Nothing makes an esthetician roll her eyes faster than when someone brings up the do-it-yourself exfoliating scrub recipe they found on Pinterest.
Here’s the real deal with DIY skincare.
Natural, seemingly harmless ingredients like sugar, coffee grounds, and coconut oil can actually wreak havoc on your skin.

Since it’s National Skin Care Awareness Month, I thought I’d share with you these basic principles I use to guide my professional aesthetics practice. I’ve been practicing now for 19 years and I didn’t always have a road map on how to treat clients. These are things I’ve developed over time going through struggles with my own skin right alongside my clients and their unique skin concerns. These 4 pillars are also the result of countless trial and error scenarios and the various books and articles I’ve read and educational programs I’ve sought out over the years.

Lately I’m seeing more and more clients struggling with Melasma, a skin condition that causes patches and spots, usually on the face, which are darker than your natural skin tone. It can be very frustrating because like a lot of other skin conditions there is a lot of misinformation and mixed messages out there. Seeking treatment options leads to overwhelm and I’m encountering more and more people who just don’t know where to turn. Melasma is a complex subject and it can vary from person to person.

The comedogenic scale was originally created to rate the tendency of a skincare ingredient to clog pores. The idea of comedogenic products and their effect on the skin was first introduced in 1970s by Albert Klingman and James Fulton and was based originally on tests conducted on rabbit ears. There are plenty of products that like to boast a low comedogenic rating and even professional skincare companies that educate estheticians on how to spot so-called comedogenic ingredients, however, I find this concept outdated and unreliable for many reasons.