I could use some skincare cheerleaders to egg me on!
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free skin care · Mon Feb 04, 2008 8:21 pm

This is going to sound like a strange confession for an EDS member, but I'm *terribly* lazy about my personal care routine. Even though I'm one of these major savants when it comes to what one SHOULD do to take care of one's skin, I slack all the time. I mean, big-time -- I sometimes skip washing my face altogether and just sleep in my makeup! Shock

I know it's really bad for my skin, but I still have trouble maintaining my routine.

Part of the problem is sleep -- I like to jokingly refer to myself as an insomniac/narcoleptic, but it ain't far from the truth. I tend to have trouble sleeping at night, but I also tend to get sleepy during non-sleep-appropriate situations, like whenever I'm watching TV or a movie and it's dark out. So I'll start to get the zzzs around 9 PM, and I'll be grateful that I'm actually feeling tired, and I'll want to rush straight to bed so I can take advantage of actually being sleepy enough to get some rest. (But of course, this backfires, as it means I wind up waking up naturally at 6!)

And part of my problem is just, well, laziness. I'm lazy about dental care, too -- I always brush my teeth, but I don't always want to spend the full three minutes that my Sonicare requests, let alone floss. And I'm the same way with skincare -- the process of washing, drying, toning, moisturizing/treating, and doing eye cream/lash enhancer/whatever just tires me out! Don't even get me started on nails and feet -- theoretically, I apply cuticle balm every night to all twenty digits, as well as thick foot cream. Realistically? This happens once a MONTH (in a good month).

This skincare lag is actually a big part of what's been holding me back from trying Vitamin C seriously, and also what's keeping me from running out and buying a Clarisonic right now. Laughing

I want to make sure I'll actually USE the thing if I'm going to spend the money! But knowing me, there's a serious question mark there. I want to be better about all this personal care stuff, because I simply adore the results when I actually do the right thing -- my acne is clearer, my flakies are at bay, the few wrinkles I do have aren't visible, and my skin just looks smoother and brighter all around. And of course, if I do *everything* I should, then my nails look and feel better, my feet don't crack, my scalp isn't irritated, and I sleep better ultimately, knowing I've taken good care of myself.

So what's the deal? Does anyone else have this problem? It's like a mental block -- the same mental block, I suspect, that keeps me from going to the gym, from submitting sample pitches to publications I'd like to write for... lots of stuff. I've debated going back into counseling just to sort through some of the anti-discipline issues I seem to always confront, but I figured I could at least count on some EDS gals to empathize with the skincare part of my plight! Laughing

So if anyone else is suffering from epidermal sloth like me, tell me what you do (or wish you could do) to counteract it! I've seen some great tips from forum members on how to prioritize wishlists and not make so many impulse purchases, so I'm just hoping someone has a tip or two. And if not, hey, just whining about it on here may help -- I'm hoping I'll feel ever so slightly more accountable if all my skincare-savvy e-friends know my dirty little secret!

free skin care · Mon Feb 04, 2008 8:29 pm

firstly i know its a pain especially sooo in the winter lol when its soo cold and you definatly dont feel like cleaning your face......still do.....cause once you get into the habit even if you hate the task and are slazy you will get off your butt and do it eventually which is my case too...i mean i can relate to being soo very sleepy and just hitting the bed but even at 1 and 2 am at night iv actually gone and cleaned my face before sleeping and i do feel like the little devil cleaning at that time......

so what iv recently started as a routine is after dinner....i cleanse my teeth and afterwards i do the face.....then i sit down to do other tasks including computer lol and this works well cause at the end when im hitting that im sooooo tired part i can just go straight to bed Very Happy

now also i think personally for me having a clean face helps me sleep better lol.....i mean when u get into the cleaning task after you wash, dry and put on your moisturizer gently massaging in gently strokes on your face this kinda prepares you for the sleeping mode....so personally i think it will help you sleep better.

now other things you can try to sleep better is......not watching any action/horror movies prior to sleep as this gets the heart rate up lol and it will leave you more awake then prepare you to sleep.

maybe reading a nice book to help sleep. listening to soothing music should help as well.
Drinking milk also helps me better sleep.
Also another thing you may wana try is drinking the herbal chamomile tea which should help with sleep.

goodluck Very Happy

free skin care · Tue Feb 05, 2008 1:22 am

Rah

Rah Ginnielizz......That's the cheer.

Now here's the lecture; Get up off your young little butt and get all your facial/body business out of the way, before you tackle the TV and computer. That way when you start to get cozy, you can just jump in bed.

