Yesterday I posted my two tips for keeping my skin free of pimples.
The third thing has less to do with pimples and more to do with the way the skin on my face appears – dull and uneven vs even and healthy-looking. I’ve found that the trick for my best-looking skin is to wear as little makeup as possible.
This is tricky for me. I often give into the temptation to slather on the foundation and cover-up because it does look better. Especially for going out. We always want to look our best, and makeup can help with that.
But I noticed a few years ago that the appearance of my skin was really deteriorating, to the point that I was uncomfortable even answering the doorbell with a naked face. I noticed that men don’t have this problem, nor do children, nor do my girlfriends who don’t wear makeup. I also noticed that this was an issue on my face only. The skin on the rest of my body looked fine.
The skin is an organ, alive. It cannot be healthy to cover it in a layer of goop everyday, so that it cannot be exposed to light and air. I wanted to try going without, but was stuck in this awful cycle of feeling wretchedly ugly without it.
The trick for weaning myself off of foundation (I still like wearing eye makeup, I can’t bring myself to go completely bare-faced) was to switch to a tinted moisturizer. It seemed to do the trick and my skin tone returned to normal after only a few weeks and I eventually was able go with bare skin a lot of the time. I can just use a little of the stuff when I really want to look polished. Since I do really like to wear eye makeup, wearing a moisturizer gives the makeup something to adhere to and it lasts longer.
This is easier in the summer. I always manage to fall back into a foundation-wearing rut in the winter when I think I need some colour, and every spring I begin the weaning process once again.
This year I’m trying Marcelle’s new Beauty Balm. It is a little different of a product than a tinted moisturizer. So far, I really like it. I only wish it contained a sunscreen.
The Open and Closed World 
I don’t use foundation, but I’d love to try a tinted moisturizer. Thanks for the tip!
I agree with this one, wholeheartedly. I hardly EVER wear foundation, I have probably only worn it a handful of times in my life. I hate the feeling of it on my skin (despite trying several different brands) and I do believe it isn’t good for skin. I break out a little each summer when I start using sunscreen on my life, so can only imagine what daily foundation would do. Love your tips!
sunscreen on my *face* … duh!
I have all but given up foundation as well. I only use it once in awhile and only very sparingly. But I could never, ever give up my mascara…or my eyeliner.
I feel like my eyes are invisible if I don’t have mascara.
Traditional asian BB creams do contain a sunscreen, which is so nice (they’re generally only one colour but they do adjust to most light-medium skin tones). I love that they’re so many things at once: moisturizer, primer, provide coverage, sunscreen, and contain healing ingredients (they were originally developed in korea for after plastic surgery/chemical peels). I’m too cheap to buy a tinted moisturizer (you’d never know it looking at my makeup collection) so instead I mix my moisturizer and foundation to create my own.