Babyzen YoYo2 Stroller Review

A review of the ultra light weight compact baby zen yoyo2 stroller

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Babyzen YoYo2 Stroller Review
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Why Tinted Sunscreen is All the Rage

We have been talking a lot about visible light and skin lately, especially with increased screen time, so what’s the...

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Why Tinted Sunscreen is All the Rage
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Pregnancy Safe Skincare

I wrote a post on breastfeeding safe skincare last week and I wanted to touch on another super popular topic:...

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Pregnancy Safe Skincare
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Elvie Pump Review + Giveaway

I am so excited to finally share my Elvie pump review, and that I am teaming up to giveaway a...

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Elvie Pump Review + Giveaway
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Breastfeeding Skincare

I’ve written previously about pregnancy skincare, but another popular topic is breastfeeding skincare. I just did an Instagram live (watch...

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Breastfeeding Skincare
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#DermsHolyGrail: Dr. Amelia Hausauer

Another week, another #DermsHolyGrail, this time featuring Dr. Amelia Hausauer, a board-certified dermatologist who practices in Northern California. Amelia is...

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#DermsHolyGrail: Dr. Amelia Hausauer
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Behind the scenes with VoluSmooth - how we created a brand new ingredient and what it means for your skin

Hi everyone!

I’m so thrilled to share with you all a very special ingredient complex we’ve been quietly cooking up for over three years with forty brilliant chemists!

I wanted to share more about why we created the ingredient complex, the behind-the-scenes process we went through, and what this ingredient complex can do for you.

Peach & Lily was founded to help you transform your skin — that’s our single-minded mission. I grew up with severe eczema and problem-skin. I know what it feels like to struggle with visible rashes, bleeding, and itchiness. It made me feel like I had no control over my skin and I sometimes felt hopeless. I went to esthetician school twenty years ago to see what I could learn to improve my skin. That started a journey of constant learning and hands-on practice to finally transform how my skin looks and feels.

I started Peach & Lily to help you do the same. And the Peach & Lily Collection was created to help everyone – all skin types, skin tones, skin issues are welcome! – see visible improvement for their skin.

The Peach & Lily Collection is 100% worry free: clean, non-toxic, effective, gentle, spa-grade, cruelty-free. We obsess over every last ingredient and every sensorial effect and evaluate results with incredibly high standards – because your skin deserves the best.

Even if it takes a village of chemists and many rejections from labs and lots of “that’s not possible” type answers, we push to create unparalleled formulas for you.

There are two very commonly-raised issues from our skin community that inspired the development process of our Skin Shield and the hero ingredient, a first-of-its-kind proprietary complex called VoluSmooth™: 

1. “I wear SPF daily and have a meticulous skin routine, but why do my dark spots, breakouts and dullness persist?”
2. “I love my primer/makeup base and the beautiful smooth finish that evens out texture, but I feel like it’s making me break out and making my skin worse. What can I do?”

 

Here’s what’s happening. For question 1 that we see come up a lot, one silent attacker on our skin is pollution. Many studies show that pollution is a leading skin-damager like the sun’s harmful rays. Pollution-damage looks a lot like sun-damage! For question 2, I understand. It’s a vicious cycle. You want to wear beautiful priming products to cover texture left behind from breakouts or the look of visible pores and fill in lines – but then when you use the wrong products, it only exacerbates the underlying issue.

All of this led to a vision to create a beautiful, smoothing, blurring, skin-texture-evening, bounce-creating, cushiony finish – and here’s the catch – that also actively combats things like pollution-damage and is good for your skin. That’s the dream — having a primer that makes your skin look beautifully smooth right away but also improves your skin from within over time.

Over three years ago, we enlisted the partnership of forty chemists to make this dream come true for you!

I know the complexity that goes into creating one-of-a-kind Peach & Lily formulas, but creating a novel ingredient complex was a whole new challenge. It was incredibly fascinating and exciting to see each day bring the vision of what we wanted to create for you one step closer.

Creating ingredient complexes is a lot like cooking: there’s some science involved (things will boil in scalding hot water, oil and water don’t mix, and other facts that no great chef can bend or get around) and then there’s a whole lot of art involved. Certain ingredients detract from each other and some enhance the other. Vaporizing something first results in a totally different outcome than using that ingredient in a different format. There are literally millions of permutations of ingredient combinations and process steps. The skill, patience, and creativity of the chemist can create vastly different outcomes. Similar to how the Executive Chef of a three-star Michelin-ranked restaurant has a different artistic touch (read: extreme skills, lots of patience and practice, innate creativity and talent, among other elements that sets this person apart) than an average line cook, cosmetic chemistry has a lot of talent and art involved.

