Does Drinking Water Help Your Skin? 💧

We’ve heard it from nutritionists, doctors, fitness coaches, beauty bloggers, & skincare experts; “Drink a lot of water!”

Hydrating our bodies with the proper amount of water can greatly improve our overall health. But does drinking water make a difference in how our skin looks? The answer is YES! Drinking a good amount of water every day helps flush away lymph fluid that causes puffiness, decreases breakouts, and strengthens skin proteins.

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4 Signs You've Over Exfoliated Your Skin

Over-exfoliated skin is a common issue in my skincare treatment room. When your skin has been over-exfoliated that means it’s been damaged by overuse or incorrect use of skincare products that create cell turnover (see the list below for more details).

Because everyone’s skin is different, signs of over-exfoliation show up in various ways, and someone’s symptoms of over-exfoliation might not be the same as their friend, cousin, co-worker, etc. Furthermore, certain skin types can tolerate more exfoliation and stronger ingredients vs. other skin types. That’s why it can sometimes be difficult to figure out whether you are over-exfoliating your skin.

This blog post will teach you what kinds of products can cause symptoms of over-exfoliation and help you figure out if your skin is suffering from damage from too much exfoliation.

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Easy to Use Face Massage Tools

I’m here to share with you my other favorite facial massage tools that have less of a learning curve than gua sha. These different facial tools that are so easy to use they can be added to your skincare routine ASAP! They are massage tools that provide visible results, aid in relaxation, and are easy to get the hang of! That pretty much guarantees you’ll want to use them often.

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Your Summer 2024 SPF Guide ☀️

Your 2024 summer SPF guide coming to you from an expert esthetician! I’ve done my research, tested out plenty of SPFs, and compiled the perfect list for you. Time to stock up so you can keep your face and body protected all summer long!

(but let’s be real, SPF is something we should be using EVERY season) 😉

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Aging Gracefully with Facial Massage

Recently, one of my new facial clients asked me what my favorite treatments for anti-aging were and what I would suggest for her skin. I started talking to her about how I like to use gua sha and other facial massage for anti-aging and skin improvements. She was surprised that my initial inclination wasn’t to suggest treatments such as chemical peels, injectables, laser, or microneedling for best anti-aging results. I explained that facial massage treatments are my go-to treatments for lifting our face/neck, creating natural collagen and elastin production, ironing out fine lines, and smoothing wrinkles because I love how the treatments give us natural, visible results that also contribute to the overall health of our skin and body.

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Why You Should Avoid Products That Have Fragrance on Their Ingredients List

I never purchase, use, or recommend a skincare item until I have read the ingredient label. There are a few items that I call “red flag” ingredients that signal to me that the skincare item won’t be beneficial for our skin. These red-flag ingredients could even be harmful to us. And what’s the number one ingredient that when I read it on the label I’m saying “nope!”? ❌Fragrance❌

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Retinoids: Retinol, Retin-A, Retinal

What is a retinoid? And how is it different from the popularly known retinol and other products with similar names? Retinoid is actually an umbrella term for these vitamin A-rich products like retinol, retinoic acid, and retinal. Vitamin A products are products used to accelerate cell turnover for the goal of preventive aging, anti-aging, reducing breakouts, or evening-out complexion. I wanted to write an informational blog post about these vitamin A products because so many people are using them in their skincare routines or are thinking about starting to incorporate some type of retinoid into their routine. This blog post will help you get to know retinoid products a bit more and help you make an informed decision about your skincare.

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I Fuc*ed Up & Picked at My Skin, Now What?

We all know the golden rule, DON’T PICK AT YOUR SKIN. But I know sometimes it is tempting to try and pick at a pimple, bump, or ingrown hair to help it go away. The problem is, that it never helps, it only makes things worse. So as an esthetician while I beg you not to pick at your face I know sometimes people fuck up and it happens, so here is what to do when it does.

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Amazon Favorites From an Esthetician

I asked what type of blog posts you all would like to see and I got a majority vote saying they want to know what I’m loving on Amazon at the moment. So here we are with my current favorite skincare, wellness, and beauty finds!

scrub me secret: I love these items because you can purchase multiple things on the list without even going over $100 👏 The highest price item is the Solawand at $69 and the lowest price item is something under $3! Shop away 🛍

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9 Tips for Improving Your Skincare Routine

What’s my main goal as an esthetician? To help everyone have a great skincare routine and achieve happy, healthy, clear, and radiant skin. My facial clients who see the best results from their skincare routine are the ones who follow my tips and directions to a T. When you’ve perfected your at-home skincare routine, use the right products, and are consistent with facials it is the perfect trifecta for skin that looks great, feels healthy and gets daily compliments ✨

Here are tips that I give to my facial clients to help them have their best skin ever.

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The Lymphatic Brush: A New Massage Tool ✨

This month I attended a class to work with a new massage tool called the Lymphatic Brush. This is a massage tool that has a main focus in aiding us in effective, relaxing, uncomplicated lymphatic drainage massage. Believe it or not, it actually takes a lot of education, practice, and finesse to perform a massage that properly helps to move along lymphatic drainage. Not to say that this lymphatic brush tool doesn’t take time and practice to use but it certainly does create the ability to perform a proper and super effective lymphatic drainage massage that has both internal health benefits and external beauty benefits.

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The Proper Way to Double Cleanse

A proper double cleanse consists of a pre-cleanse balm or oil before using a traditional facial cleanser like a creamy, gel, or foaming product. The first cleanse using the balm or oil will break down and collect unwanted debris like makeup, SPF, sweat, and environmental debris in a gentle way. When you remove your pre-cleanse balm or oil it will take away all that surface debris and prep your skin for your facial cleanser. All skin types can benefit from a pre-cleanse oil or balm before using your facial cleanser, even acneic, sensitive, and oily skin types.

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20-Minute Gua Sha Lifting Massage Tutorial

I’m back with another facial massage tutorial! This one is focused ALL on facial lifting. We will use our hands and gua sha stone to give our neck and face a firm pressured massage to give us a visible lift and prevent wrinkles and sagging skin.

This massage takes about 20 minutes and is so worth it. I will do something like this for myself 1-2x a week in the morning or if I have an event I want to look extra good for. Enjoy!

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Katherine M StribakosComment
PHA's: A Gentle Yet Surprisingly Effective Exfoliating Acid

At the beginning of the year, I did some skincare projections for 2024. On my list, I wrote that we would start seeing more PHAs in skin care products and professional facial treatments. PHAs are some of the most gentle exfoliating acids and do not create skin issues like redness, flaky skin, or small breakouts. With more and more people introducing retinol products into their skincare routines (retinol is trending all over the internet), I think we are going to want to find ways to exfoliate our skin without throwing off our sensitive skin barrier and causing sensitivities. So let’s learn all about PHAs!

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Katherine M StribakosComment