Billie's New Beauty Line Makes it Easy to go Clean

Exfoliating acids are everywhere now and so many new products are about exfoliating the skin to “reveal brighter, smoother skin”. In the age of exfoliating now, it’s so easy to overdo and can easily result in harming the skin instead. Here are my favorite exfoliating acids (and products) and how I use it so I don’t damage my skin! Lactic Acid: A super gentle acid that exfoliates the top layer of skin and removes dead skin cells. I find this to be the most gentle of the acids and can be used everyday. I love fresh - Black Tea Kombucha Facial Treatment Essence because I use it as an essence treatment. This is a liquid formula that easily sinks into the skin and “primes” the skin for the next products. It’s also a hydrating formula! Azelaic Acid: Another more gentle exfoliating acid that helps improve the appearance of blemishes and fade post-acne marks. I love this PAULA'S CHOICE - 10% Azelaic Acid Booster because it can be mixed into your moisturizer and boost the effectiveness. I love that this speeds up the healing process of my acne marks because then I get clearer skin quicker! Salicylic Acid: One of the most effective exfoliating acids for treating and preventing acne! It exfoliates deep into the layers of skin and removes dead skin cells. PAULA'S CHOICE - Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliator is a super strong and effective formula that I like to use when I’m breaking out A LOT. It’s too harsh on my skin to use daily but once a week is fine. I also love LA ROCHE-POSAY - Effaclar Medicated Gel Cleanser for Acne Prone Skin which I use every night to wash my face. It’s just as effective and not too strong for daily use because it’s a wash off product and doesn’t stay on the skin. Glycolic Acid: Easily one of the strongest and deeply exfoliating acids out there. I find it super effective as a night serum like DRUNK ELEPHANT - T.L.C. Framboos Glycolic Resurfacing Night Serum or as a scrub like ALPHA-H - Micro Super Scrub with 12% Glycolic Acid . I use these products 2 times a week just to keep my skin free of congestion and to maintain the texture of my skin.

I love Halloween! I love the decorations and the candy of course, but I don't love taking hours to get ready! Every year my costume is quick, easy and made using things I already have lying around. This year is now different, I'm going as a cute mouse and only needed 1 product for this hair look, the scünci - No Damage Elastics Brown ! I have super curly, shoulder length hair and did this style on second day hair. The only product that is in it is the CURLSMITH - Curl Defining Styling Souffle . It has strong hold and gives great definition. I applied on soaking wet hair and let my hair air dry. It's been slept on and gone through an intense workout, I didn't break the cast in order to wear it as long as possible! These mouse ears are super easy to do and will work for all hair types! You could also play around with the shape of the buns are create bunny or cat ears! For a classic mouse look go for a higher bun and add some volume to them! Here's how I did the mouse ears: 1. Section the hair in half with a middle part. 2. Using a hair tie create a pig tail on one side, you can choose the placement but because my hair is shorter I went with a side placement. 3. Add a matching pig tail to the other side! 4. Using your third hair tie create a fun bun! Since my hair is curly I didn't need to pull out any pieces but I love the messy look! 5. Do the same to the other side. 6. You can stop here and your done! OR add some fun accessories like sparkly clips and bobby pins! Have a safe and fun Halloween! I'll be posting a makeup tutorial for this look soon! 🐭❤️ #CheriePartner

Heyyy guys! Today I want to share my favorite toner with you:💕 Lancôme Confort Tonique!! 💕 Here's the information I got from my dermatologist. Ingredients: 💕 Butylene Glycol: Butylene Glycol used in many self-care products, like shampoo, lotion, masks, cosmetics, etc. It is included in formulas for these types of products because it adds moisture and conditions hair and skin. Here are three major uses of butylene glycol. 🐝 Firstly, butylene glycol is a viscosity-decreasing agent. It makes other ingredients less likely to stick together, giving makeup and self-care products a fluid and even consistency. 🐝 Secondly, butylene glycol is a conditioning agent. Conditioning agents are ingredients that add a layer of softness or improved texture to your hair or skin. 🐝 Thirdly, solvents are ingredients that maintain a liquid consistency in a chemical compound. They help active ingredients that could become gritty or clumpy stay dissolved. 🐝 Butylene glycol benefits for acne： Butylene glycol is in made for people who have acne. It isn’t the active ingredient that treats acne in these products. The moisturizing and solvent properties in butylene glycol could make these products right for you. 💕 Sweet Almond Protein: Hydrolyzed sweet almond protein is a protein extracted from almonds that has been liquefied. It acts as a protective and moisturizing agent. In cleansing products, it reduces skin irritation and improves skin tolerability. 💕 Honey: Honey speeds up your skin cells’ healing processes. If you have blemishes or an eczema outbreak, honey that’s unpasteurized could speed healing and reduce inflammation. Manuka honey is so effective at healing wounds quickly that it’s now used by doctors in clinical settings 💕 Sodium Hyaluronate: Sodium hyaluronate has moisturizing benefits when applied topically to skin tissue. No injections are required. In addition, it mimics hyaluronic acid produced naturally by the body. It's non-irritating to skin and is usually well tolerated even by people with sensitive skin. It also has the ability to penetrate into deeper layers of the skin, and also attracts and binds water. This effect can plump the skin, thus reducing the look of wrinkles and making skin younger-looking ✨ Overall, I highly recommend this product to you, especially if you have dry skin!! ✨