So, we sought out the best chemists, collaborated deliberately, and took our time. We wanted the ingredient that would act as a skin protector and provide a beautiful finish to be 100% plant-based and highly skin-compatible. This means every skin type (even the most sensitive skin types) would be able to use this ingredient complex with zero irritation and experience soothing benefits.

We considered a wide plant variety range (I now know the latin name of countless botanicals) and spent a lot of time seeing how various plant extract mixes work together.

Behind the scenes, this requires a ton of testing. We isolated variables to see which element gave that beautiful finish, and that calming effect and that glow.

After years of iterating, we saw the most amazing complex come to life: VoluSmooth™ which includes bamboo stem extract, mulberry leaf extract, and burdock root extract. That’s it. There’s no other filler ingredients or harsh chemicals. VoluSmooth™ is entirely plant-based/vegan, cruelty-free, gluten-free and super-effective.

It’s a first-of-its-kind silicone alternative that not only gives skin a smooth, stunning finish – but it helps your skin actually improve from within while fending off damage.

As a side note, given that we formulate and make the Peach & Lily Collection in Korea where the beauty innovation and natural beauty world is so advanced, I love that these three ingredients are more commonly used in everything from Korean cooking to Korean herbal remedies as a nod to our Korean heritage.

Bamboo stem extract is really incredible – it can provide some of the sensorial and textural benefits of silicone (without the film-y, pill-y element) and it serves to strengthen and fortify your skin barrier so that your skin can better fend off damage.

Mulberry leaf extract is rich in antioxidants and helps calm signs of irritation. It’s also rich in flavonoids which can help discolored skin look more even and radiant.

Burdock root extract is one of my favorite ingredients as it’s a powerhouse in helping to quell inflammation. It has been historically used to help those with eczema (me!), psoriasis and acne.

Together, these ingredients comprise VoluSmooth™ which powers the Skin Shield Blurring Primer.

Creating this complex was a labor of love for our Peach community, and after three years, I’m thrilled to finally introduce you to a good-for-your-skin, protective complex that also makes skin look and feel smooth and plumped up with vibrancy.

Meet VoluSmooth™ the plant-based gamechanger in your new Skin Shield Blurring Primer. I hope this helps you tremendously in your skincare journey!

 

Cheers to radiance!

 

Xo Alicia

 

Behind the scenes with VoluSmooth - how we created a brand new ingredient and what it means for your skin
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Why you need a Skin Shield - learn how to protect against 4 surprising sources of skin damage

We’re here to empower you to transform your skin – with the right knowledge and the right products. When it comes to your skin health, many of you already know the importance of SPF, keeping skin hydrated, and using gentle cleansers over stripping ones.

 But there are a few lesser known facts about other daily stressors that contribute enormously to accelerated skin damage. This knowledge could be the difference between healthy, radiant skin versus skin that looks a lot like it has been sun damaged.

 Daily skin stressors – just the facts.

So what are the critical things to know? Let’s break them down.

Key daily skin stressors (other than the sun’s harmful rays): 

• Pollution
• Excessive phone time/blue light
• Internal stress
• Certain types of makeup products

 

Do these daily stressors damage our skin – and how bad is the damage?

The too-long, didn’t-read version is… yes. It’s bad and it’s real. (At the bottom of this article, we’re including a small sampling of studies that are eye-opening.)

Pollution

Pollution comes down to particulate matter in the air, which ranges from garbage to sulfates to mineral dust. Studies show that next to UV rays, pollution is a leading cause of premature aging. Pollutants are small enough to enter the skin, leading to the breakdown of collagen, the formation of dark spots, breakouts and can even cause inflammation. Pollution can lead to damage that looks uncannily like sun damage.

To take it one step further, different pollutants impact our skin in different ways. For instance, ozone pollution can lead to a depletion of antioxidants in the outer layer of skin while the assault from particulate matter on your skin is one of the leading causes of free radical damage.

Bottom line: pollution damages skin. SPF doesn’t keep pollutants out of our skin. Therefore, pollution goes unfettered in wreaking havoc on our skin.

