Awesome and Proven Skin Care Products for Active Lifestyles

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What’s this? I’m a photographer writing about proven skin care products for active lifestyles? Shouldn’t I be writing about shutter speed and aperture settings?

Actually, skin care and photography go together like lenses in a camera bag!

How? Outdoor photographers live active and hectic lifestyles. We’re shooting at the crack of dawn, braving battering winds, sweating (yes, sweating!) buckets as the summer heat and sun rises. We live in and for nature’s changing elements.

The reality is that I’m rolling out of bed to make the change from sleep time to go time in a 10-15 minute window. That includes my high priority skin care regimen!

The idea of sitting in front of a mirror, taking my time, sounds like both a luxury and a loss of precious outdoor time. That just doesn’t happen in my world. Skin prep needs to be quick, easy and effective.

Proven Skin Care Products for Active Lifestyles – By Whom?

And seriously, I really don’t want to look as if I only spent ten minutes. Nor do I want to send my skin into the future before it’s time.

S. Watkins

Just as we protect our gear, we need to preserve and protect us too.

So many ads share how their products are proven, tested by doctors, the millions. We want the products to be tested well before they’re available to us. Yet, we know the reality drill. The reality is you’re testing a product the first few times you use them. If they work, awesome. If not, it’s on to find something else that works for us.

The real test on any product(s)? Is how they work with your skin, your routine to repair, protect and nurture.

My list of products have been proven to be effective for me in the field and life over many years. I’m not a one-brand girl. I use what I’ve found works across multiple brands through my 30’s, 40’s and now 50’s.

Here’s a photo of me taken with my smartphone in the car. I had just had a haircut and highlight so I snapped it. (I hate having my picture taken, my life is behind the camera!) It’s not touched up other than lifting the exposure since the sun highlights were so strong. There’s even a pimple – egad!!

I guess I’m happy with the skin I’m in though. Yes, it’s work. Annual skin checkups with my dermatologist. Yes, I get Botox between my eyebrows. But, I refuse to ever go under the knife for plastic surgery. There’s nothing wrong with it, it’s just not for me. I am aging, we’re all aging. It’s a gift combined with the other ‘gift’ of our bodies changing with it.

My Test of Skin Care Products for Active Lifestyles

My test? Living in the outdoors daily while keeping my skin healthy. In addition to photography, my outdoors includes years of running, biking, hiking, birding, tennis, snow and water skiing.

Oh yes, my hubby uses all of my products. He leaves this lids on, so we’re good. Men need to care for their skin too.

My skin care list ranges from morning to bedtime and in between. My complete list is available is in my Amazon Storefront. ( Sheen Watkins Amazon Page.)

Some of these you may have tried, some you’ve been interested in and wanted another opinion, or you just looking for something new to add to your routine. Or, you may have something that you swear by, please share!

Morning Cleanse

Cleanse: Since I was a kid, I’ve started every day with Dove Beauty Bar (Amazon). The original Dove Beauty Bar, not the variations! Seriously, this is the only soap I’ve used on my skin with the exception of business travel and it was left behind. It’s clean, skin softening and gentle.

Do you remember their TV ads from years ago? It’s still locked in my brain that each Dove bar has 1/4 cup of moisturizing lotion. Ah, I digress.

Morning Moisturize

Refresh & Moisturize: My dermatologist turned me on to Dermalogica’s products. Their cruelty-free, no animal testing ethics and standards in addition to their overall business practices sets an example for many other companies. Plus they’ve been cruelty-free certified by Leaping Bunny and PETA.

Dermalogica’s ingredients read like a heath food store. Different products include wild yam extract, pea extract, rose, clove, cucumber, arnica, grape seed extract, vitamins and more. The majority of their products are vegan, only five are not as of this blog.

Their Antioxidant Hydrating Mist (Amazon) starts the routine with a refreshing, one-spritz moisture mist. This is more than a simple mist though. My skin is more hydrated and protected. The mist provides an antioxidant protection against free radicals too.

For an eye creme, Dermalogica’s Intensive Eye Repair (Amazon) powers in moisture and hydration to help repair damage and premature aging.