And try not to think of every beauty ritual all at once. I was getting tired just reading everything you wrote. By all means never go to sleep with makeup on, and a nice quick cleansing + moisturizing morning and night is always a good idea..(You'll feel so much better when you do it).

Well that's all the advice I have for now. It's 3:30 a.m. and I have to go scrub something and go to sleep.. Wink

Nitey-nite,
Kassy

free skin care · Tue Feb 05, 2008 2:46 am

Try to use skin products that you actually like, rather than use products because you feel you have to (eg Vit C).
I agree with the advice above about cleaning your face and teeth before TV/computer etc so that you can fall into bed when you are ready. But if you find products that suit your skin and you really love those products then you will want to use them and you will enjoy applying them.

free skin care · Tue Feb 05, 2008 4:16 am

In a similar vein to what bushy just said, I love to use skincare with gorgeous scents, like my beloved A'kin Rose & Geranium Cleanser. Things like that make my routine more of a pleasure than a chore.

free skin care · Tue Feb 05, 2008 5:38 am

Ginnielizz - I can relate! Just wanted to say that I recocnise some aspects of what you said. I constantly put off things I should be doing, or rather things that I actuatlly perhaps want to be doing? I know when I go to the gym I will feel amazing after. When I study more I actaually find the material interesting. I pay that bill on time, I don't have to deal with extra costs. The list goes on. LOL, I think I'm actually afraid of being content and fulfilling my dreams! Shock

Now what's that all that about?!

When it comes to finding out about skincare/make-up, I think it's more of an escape from all the worries I have about what I actually *should* be doing instead!

Anyway, my point is, I am like that too. What helps for me, is concentrating on a very few simple things for some time and doing them consistantly. I find that it inspires me to *gradually* take care of a few other aspects of my everyday life (f.ex drinking more water->flossing->paying rent on time...etc). And then, slowly the snowball gets bigger and the few routines become habits on my part. Go slowly! You can't do everything at once! And reward yourself when you've managed to maintain a good habit over some time. The rest will follow Smile

free skin care · Tue Feb 05, 2008 7:23 am

Along the lines of what simran said, you should start a routine. Stay up till a cartain point, then go to bed. For me, it's usually 10 or 11pm. I usually go hunt down my cat, throw him in my room, then I wash my face, brush my teeth, etc. Sometimes, if I'm feeling like it, I'll do a mask, but I usually save those for days off of work. Because, they mess up my routine! Then, I'll call my fiance, and we'll talk for a bit. I hang, read something, a good book, magazine, whatever. Sometimes I'll evne write a friend a letter. Then I go to bed, and I usually fall right asleep. And I do this everyday. I don't think it's so much slacking on skincare, it's setting your internal clock.

free skin care · Tue Feb 05, 2008 7:54 am

I can definitely relate ginnieliz! I find I do a much, much more thorough routine if I do it earlier rather than later. IE I wash my face/brush teeth/blow dry lips, etch when I'm putting my youngest to bed at around 7 pm. If I wait til when my older 2 go to bed at 8:30, I'm too tired to do the whole shebang.

free skin care · Tue Feb 05, 2008 2:49 pm

ginnielizz, my motivation comes from chasing that fountain of youth. your skin isn't gonna preserve itself by itself!

seriously, i understand how you feel. my sisters are the exact same way, but really, i think it helps to picture yourself in 5, 10, 20 years. despite what people say about having good genes or whatever, i think taking care of your skin is a huge factor.

i actually enjoying slathering stuff on my face but once in a while i do have a lazy day and ijust think about all the lovely antioxidants and stuff that i am skipping and that is motivation enough for me.

kris

free skin care · Tue Feb 05, 2008 3:06 pm

ginnielizz,

OMG you sound exactly like me, the only time I can fall asleep is in the wee hours of the night on my couch watching TV, then I stumble to my bed about 3-4 in the morning (Hubby hates it!) and ofcourse my makeup is still on and I can barely get my pajamas on!
I've started changing my hapbits a bit now. For the past two weeks I've made sure that no matter how tired I am i HAVE to wash my face. I keep remembering the times when i haven't and wake up with a pimple and then it becomes a huge honker on my face.

This has helped alot- thinking of the consequences of not washing my face!

So now my face is the clearest it has been in months- all due to washing it everynight.

But now like you I've got to work on the rest of my regime- puting on lotion on my hands and feet- flossing (even though I used to be a dental professional.