I find this Flowchart to be a cheat guide to start with your Chemical exfoliation routin. 😊✨ Exfoliation is one of the steps in your skin care routine that can elevate your current routine from good to great. So often I find my skin starting to feel a little bit dull, and I realize that I have been leaving out exfoliation. When I wake up after a night that I have applied a chemical exfoliant, (I really like The Ordinary’s 7% Glycolic Acid, Sunday Riley's Good Genes) The Ordinary - Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution SUNDAY RILEY - Good Genes All in One Lactic Acid Treatment I notice my skin has a much more rested and fresh look. Also, my skin has that 'Glass skin' look and feel. My textural irregularities get even and my skin tone is evened out! Some of the skin concerns that exfoliation is great for targeting include: 🌻Enlarged pores 🌻Uneven skin tone/Hyperpigmentation 🌻Rough skin texture 🌻Fine lines So… back to the big question: ✨What does exfoliate mean? Skin is consistently renewing its cells, by shedding its surface layer. When dead skin cells are flushed away and a fresh layer of cells comes to the surface, the new layer is younger and smoother in appearance. This process is frequent in younger skin, however slows with age. The process of exfoliating is advancing the process of removing dead skin cells and revealing the fresh new layer of healthy skin either physically or chemically. Physical exfoliators are granular, using natural beads or crystals that are rubbed on the skin, sloughing away the dead cells on the top layer of skin. Chemical exfoliants work by targeting the bonds between cells, breaking these bonds, allowing the dead skin cells to break away. Chemical exfoliation is able to penetrate deeper into the skin, targeting congestion that is associated with clogged pores leading to acne. In short exfoliation simply means to shed away dead skin cells with the help of a product. Want to know which exfoliating acids are best for your skin? Follow through the flowchart in Image above to figure out which is best for you! Here are some options/products I love and you can choose from: The Ordinary - Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution SUNDAY RILEY - Good Genes All in One Lactic Acid Treatment The Ordinary - Mandelic Acid 10% + HA NATURIUM - BHA Liquid Exfoliant 2% The Ordinary - Salicylic Acid 2% Masque THE inkey LIST - Polyhydroxy Acid (PHA) Gentle Exfoliating Toner TULA SKINCARE - Pro-Glycolic 10% Resurfacing Toner Allies of Skin - Mandelic Pigmentation Corrector Night Serum

🎶 I’m in love with the CICA 🎶 (lol) but seriously, I’m NOT kidding! It SAVED my skin! If you’ve been following some of my posts, you may know I’ve been using Tretinoin for approximately 8 weeks. I’ve also used a 15% Azelaic Acid cream and a strong benzoyl peroxide and clindamycin mix treatment gel interchangeably. Despite their cell turnover and acne-healing properties, these three products together have pretty much destroyed my skin barrier. Not to mention I recently spent a week on vacation, all of which was out in the sun. I don’t easily burn, but these products made me extra sensitive to the sun and my skin was stinging and inflamed and peeling. It really was not fun, especially when you’re just trying to enjoy a nice getaway. I bought the LANEIGE - Cica Sleeping Mask 4 days ago and it has literally turned my skin around! My skin hasn’t looked this good since before quarantine started! With just one overnight use, the redness that seemed to be everpresent on my cheeks, just DISAPPEARED! And by consistently using this over the course of the last 3 nights, I’ve found my skin has become more bouncy, glowy, and definitely much less red. The texture is really light, really creamy, really hydrating, but not greasy, even for my combination-oily skin! Though this is an overnight mask, I find it light enough to be a good day-time cream for that extra boost of hydration for the changing seasons (maybe not in the hot humid summer though). This overnight hydrating and calming mask is hypoallergenic, vegan, and free of parabens, phthalates, mineral oil, and contains less than one percent of synthetic fragrances. It contains Fermented Forest Yeast Extract, which Laneige claims to be even more beneficial than traditional Cica products! It’s just packed with hydration and soothing ingredients that you’re gonna wanna just touch your face all the time and marvel at the beauty of your skin! This is targeted for dry and irritated skin, but if you have combo or oily skin, I think you could use this as a mask too! All this goodness is 2 fl oz for $34! Pretty good steal considering a lot of other companies give a lot less product for a lot more money :( All in all, this is my holy grail product for calm, hydrated, dewy skin. Let me know below if you’ve had positive experiences with this product!