My mist blends and extends the nourishing, feel-good skin moisturizing purO3 skin emollient (Amazon). Made with organic coconut oil and ozone (activated oxygen), it softens my face, neck and other areas needing care. At first, I thought this would be oily (hence the ingredients). It is oil that absorbs into your skin and just feels good. It’s another crazy price performer too. One small jar lasts about 6 months and that’s with morning and night usage.

While I’ve used the purO3 skin emollient (Amazon) solo, the climate I live in is harsh. Our extreme Michigan frigid temps force extreme care. I add in a strong moisturizer: Bare Haven from Bare Minerals after the purO3 skin emollient (Amazon) has been on my skin a minute or two.

While not included in this article, Bare Minerals (Amazon) (it began with their starter kit) continues to be my cosmetics of choice for face foundation, blush and eyeshadow.

The Day: Loving the Sun, Protecting from the Rays

Face & Skin: If I could only message me back when I was young, wrinkle-free and no sun damage. I would say, “Wear sunscreen, wear cute hats, protect your skin and for god’s sake don’t lay out under the sun and bake till you’re red as a lobster.”

Then I would hand me tube of Neova’s Silc Sheer Sunscreen (Amazon) and give myself a personal escort from the sunny beach to an umbrella covered lounge chair.

They named Neova’s Silc Sheer Sunscreen coverage “Photo Finish.” There’s a very sheer tint that’s does double duty as a moisturizing foundation. But it’s definitely NOT a color foundation (my husband loves this stuff!) I apply Neutrogena’s Dry Touch Sunscreen (Amazon) to exposed body parts. This is my most recent addition that replaced a thicker, sticky body sunscreen.

Lips: My next favorite resides in our cars, my camera bag, my dresser. Truth is my husband converted me to Blistex twenty-six years ago. Sun protection. Soft lips. Prevents dry, chapped lips. And with more and more of our fashion statements including a mask, who wants to wear lipstick underneath their mask? The smudge factor. The mess on my mask. That just sounds yucky!

Eyes: Last by not least on the protection front, another product that’s everywhere. My Tears eye drops (Amazon). As I’m out in the elements photographing or behind a computer screen, my eyes pay the price.

We don’t blink as much when we’re looking through the lens or at our computer screens. To avoid eye discomfort, I use Tears before I head out of the house and throughout the day.

Proven Skin Care Products for Active Lifestyles – Nighty Night!

Time to shut it down. We’ve pushed our cameras, our bodies, eyes and minds. We’re ready to fall face first into our pillow. Before I hit the hay, my skin receives nightly care. Keeping with the 10 minute rule, it’s still both simple and thorough.

Every night it’s a complete face and body cleansing and moisturizing. To remove heavy dirt, sunscreen, makeup (on rare occasions), I start with Dermalogica’s Precleanse followed by their Essential Cleansing Gel (Both at Amazon).

Twice a week, I give my face a gentle scrub with Dermlogica’s Daily Superfoliant (Amazon). With activated charcoal, it gently removes the bad stuff and leaves our skin feeling smooth and super clean. Sometimes I think I hear my pores say ‘ahhh’. I know I do!

From there it’s back to my purO3 skin emollient, eye cream and a last shot of Blistex and Tears (All at Amazon).

For the rest of me, depending on the time of year, I’m reaching for Cerave Daily Moisturizing Lotion. For days that I feel the dryness starting to surge, then the tub of heavy duty Cerave Moisturing Cream (All at Amazon) delivers that extra power punch of moisture that my skin soaks in.

Face cleansed, skin moisturized and I’m done! That is unless I can get a foot massage from my hubby. My favorite? Burt’s Bees Coconut Foot Cream (Amazon). When he’s completed the too-short of a massage, the feet go into a pair of socks so the ingredients soak in to my skin.

Parting thoughts and actions

There are times new products refresh our skin and routine. Other proven performers continue to stand the test of time. Our action? Provide our skin with the best care that we can and find the products that work for us individually.

And that my friends wraps up a good day of being outdoors, active and taking care of our skin. Nighty night!