So I am sending out my cheers to you, and I hope that both you and I can start getting into the habit of doing oall of this stuff!

free skin care · Tue Feb 05, 2008 3:29 pm

Man can I ever relate! However, I think I can also offer some advice. The first step is to find a routine that REALLY works for you. If you can find the right products, you will have great skin when you actually use them, and that will provide more of an impetus for you. (Me, I'm deathly afaid of breaking out, so since I know my products work, I use them even when I'm feeling like a human slug.)

The next step would be trying to find even a few small short cuts. Seriously, shaving off even a little time/effort makes such a huge difference! For example, I shower at night, so it's no big deal for me to wash my face and use my clarisonic in the shower, but I found that in the morning I was always dreading the whole process of washing my face---- putting on a headband and ruining my hair, waiting for the water to warm up and then splashing it all over me, etc. Now in the mornings I just use Zenbiotic's Rinseless Cleanser--- spritz on my face, spread it around, wipe it off, and I'm done and clean as a whistle. Another short cut I take is at night. I'm like you--- when it's time to crash, pretty much every second counts, so now instead of carefully applying moisturizer every night, I just spray it on! I take out my contact lenses, mist my face with either Phyto Moisture or Winter Moisture from Zenbiotic (too lazy to even rub it in, how do you like that?^-^) and hit the sheets. While I'm at it I spritz my hands too and poof, no need for bothersome nighttime hand lotion. Another short cut that I used to take (and might start again, now that I think about it!) is using these pre-moistened toner pads from PTR. They take a lot of hassle out of getting out toner and cotton pads. HTH!!

free skin care · Tue Feb 05, 2008 6:56 pm

Thank you guys for all these thoughtful replies! I'm glad I started the thread, because it's nice to hear that other skincare-obsessed people can still have their lazy days. Smile

And now that I'm getting older and more wrinkle-prone (yet am STILL breakout-prone, thanks Mom!), the whole think-of-the-consequences thing works better. Especially since when I was a teen, my skin sucked no matter what I did. But my hormones have chilled now to the point where I can actually proactively prevent most annoying breakout, dryness, and sensitivity flareups if I stick to my routine.

I'm going to follow the advice of Simran et al. for starters, and start brushing my teeth and washing my face right after dinner, before I get sleepy. (I'm thinking this has the added benefit of making you not want to ruin the clean teeth feeling with late-night snacks, so that's good too!) This is such an obvious thing, duh: if you get tired when you leave it too late, then do it earlier! But I always say I'll do that, and never actually do. I'll stick to it since I gotta report back here. Very Happy

And I have to say, y'all are dead-on about the products needing to be ones that you love. I used to be terrible about actually applying my sunscreen, because I didn't like the tacky/greasy feel and look it gave me -- applying sunscreen meant I also had to bother with powder, and you can't do powder without swiping on some mascara, and yada yada... (Now I'm a bigger makeup wearer, but back then the thought of having to "put on my face" was enough to deter me from sunscreen at all!) But now that I found my non-sticky, non-whitish Devita, I apply it every day without a second thought.

Another thing is toner -- like Liz, I never wanted to bother getting out a cotton ball, wetting it, wiping down, etc. Now I just use the MyChelle Fruit Enzyme Mist toner, and I just spritz it on my face and smoosh it around a little with my hands. Laughing

It's a great toner, too, but if I ever switch I'll probably decant whatever future toner I use into a spritzer since it's so darn easy.

I definitely think I'll Clarisonic more in the shower than out. And because my hair takes eons to dry, I usually shower at night so I can straighten it easier in the morning. So exfoliating via Clarisonic while I bathe definitely sounds easier than the whole headband/wet face fiasco. And now I want to try that spray on Zenbiotic cleanser you mentioned! Sounds nice and easy!

Ah, you guys are so helpful. I KNOW my zits get worse if I don't wash, I KNOW my eye area (my most wrinkle-prone) cries out in pain if I leave my mascara on overnight. (And I wear a LOT of mascara sometimes, haha.) And I just read a study that linked poor dental hygiene and heart disease, for goodness sakes. It's weird how we can KNOW what's good for us and still not do it.

I'm proud to say, though, that I've been really great about my routine ever since I started this thread, haha. As soon as I posted it, I started to feel bad about skimping, so I went ahead and did the full floss/brush with Sonicare thing, on top of my full skincare routine. And yes, it felt better. Very Happy

I'm also lucky that I have a supportive spouse who's helpful about nagging me in a "kind" way, haha. I told him about the thread I started, and he said he'd start to bug me about going and taking care of all my "primping" (that's what I call it for short) earlier in the evening, so my sudden-onset sleepiness wouldn't prevent me from seeing my routine through. I don't know WHY I never thought to tell him before -- he's great about reminding me on stuff like that, if I just let him in on it in the first place!

