My Favourite Skincare Products

A few of my favourite things...

Skincare only came into my field of "caring" in my early 20's. Before that, I was a soap and water person - mostly due to my naturally oily skin, ("why would anyone put lotion on their face and grease it up even more?"). Such was my naivete (and youth).

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My first experience with quality skincare products was the Kerstin Florian line - I worked at a Fairmont Willow Stream spa at the time, and lucky me, the result was great.

I fell off the Kerstin Florian regimen when I went back to school for naturopathic medicine, and was using the health food store products. The result? Dull skin, blackheads, and pimples. But I thought natural was good?

Natural is great - great for the environment and animals, great for ingredient quality (maybe), and possibly great for the skin, (it really depends on your chosen product, skin type, lifestyle, nutrition, hormones etc.). I didn't find anything I used to be efficacious, but perhaps I didn't try a wide enough range of products.

Fast forward to when I was working in a multi-disciplinary clinic with a cosmetic dermal therapist. She suggested I try Osmosis. It stuck. I loved it and still do. Why? It's a medical skin care line, effective, easy, cost-effective, not tested on animals, well-researched ingredients, low on the Environmental Working Group's toxicity scale, no weird perfume-y smells that signal carcinogenic or xenoestrogenic ingredients, and did I say EFFECTIVE? My favourites from the Osmosis skincare include: Purify cleanser, Replenish antioxidant, Polish, and Quench Plus.

Make-up favourites are different. I am loving the Babor blush, enough that I would extend my curiosity into other Babor products, (again, great ingredients, no animal testing, effective), Jane Iredale (you had to know this would be a favourite) - I'm really happy to report their tinted moisturizer is fabulous, (and their lipsticks...yes, please). I also, on a whim, bought Pacifica's mineral mascara - love it as well.

I don't use much else on a day-to-day basis, but there's a world of wonder in ethical, naturopathic medical cosmetics to explore. Your favourites?