If you have worked with me before, you know that there is no easy answers to finding “perfect” skin. Instead of a formula, it takes a whole book full of different chapters to find the right tools for you. Whether we want to admit it or not, we will never have “perfect” skin, there simply is no such thing. Even on my best day, there is probably something imperfect going on. So what do I do? I accept it, embrace it and allow it to teach me what is truly going on. Here is how you can do the same:

With Thanksgiving only one day it’s a great reminder to start thinking about what we are grateful for. Your family or friends may start casually asking you; “What are you grateful for?” in honor of the festivities but it may take you a beat to actually think of something. Sure, we are grateful for the time off and the Thanksgiving feast but what about how we are everyday. When we are living in our day to day we may or may not notice the opportunities to express mindfulness and gratitude. After all there is so much to be grateful for that it doesn’t need to be reserved for just one day out of the year. Here are some steps to developing a gratitude practice:

I couldn’t find the words last week. I wanted to send out a blog post, which as you all know I haven’t done since September due to various reasons. I wanted to send out my availability. I wanted to send out a message of hope. At the end of the day, I just didn’t have the words. I didn’t want to flood you all with messages about getting a facial because last week it felt trivial. “No one will care” I said to myself, until I realized how false that statement was. Many of you relied on your appointments with me last week to follow in exactly what I advocate, putting yourself first and embarking on self care as a means of coping with stress, anxiety and grief. Then it hit me, I not only have a huge responsibility to help people get through their own personal health and skin issues, but also in creating a safe space to be able to help others heal. 

The story of Alexa is one I have been wanting to share for a long time. This beautiful being came into my life in the most organic way of 2016, through social media. She posted a declaration of self love on a Facebook group we are both apart of to inspire other women of our community. While most of these posts usually go unnoticed as they flood my feed, something about Alexa stuck out. Here is her story:

Skincare can be a very sensitive subject for most, especially if you are coping with a skin condition that already is weighing on your confidence. If you think back to 10, 20, 30 or more years ago there were not as many people that were dealing with the skin issues we are encountering now. Many aspects of our environment, food processes/sourcing and medicines have changed drastically within the last few decades. Advancements are always a good thing but there are deeply rooted issues that feel impossible to fix that we have no control over. So what do you do? Here is my guide to coping with external factors while not losing hope on your skin recovery.

We can all agree that the most frustrating part of skin issues and imbalances is the waiting game. Most people think that there has to be an overnight remedy to fix these issues. People will spend an insane amount of money and energy to try to achieve the impossible. With so many promises out there it’s easy to get convinced that a skincare product or a crazy expensive doctors visit will provide the answer. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. Our skin is live organ that has many functions it needs to do every moment of the day, including while you are sleeping. We can’t really control it unless we learn to listen to it. So how do we do that? The answer is simple, we have to be patient. How very irritating of me right? Here’s the thing: I struggle with two major inflammatory conditions, eczema and acne, and I’ve struggled with them since I was a pre-teen so I can identify with the impatience that comes along with these conditions. Here is my guide to how to stay patient when your skin isn’t clearing up and what you can do to be proactive.

Have you ever said to yourself : “My skincare just isn’t working anymore”? If you’ve answered yes, you are the definite majority. If you answered no, I can guarantee that it has. So why does skincare stop working? One of two major reasons: 

1 - Your products have expired or been exposed to an environment that has prematurely spoiled the ingredients.

or

2 - If you are living a perfect, 100% clean lifestyle with no changes in stress, environment, or diet then your skincare shouldn’t change or “stop” working. This is impossible unless you're a robot. 