Anyway, thanks again for the support! I already added in a C serum (the PSF one) since I had a sample to try, and maybe it's in my head, but I feel like the clean, healthy glow I've got going on is enough to motivate me to be good about it, waiting period and all. Smile

free skin care · Wed Feb 06, 2008 3:20 am

I agree with everything you said. Part of the reason I started wearing mineral makeup was that they claim you can fall asleep in it. Its so hard to keep up with a routine. Just force yourself to do it,like working out. Ultimately its worth it, right?

free skin care · Wed Feb 06, 2008 10:02 pm

Procrastination is a major problem for me, which I'm making an effort to get better about, but something I've never had a problem doing is washing my face. I just feel like I'm taking off the day, and washing all the stresses and problems or whatever from work and life down the drain. It's actually very relaxing if you think about it like that. By the time I get home I usually can't wait to wash my face!!

free skin care · Thu Feb 07, 2008 11:01 am

See, that's a great attitude! Very Happy

And there are actually times when I do think of it like that -- sometimes I can't wait to wash my face, brush my teeth, shower, whatever. It's just when I'm feeling reluctant that I do damage!

The past several nights I've been doing my routine earlier, and the past several mornings I've gotten up and washed my face first thing. Definitely feeling and looking good!

free skin care · Thu Feb 07, 2008 2:18 pm

Bravo!!!!

free skin care · Fri Feb 08, 2008 10:43 pm

haha I guess if u don't have school or work...u would tend to do that cuz u don't really need to see anyone?

I remember while I was having my break. I was so~ lazy...I slept with my makeup on cuz I was so~ tired after I got home from a nite out. Then I woke up late and washed my face then... I know it's quite bad for your skin but I can't help it cuz I was exhausted! Also, if I don't need to see anyone for days, I feel there's no need for me to look my best haha Very Happy

free skin care · Fri Feb 08, 2008 11:35 pm

ginnielizz: I totally relate to you. Once my little ones get in bed I run for the computer to relax. I stay up late because I am a night person and then I get too sleepy to want to do anything. I do brush my teeth and floss and wash face now but in my 20's I use to go to bed with makeup on and as a result in my 40's I have large pores. I wish so much that I had taken 5 minutes out of my busy schedule to wash my face and lightly moisturize it which I do now. But now in my 40's I have to do so much more. Since you are so young you have to do very little and the payoff is big. So, keep your routine simple! If all you can do is wash off that makeup before going to bed then that is better than nothing!

free skin care · Fri Feb 15, 2008 5:19 pm

Ginnieliz: I can totally understand the laziness. I must confess one of the reasons I've switched to MMU is that if I don't wash it off before I go to bed I know it won't make me break out the next morning (which always used to happen to me when I forgot with a non MMU). A few things have helped me:

1. Get a skincare line you think is pretty and fun and has easy to follow steps. I've fallen in love with Dermalogica because it seems so logical.

2. Buy make-up removing cloths like the Neutrogena cloths...these saved my life! You can just scrub off all that makeup, throw away the cloth and head to bed...it doesn't clog my pores and it doesn't leave a weird film on my face like some other brands do...and it'll get rid of waterproof mascara.

3. Get facials! I have found that my facialist will guilt me into better skincare because whenever I go she always notices my blackheads and such and points out that I probably should be more careful about my skin. She's a great cheerleader too! Don't get a facial more often than every 4 weeks and I tend to go every 6-8 weeks to keep it cheaper and easier to plan for.

4. Don't give up. If you're finding yourself giving up on your skin, try something different. I think that keeps you from getting bored.

5. Keep it simple (stupid) "KISS" is one of those sort of golden rules and I do think the simpler your routine is (esp at night) the more likely you are to adhere to it.

I'm not saying I'm perfect about my own rules, but these tips have gotten me on a better track. HTH!!

free skin care · Sat Feb 16, 2008 2:28 am

I'm lazy about cosmetic care too but I manage to do my obagi regime morning and night. The great results keep me motivated. As for your sleep issues--I find long runs of at least 45 minutes (interspersed with walking if you are not is great condition) help put me to sleep and give me energy during the day. nothing has done more for my motivation and determination than taking up long distance running. I absolutely love it.

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