Everly Grace Whole Beauty is about balance. Balance in your skin. Balance in your body and Balance in your soul. When this balance is correct, we can really thrive. If it’s off-balance, that’s when we get into trouble. While you can mask emotions, or avoid stress, the skin can’t lie. If you’re stressed, you’ll likely over-produce oil, which can lead to breakouts. If your diet is unbalanced, your skin will likely be more dry and eventually lead to more wrinkles as extra sugar diverts energy away from the skin.

Any ritual can help create balance. Whether it’s an exercise ritual, a morning ritual or your ritual of a glass of wine after work on a Friday, when your mind and your body has an idea of what to expect, it will respond and accept this ritual as a routine. Careful, this can work for bad habits as well!

Let’s talk about your home skin care ritual. A regular morning and evening ritual can create balance and help even out skin, making it less susceptible to various environmental factors we sometimes can’t avoid like stress, weather conditions or a weak moment in our diet.

A regular daily home skin care ritual is made up of the following 5 components:

• Cleansing/Exfoliation

• Toning/Serum

• Moisturizing

• SPF

• Consistency

Cleansing/Exfoliation: Put simply, this is washing your face. EGB recommends washing your face in the morning and at night. “Washing your face is the most basic and essential step of any routine, says the New York City dermatologist Dr. Carlos Charles. “Our skin comes in contact with environmental pollutants, dirt and other factors each day that should be gently removed.” Wash twice a day, morning and night, to avoid clogged pores, dullness and acne.” source. Some of our top sellers are Natropathica Oat Cleansing Facial Polish, Epicuran Clarify Cleanser and Juice Beauty Exfoliating Cleanser for those that need more exfoliating or have more hormone reactive skin.

Toning/Serum: Toners and serums are like a base-layer or primer. If you’re going to paint your walls, you’ll want to start with the best base possible to get the most out of the outer-most layer of paint. Toners and serum work as a “fertilizer” setting a good foundation to best absorb what you put on next. “Most experts, the New York City aesthetician Jordana Mattioli says, consider toner to be optional: “It can be a good way to add in specific ingredients that you may not have in your other products or add another layer of skin-replenishment.” source Ideally, a toner should be followed by a serum - if you’re looking to get started in this area, EGB recommends the Natropathica Lavender Honey Balancing Mist followed by Natropahtica Plant Stem Cell Booster Serum.

Moisturizing: If you said you only had time for one part of a ritual, we’d say cleansing is first and moisturizing is second. Cleansers and exfoliants can remove some of our natural oils from our skin in the process of getting a really good clean, so this step keeps your skin balanced and fed. The skin doesn't make its own water (just oil), so moisturizing adds that hydrating drink that keeps skin plump and healthy. Moisturizer oil or water content/weight depends on your skin type. We recommend using your heavier moisturizer at night. As this is when your body is healing, restoring and repairing itself, and moisturizer aids this process. source What’s even better about moisturizing? It’s our best defense in aging skin. Moisturizers vary a lot by skin type and time of day they are applied, so it’s hard to recommend just a couple that will work for everyone. Natropathica Calendula Hydrating Cream is one of EGB’s top sellers. Some clients use this as an all-day morning moisturizer and some use it at night, as it can seem a little thicker.

SPF: While we all love soaking in those sunny spring days, sunscreen is crucially important. Lucky for you, this part of your ritual only needs to happen in the morning. “Daily and consistent sunscreen use helps to prevent the development of fine lines and wrinkles, textural imperfections, and changes in the appearance of pores over time. More importantly, daily sunscreen use can help to prevent the formation of certain skin cancers.” source Find a product with SPF that you like to use every day. Try different products until you have one that you’re happy with, this will encourage you to use it regularly. Sunscreen is a product you do not want to skip.

I know we’re all busy and it’s hard to find time for a skin care ritual twice a day. Take the time for you. Self care is important and in the end, there’s only one person that can manage that time and that’s you. Close the bathroom door, take a few minutes and relax into your ritual, your skin and mental health will thank you.