Sometimes it seems like your skin has a mind of its own, (an evil mind that wants to ruin parties, dances and dates). Remember that episode of Family Guy where Chris’s zit takes over his life and tries to kill him? Yeah I feel like my zits do a similar thing sometimes. And I would love to make it stop. Now.

You’ve probably heard lots of different reasons regarding why your face turns on you at whim, and some of it is probably true, but there are also some awful skin myths out there.

First of all, you’re not going to get breakouts from eating chocolate (or french fries)! The Vegetable Association of America made this up to scare you into staying away from delicious foods. Sure, if you ate chocolate for 3 meals a day for a week, your body’s natural balance would be thrown off, and yah, you’d probably breakout. But if you consume a normal amount of sweets, you’re fine. The reason greasy foods are associated with breakouts is because people tend to eat more of them when they are stressed. (You know you eat way more Reese’s cups when you are stressing over a big test.) Read More »

In middle school I had horrible skin. Constantly. By the end of high school it had really cleared up, but I feel like my years of pre-teen suffering were sufficient for the rest of my life. Unfortunately, middle school awkwardness does not justify a zit free life, and sometimes pesky pimples still pop up; like before a big party, exciting date or run-in with an ex. Perfect.

This happens to just about everyone, (or at least this is what I tell myself) so here are some good spot treatments to clear up that annoying blackhead (hopefully) before you finish your pre-game. Read More »

Let’s talk about skin care. Go into any beauty retailer, find a sales person and ask them to recommend a skin care regimen. Then duck, because you are about to get hit with an avalanche of products your skin “needs.” They’re going to try to sell you a makeup remover, a cleanser, a scrub, a toner, a serum, a moisturizer, a spot treatment, an eye cream and a sunscreen. A really ambitious sales person will try to sell you two of each, a different one for day and night.

Now in a perfect world an elaborate skin care regimen can be very good for your skin, but let’s get real. When you’re coming back to the dorm at 4am and crashing, your makeup smearing off on the pillow is the closet thing you get to skin care.

It is a good idea to have a solid skin care system, especially if you have an issue like acne or dry patches that need treatment. But with so many steps, it’s all or nothing and you need a back up plan that you’ll actually use and that actually works!

So when time is tight or you are feeling lazy there are three very important steps to hit.

1. Remove makeup

2. Cleanse

3. Moisturize

Here are some products that can kill two (or three) birds with one stone. Read More »