Face Reality Skincare Order

[Landers Piechotka]

Irecently learned about Face Reality Skincare, an award-winning acne brand that is dedicated to helping people get clear, healthy skin. I wondered if its facial treatments and accompanying products, alongside expert consultations, could help with my skin. Face Reality has a team of experts located across the country who are certified aestheticians who provide consultations, facials, and extractions to help clients achieve their skin-care goals. This all seemed like a promising process, so I decided to take a chance.

After cleansing, I apply the Moisture Balance Toner, a hyaluronic acid-based liquid that preps the skin for products while hydrating it. Next, I use Hydrabalance, a water-based gel that helps control oil, then the 5% L-Mandelic Serum, an exfoliating treatment that brightens skin.

Depending on the condition of my skin when we met, JnoRose customized the order and layer of peels she used on my face. Sometimes she would do a combination of layering Acne Peel #1 and Acne Peel # 2, or Acne Peel # 2 and Acne Peel # 3. On the nights after my facials, I skipped the 5% Acne Med treatment, to give the peel time to work on its own.

After four months of purging, JnoRose decided we should change my routine. This is in line with Face Reality's adaptive method of customizing routines to every person, to find their right fit. Our skin can either adapt to products after a period of use, where it no longer suits us, or in my case, it can cause irritation and it's necessary to pivot to different formulas.

I quickly found this serum to be more suitable for my skin. It tamed some of my current breakouts, and I noticed a decrease in the large, inflamed, pus-filled pimples I was getting over the past few months.

In addition to the Vitamin A Corrective Serum, JnoRose recommended two wash-off masks for me to try: HydraCalm and Brighten-C Masks. I used the HydraCalm mask nightly after cleansing and before applying the 5% Acne Med to offset the drying effects of the med. I immediately noticed a difference in my skin after the first use. My skin felt moisturized, nourished, and plumper.

As for the Brighten-C Mask, I used that twice a week in the mornings. I skipped the Vitamin A Serum on those days to lessen the amount of active ingredients on my face at one time, something JnoRose recommended as well.

By signing up you agree to our User Agreement (including the class action waiver and arbitration provisions), our Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement and to receive marketing and account-related emails from Allure. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Lifestyle example: It is suggested by Face Reality to not use Fabric Softener or dryer sheets in your laundry as the waxy residue gets on your pillowcases, towels, wash cloths, and sheets that have direct contact with the skin. The residue will clog pores of acne-prone individuals.

Diet change example: Face Reality is not asking you to eliminate foods or food groups completely; but suggest cutting back of moderating certain food types. A few that are not good for acne prone skin are peanut butter (use almond instead), cheese (use nut cheese), iodized salt (use sea salt) and dairy (use almond or coconut milk).

What have been some examples of product changes in my routine? Kim has constantly switched up some of the strengths of products and formulation to keep my skin guessing. Sometimes I use 8% Mandelic and sometimes I use 11% so my skin never fully acclimates to what we are throwing at it. Depending on time of year, my skin can be drier, so it may need more moisture, incorporating the Cran-Peptide Cream instead of the Clearderma, or adding in my Hydrabalance to boost moisture levels.

Find a Face Reality Acne Expert near you and get started. If your esthetician is not a Face Reality Acne Expert, urge them to get certified (and many are available via online consultation). Visit the website www.facerealityskincare.com to learn more.

It's one of the most commonly used thickeners and emulsion stabilizers. If the product is too runny, a little xanthan gum will make it more gel-like. Used alone, it can make the formula sticky and it is a good team player so it is usually combined with other thickeners and so-called rheology modifiers (helper ingredients that adjust the flow and thus the feel of the formula). The typical use level of Xantha Gum is below 1%, it is usually in the 0.1-0.5% range.

Other than having a good safety profile and being quite gentle to the skin it has some other advantages too. It can be used in many types of formulations as it has great thermal stability (can be heated up to 85C) and works on a wide range of pH levels (ph 3-10).

There is also some research showing that citric acid with regular use (think three months and 20% concentration) can help sun-damaged skin, increase skin thickness and some nice hydrating things called glycosaminoglycans in the skin.

Super common little helper ingredient that helps products to remain nice and stable for a longer time. It does so by neutralizing the metal ions in the formula (that usually get into there from water) that would otherwise cause some not so nice changes.

The distillate created from different parts of the hazelnut-bush-like magic tree, commonly called Witch Hazel. Hamamelis Virginiana Water is a bit of a sloppy ingredient name as the leaves, the twigs and the bark can be used to create extracts or distillates and the different parts contain different amounts of biologically active components. But what you are getting is probably a nice water with astringent, soothing, antioxidant and antibacterial magic properties.

We went into great detail about Witch Hazel in cosmetics here, detailing the main biologically active components and how they are different in different parts of the plant. Click here and read more >>

You might know licorice as a sweet treat from your childhood, but it's actually a legume that grows around the Mediterranean Sea, the Middle East, central and southern Russia. It's sweet and yellow and not only used for licorice all sorts but it's also a skincare superstar thanks to two magic properties:

Nr. 1 magic property is that it has skin-lightening or to say it another way depigmenting properties. The most active part is called glabridin. The topical application (meaning when you put it on your face) of 0.5% glabridin was shown to inhibit UVB caused pigmentation of guinea pigs. Another study even suggested that licorice is more effective than the gold standard skin-lightening agent hydroquinone. All in all, licorice is considered to be one of the safest skin lightening agents with the fewest side effects.

There is just one catch regarding glabridin and licorice: the amount of glabridin in commercial licorice extracts can vary a lot. We have seen extracts with only 4% glabridin as well as 40% glabridin. The latter one is a very-very expensive ingredient, so if you are after the depigmenting properties try to choose a product that boasts its high-quality licorice extract.

Bottom line: Licorice is a great skincare ingredient with significant depigmenting, anti-inflammatory and even some antioxidant properties. Be happy if it's on the ingredient list. :)

Another great thing about panthenol is that it has anti-inflammatory and skin protecting abilities. A study shows that it can reduce the irritation caused by less-nice other ingredients (e.g. fragrance, preservatives or chemical sunscreens) in the product.

If you have spotted ethylhexylglycerin on the ingredient list, most probably you will see there also the current IT-preservative, phenoxyethanol. They are good friends because ethylhexylglycerin can boost the effectiveness of phenoxyethanol (and other preservatives) and as an added bonus it feels nice on the skin too.

Simply alcohol refers to ethanol and it's a pretty controversial ingredient. It has many instant benefits: it's a great solvent, penetration enhancer, creates cosmetically elegant, light formulas, great astringent and antimicrobial. No wonder it's popular in toners and oily skin formulas.

Some experts even think that regular exposure to alcohol damages skin barrier and causes inflammation though it's a debated opinion. If you wanna know more, we wrote a more detailed explanation about what's the deal with alcohol in skincare products at alcohol denat. (it's also alcohol, but with some additives to make sure no one drinks it).

3a8082e126