Here is the deal: You are not expected to be perfect because that means you are not evolving. Change is good but it can also be confusing when your skincare all of a sudden isn’t living up to it’s expectations. So what do you do? Here is my advice on how to mix it up when your skincare stops working:

I’m turning 29 on August 27th and with each year I become more and more aware that life is full of the unexpected. Many young people start their 20s off with a plan such as “I will have my career set by 25, be married by 27, have kids by 30, and everything will be perfect by the time I enter my 3rd decade”. No struggle, no worries and no unexpected surprises - right? WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! My first journal entry the week I turned 28 was that I had no expectation of what the year was to bring and that brought a great sense of calm to me. No expectation meant to me at the time no let down. I am so thankful that I acquired that mind set but here’s how it shifted. When I set my heart up to open for any experience what I didn’t know was that it could still bring let down. Now as I’m able to recognize that here are some of the lessons I’ve learned over the last year and how it has dramatically changed my life for the better:

As soon as people find out what I do for a living, there are a few consistent reactions. “Don’t judge my skin!”  - some say with the mind set that I am always analyzing or WORSE, judging someone by their skin. “What do you use?”  - as I have mentioned before, this changes all the time so it’s quite difficult to truly answer. Lastly, “What should I be doing?” and even more specifically “What is the ONE thing I should be doing?”. As many of you know by now, I can’t answer you and I really dislike giving general advice. In previous conversations, I have had people tell me that I “recommended” such and such product to them, when really I only gave a generic response. I can tell you with certainty that I do not create a routine for anyone on the spot or give advice without a full on health consultation. Let me break it down as to why this seemingly resistant approach is actually the most beneficial to you.

It’s without a doubt easier to blame things that we don’t like about ourselves onto others. “My parents raised me this way”, “my partner eats badly so I eat badly”, “my work environment doesn’t let me take breaks” etc. These excuses allow us to give our power away. I am one of the many people who has been stuck in this mind spiraling dilemma. It is easier to blame others for what got us in our situation but is it really true? Or more importantly is that fair? What I want to talk about is not how to shift the “blame” from one subject to another, but how to take this “shaming” act out of the equation altogether. With many of my clients seeking resolve in a health aspect of their lives whether it be their skin, hormones, nutrition, stress management etc. I hear all the excuses all the time. It’s disheartening when you feel alone in your situation. The truth is you can feel alone by blaming the people in your circle or you can feel empowered by honoring yourself by getting to the root of the issue. See when you shift your mindset about how you might be a victim of a circumstance, you may realize that you have every ability to become the hero of your own story. Here’s how:

I have to start by expressing my gratitude to the people who shared their appreciation for my last post. I’ve always found writing to be a therapeutic release for me so often times I forget about the impact of my words when I share my posts every Tuesday afternoon. If by sharing my truth means that it uplifts you or someone you know, that is the most valuable reward for what I do. Clearing someone’s skin, or helping someone relax is great but making a simple connection where someone doesn’t feel alone creates a bigger purpose for me. And for that I am eternally grateful.

Now to follow up on my post last week, I have recently written on skincare and intuition but I wanted to take it a step further and provide some basic tools to help navigate the masses and tune in to yourself. Here are my tools to becoming your very own therapeutic skin coach:

As most of you know, I’m much more than just your facialist. For most of you, I’m your friend, skin guru, product know it all, life supporter and for some I simply keep you in check. Many people ask me what sets me apart from other facialists and how have I been able to build a following in every city I’ve lived in. When I think about these questions it brings me to the beginning of Therapeutic Skin Coach. You may be thinking where did the name Therapeutic Skin Coach come from? And what does it mean? Let me break it down and give you an insight on how I let my intuition guide me to your better skin health and in my life. 

When it comes to our bodies it’s easy for us to take it for granted, especially if we don’t know exactly how each organ works. I was recently giving a facial to a friend who is also a health coach and nutritionist, she said something that stuck with me: “Most people think of their digestion just like a tube”. This resonated with me because it’s true what comes in isn’t what goes out, so why do we think that we can eat what we know to be unhealthy and our bodies won’t suffer the consequences. Now that we just wrapped up a holiday weekend full of outdoor fun and lots of sun, it became more apparent to me that most people don’t think of skin as a live protective barrier, they think of it more as a sleeve or a body suit. So today I’d like to break it down and really explain the function of skin and how to create some best skin health practices.