accumulate more easily on the surface, causing dullness, dryness, and a rougher texture. Exfoliation removes some of these accumulated cells, revealing the newer, fresher cells underneath. Try starting with a gentle exfoliating cleanser (look for jojoba beads or bamboo beads) or serum (lactic acid is a favourite) two to three times a week.
Because exfoliation can create such dramatic results, many products that aren’t marketed as exfoliators also contain exfoliating ingredients, and it’s easy to unwittingly overdo it. Over exfoliation can lead to dryness, sensitivity, and redness. If you’re already using a specific exfoliating product, steer clear of cleansers and moisturizers that contain alpha- or beta-hydroxy acids such as glycolic, salicylic, or mandelic acid.
3) Sun Protection
Wearing SPF is a long-term strategy for healthy skin, and therefore the easiest to ignore. The benefits of using sunscreen daily may not become apparent for a decade or longer, and without immediate payoff, it’s easy to discount its importance. A large percentage of what we think of as the signs of aging are actually caused by sun damage. Wearing SPF daily can significantly slow the development of lines, hyperpigmentation, and sagging. If you’re investing in quality skin care products but aren’t protecting your skin from the sun every day, the benefits of using those products are going to be limited.
The good news is that SPF is easier than ever to work into your routine without much effort. Sun protection is now built into mattifying products, moisturizers, BB creams, lip tints, and hydrating serums, allowing you to replace a step in your skin care routine rather than adding an extra one.
If you’re still feeling overwhelmed or unsure of where to start with skin care, help is available! Stop in to ShopEco and speak to one of our friendly and knowledgeable team members, or book a one-on-one skin care lesson with our aesthetician.
Debra Purdy is the owner of ShopEco, a gift and self care boutique located in Tecumseh, Ontario. Her mission is to help you thrive through self care you can feel good about. For more free self care tips delivered to your inbox, subscribe to the ShopEco newsletter.