When Your Skin Betrays You

Forget Scott Disick cheating on Kourtney Kardashian. A worse betrayal is when your skin's been crystal clear all year (My skin ideal used to be Gwyneth Paltrow, but lately it's Cate Blanchett. Have you seen those SKII ads?) and then, it turns on you.

Yeah, so that happened...I woke up last week and my skin was all broken out, meanwhile Kourtney Kardashian's skin is looking flawless. Not to be a hater but What The F? Now I don't wanna point the finger, but I think it was the European skincare line that I just had to buy and try because it seemed like everyone on Instagram was using and gram-ing about it. (Btw: Switching up skincare too frequently is a potential recipe for complete complexion catastrophe.)

Besides adding a clay cleanser with zinc into my rotation - I like REN's Clay Cleanser. (It's organic and doesn't contain any parabens or mineral oil. Funny how so many products for oily or acne prone skin actually contain mineral oil, which is a pore clogger and serious precipitator of spots.) and cleaning my phone religiously. (Think we're all on the same page re: the memos and online warnings about how our phones are dirtier than a public toilet.), I realized I was in need of a toner.

The Under The Radar Apothecary To The Rescue

Let me rephrase that - I realized I needed the right toner*. That's where the Coffee + Tea Herbal Toner - from the cozy but mighty Organical Botanical, tucked away at 110 Main St., EG - comes in. Picked it up the other day, along with a Blemish Stick and Calendula Cream (highly recommend for its healing properties), after Tanya, the owner, walked me thru her recommendations. It's not loaded with alcohol. So no burning, stinging, or redness after applying. And it has COFFEE (For the record, I am borderline obsessed with anything and everything coffee.). Anyway, already seeing  an improvement after using it only a few times. Skin is looking calmer and maybe not Cate-like, but so much better.

*I used to think toners were BS, but a good one will not only smooth out and soothe your skin post cleanse, but also help maintain optimum PH levels which, in turn, helps protect against future pimples and bad skin days. 

Ciao for Now,

Patty J

**The original version of this post appeared on the blog in July, 2015.

Photo Credits: All photos by Ashley Farney