Skin Care Diaries - Intro

Let me start this by saying if you don’t follow @NicoleKarlLife on Instagram, go do so right now. There is no one I trust more to advise me on skincare than this woman.

I am a crazy skincare person. I am passionate about it, I care about it, and I work very hard to understand it. 

Why?

Growing up I was that kid who always struggled with her skin. Acne, scarring, sallowness, oiliness, dry patches etc etc. You name it, I struggled with it. Granted, it did not help matter that the 80’s were all about harsh Oxy pads and Clearasil, which fry skin like an egg on an Arizona summer sidewalk.  

I despised my skin well into my 30’s. The truth is even my husband didn’t see me without make up until recently. I would wear makeup in the pool, at the beach, I would wake up before him to make sure I had all my scars covered up. Even when I was in labor with each of my kids, I would go into the bathroom hooked up to an IV to make sure my makeup was on and my skin hidden.

He didn’t care, he would love me even if I looked like DeadPool, but it wasn’t about him or what he thought. It was about me. I hated feeling so insecure.

It wasn’t until last year that I searched for answers and a wonderful woman in my life directed me to Nicole Karl where I was liberated by knowledge. I read her posts, tried her tips and product suggestions, and then continued to evolve and create a routine that served my specific skin.

I do not have perfect skin, and many of the no make up pictures you will get to see of me will show you my scars, my imperfections, my pores and so forth. But, my skin used to be WAY worse, like, WAY. skin care if a process, an evolution. there is no quick fix, there is no one treatment to undo years of damage. It takes time and consistency. 

I am going to write a series of posts to first help you understand your skin, and hopefully in some small way share the knowledge I have gathered first from Nicole and then subsequently through extensive reading and trial and error. I will then provide product reviews for my personal picks for various skin care needs.

Disclaimer!! I am not a dermatologist or any other kind of licensed skin care person. i just read, research and experiment a lot. I'm sharing my own info to hopefully help you stat your own journey to happy skin. Second, I don’t believe in this only use one skin care routine and one brand crap. So don't expect any brand loyalty here! I believe in products that work, regardless of brand.

Skin needs a series of things to be happy, healthy and radiant. Cleansing, Exfoliation, Nutrition, Treatment, Hydration and Protection. 

Those are the basics that pretty much every skin type is going to need. As you follow along on this skin care series, I will go into detail about the reasons for each one and how you can best fulfill those needs. So read on mighty skin warriors! Read on!