Be Your Own Breast Friend

The skin on the chest is thinner than on the face, and the cells don’t turn over as quickly. Start treating the girls with some respect and TLC.

Morning: Smooth on a cream high in antioxidants and peptides, like Pro+Therapy MD Advanced Ultra Rich Day Repair. The sun is 95% of the aging process. In fact, the sun breaks down the collagen and elastin fibers in the skin of your breats, making them sag faster, so don’t forget to follow up with a sunscreen!

Night: Exfoliate with a Clarisonic brush or a mild scrub, like PCA Skin Gentle Exfoliant. Then spread on a mix that’s one part retinol cream and one part moisturizer (we like DDF Pro-Retinol Energizing Moisturizer). Before you hit the sheets, rememeber—the chest get wrinkles, too. The way sleeping on your side can encourage wrinkles on the face, it can also cause those fine lines between your breasts. Your best bet? Sleep on your back.

Should You Use a Facial Toner?

Due to outdated information and misperceptions, toners have become a confusing category of skin-care products that many fashion magazines and cosmetic salespeople advise against using, or simply dismiss toners as an optional step. However, a well-formulated toner can provide truly amazing benefits for your skin.

Toners are meant to be used after cleansing. They once were recommended as a way to restore skin’s pH balance after using a bar soap or bar cleanser because those types of cleansers raise the skin’s natural pH to a level that isn’t good for your skin. However, with today’s gentle, water-soluble cleansers, the skin’s pH doesn’t change appreciably, and the fact that skin’s pH recovers just fine on its own made the need for toners to adjust skin’s pH fade away.

What we now know is that after cleansing, what your skin needs is a range of ingredients that restore and repair its surface. Skin can never get too much of these important ingredients, which include antioxidants and skin-repairing substances such as glycerin, fatty acids, and ceramides. The right toner can give your skin a healthy dose of what it needs to look younger, fresher, and smoother, right after cleansing and throughout the day.

If the toner is well formulated, we recommend that you make toner an essential part of your cleansing routine because the benefits can be felt and seen almost instantly. Below is a list of some of our favorite toners for various skin types available at SkinMedix!

Toners for Oily or Blemish-Prone Skin:

• SkinMedica Purifying Toner
• Dermalogica Clean Start All Over Clear
• Murad Clarifying Toner
• Glytone Acne Cleansing Toner

Toners for Dry or Sensitive Skin:

• Wilma Schumann Soothing Toner
• Dermalogica Multi Active Toner
• Obagi Nu-Derm Toner
• DDF Aloe Toning Complex

Toners for Combination Skin:

• SkinCeuticals Equalizing Toner
• Neova Balancing Toner
• Exuviance Moisture Balance Toner
• PCA Skin Nutrient Toner

If the toner you’re considering is filled with great ingredients (like those in the list above), then skipping this step is cheating your skin of more of the beneficial ingredients it needs to become healthier and act younger. A toner that contains state-of-the-art ingredients proven to smooth, soften, calm, and repair skin is a wonderful addition to anyone’s skin-care routine!

Do you use a toner as part of your skin care regimen?