Step away from the skincare shelf….

Skincare plays a huge role WHEN used properly!

Home products can often be the key factor in achieving your dream skin. It can help boost the results of in clinic treatments and the reality is that what you do every single day on your skin has the biggest overall impact. 

This is why finding the right skincare routine for you is key. 

Now I really wish I could say there is a magic one-size fits all routine that will give everyone and their dog beautiful glowing skin BUT the reality is it’s not that easy. Some people find it easy to find products that “just don’t break them out” but really don’t improve anything else. I call this the skin purgatory… It’s not the worst place to be…but you’d rather move upwards and onwards to better things. Haha. 

How can you possibly know what to buy?

Honestly, if you can accept now that you don’t know your life will be easier. Unless you have a background in skincare, no one expects you to have the slightest clue what you need to use…. That’s why people like myself, and my team are here to help educate you and guide you so that you can feel more confident in your buying decisions and hopefully reap the benefits of picking the right things. 

Here are my rules for you when it comes to skincare:

Here are my rules for you when it comes to skincare:

1. More does not always mean better! I am constantly telling people just like you to “bring it back to the basics.” I always get people to start first with a good cleanser, toner (if needed, read my to tone or not to tone blog) and a moisturizer. 

Once your skin can enter that middle ground of skincare purgatory where it’s not angry, breakouts are under control, skin is feeling happy and hydrated THEN and only then can we consider adding in specialty products for results based.

2. Don’t fall for fancy marketing or influencers… are we not smart enough now to know we cannot believe everything we see online? I say this because I too have become prey to some good ads and later had serious buyer’s remorse! 

 I don’t know if you’ve noticed but all my posts on social media are more education based, tutorials and behind the scenes. The number of scams out there marketing to consumers showing photoshopped before and afters or making miracle claims makes my blood boil and influencers…ohhh I am not sure you should get me started. 

Don’t get me wrong I have invited people in to be models for treatments, given treatments to bloggers for genuine reviews, feedback etc…. but that is not what most of social media is. Your favorite celebrities or local influencers often will highlight products on their feed that they get for free or get paid to talk about. These people are not experts, and I would bet all the skincare on my shelf that half of them only use the products long enough to take the videos or pictures for their feed. 

So please don’t be fooled into buying into “oh but so and so uses this.” I have had clients say “just give me what you use” …ummm no, my skin may be very different from you. Just because it works for your friend or mom or whoever doesn’t make it right for you. 

Skincare is only expensive if it doesn’t work.

3. More expensive does not always mean better…but sometimes cheap is just cheap! I hate to tell you, that just like that $10 tee shirt might start looking ratty after only a few washes….so will that $10 “super serum” from the beauty store. It may feel okay, even good, but I would not hold your breath that it will provide you with any sort of dramatic results. 

4. Even the “experts” can’t know every line. When you shop with us, we have only 2 lines we need to memorize, learn and understand. When you shop at a beauty department store, they may have 10+ lines. They may be doing it as a part time job, they may or may not have a beauty background but one thing I can say…is there is a slim chance they actually know every line they sell. 

I know this firsthand. I worked in a large hair salon back in the day that sold 15 different brands of shampoo…whatttt, no one needs that much! They gave us videos to watch and books to read but each of us found our favorites and just rolled with those. They weren’t my favorite because they got the best results, smelled the best, I just picked the line I thought had good variety, was at a medium price point and rolled with it…. I was no shampoo expert. 

That reason alone is why we choose to only carry two lines here at Skin Revival, because I want the team to actually know what they are talking about. 

I also know ingredients…I don’t need to know every product line out there to know what’s good or not. I simply look at the ingredients, scan for things I know are good and bad and then decide. If you already have things that work, have good ingredients then amazing, stick to it. We don’t have to throw it all out and start from scratch, we just need to make sure it works for you!

5. On the topic of ingredients…Iess is better. If you have to read all 3 sides of a box to get through the list of ingredients there is probably a good chance you could do without half of them. So many skincare companies add a bunch of extra things to make it smell good or feel good in the short term or to keep them from going bad because they are trying to cut their costs by making insane volumes that may sit on the shelf for years. 

Just take the extra few seconds to look. Look and see if the key ingredients they are claiming will make your skin beautiful are at the front or end of the list, this will also indicate how much of that active ingredient is actually in there. They only have to have the tiniest bit to claim it’s there, but it doesn’t mean it’s enough to actually do anything. 

You may be thinking…skincare sounds a bit like it can be a scam. The reality is…everything we buy as consumers can be a scam. It is up to us to decide what brands we trust and why.  

Here is my take on skincare and what I tell my clients.

I am not here to sell to you today…yes, it’s a business and we need to make money,but my goal is far beyond today. If I just send you out the door with 5 of the most expensive products, just because I can, are you likely to come back to me when you are rolling your eyes about wasting money? No!

Our goal here has always been to create a relationship with all of you. This means building trust, this means giving you our honest feedback…sometimes feedback you may not like to hear, like it will take longer, more than one session, it may never be perfect etc.. 

You also need to understand that we may not always get it right. Yes, I admit it… I am not perfect! The difference is you have us! We are here for you, to help you, to try things with you and to make sure we get that perfect routine for you…and to change it up as you change, and seasons change. 

So let us help you. Even if you are using something and you like it and just want an unbiased opinion, I am here. You know how many texts I get like this… “Okay….I am in Sephora…is this make up okay? Is this face mask good!” I will always be honest! 

Part of being honest to you, is letting you know that I too can be a product junkie and I have tried everything from the most expensive to the least expensive when it comes to skincare. I can also tell you, most days, I use only 2 products. Those two products cost about $146 up front, which to some might sound like a lot BUT they last me 6 months, so it’s really around $25 a month…and I hate to admit I spend significantly more than that on coffee alone. Sooo to me, pretty good deal! Again, it’s not expensive if it does what you want it to do. 

Just remember these few things when you are choosing your skincare products and if ever you need me – Let’s talk!

As always,

Your skin revival

Alexis Fry