Excessive phone time/blue light

Over the last ten years, there has been a meaningful spike in how much time we spend in front of blue light given the increased usage of smart devices. Studies show that this can lead to oxidative stress on the skin. And ultimately, oxidative stress can lead to accelerated skin aging. Bottom line: it’s unclear how much phone time leads to how much damage, but studies do indicate that it is not all clear skies when it comes to our exponentially higher screen time.

Internal Stress

Many of us lead lives with increased stress levels more often than we’d like. While we do recommend finding ways to manage stress, we recognize it’s easier said than done. It’s widely researched and studied that stress leads to higher cortisol levels and that can lead to a wide range of issues in our bodies, and for our skin. As it relates to skin, it can lead to breakouts, discoloration, lines and wrinkles, and other signs of accelerated skin damage. Bottom line: stress visibly impacts skin.

Makeup

Certain kinds of makeup can irritate skin, cause breakouts or dry out skin. Everyone is different, so some makeup that is well tolerated by others can be an intensive agitator for your skin and vice versa. Keeping skin protected with a non-pore-clogging, lightweight, healthy barrier between makeup and your skin can go a long way for you. Bottom line: some kinds of makeup products can be very agitating on your skin.

Quick note on free radicals:

All of these daily stressors can lead to free radical damage. Free radicals work against our skin by grabbing extra electrons from our skin’s atoms. When atoms are taken away from molecules in the skin, it can cause damage to skin’s DNA that can speed up the aging process. That damage can manifest itself in the form of a weakened skin barrier, dark spots, dull and sagging skin and ultimately can even cause certain types of cancer. Pollution and other environmental stressors can cause free radicals to form.

 

How can we protect our skin from these daily stressors?

A great skincare routine will ideally include hydrators, skin barrier fortifiers, a healthy dose of antioxidants and gentle, non-stripping products, and then of course, SPF in the mornings. And a great skincare routine can help fend off these daily environmental stressors, but ultimately, given the constant barrage of these environmental stressors, it’s incredibly helpful to have separate protection against these stressors.

Imagine walking down a dark street that makes you feel like something isn’t quite right. Having an athletic, well-built friend next to you can be reassuring and a deterrent from any potential danger. That’s like having a great skincare routine. Now, imagine you’re walking through a crowd where you know you’re a target and there will be potential attackers. In this case, that well-built friend doesn’t suffice. You want a well-trained bodyguard.

 

Enter the Skin Shield

The Skin Shield Blurring Primer is your skin’s bodyguard. Over the years, we’ve heard so much feedback about how environmental stressors are impacting skin. We wanted to create a specialized product for you that specifically focuses on fending off these environmental stressors. We wanted it to be that highly trained bodyguard for your skin – and feel amazing on your skin. After all, if it’s heavy, it pills, it looks shiny, or it isn’t delightful to apply, as much as we’d like to have our bodyguard around, realistically, we won’t use our Skin Shield.

In fact, to create that perfect skin bodyguard for you, we had to create our own ingredient complex. It took three years of research with forty chemists, but we kept pushing the boundaries of efficacy and texture because your skin deserves the best.

 

How is the Skin Shield your highly trained skin bodyguard?

We formulated the Skin Shield to be packed with protective elements for skin.

Antioxidants

First and foremost, we’re excited that this formula is incredibly antioxidant-rich because antioxidants help fight free radical damage that happens on a cellular level.  And the best way to neutralize free radicals is by increasing the amount of antioxidants in your skincare routine. “Antioxidants are compounds found in nature that stop or delay damage to the cells,” says Lauri Wright, Ph. D, R.D, L.D., assistant professor of nutrition at the University of South Florida. They can help replenish the number of electrons in a free radical so that it doesn’t pilfer from your skin’s atoms.

Vitamins, especially vitamin C

Vitamins are essential elements that give skin what it needs to help fend off damage. Among the vitamins, vitamin C is a superstar ingredient that is also a powerful antioxidant. Pure ascorbic acid can be a bit sensitizing for some skin types, so we included vitamin C through Camu Camu extract, which is gentler on skin but still includes incredible amounts of vitamin C. Camu Camu also includes flavonoids, anthocyanins and ellagic acid, and together Camu Camu is renowned for fighting off visible environmental damage, helping skin look brighter, more even-toned and smoother.

Ceramides

Our skin barrier is comprised of ceramides and fortifying the skin with ceramides allows for our skin to much better fend off damage. An issue we’re struggling with now is mask-induced acne and ceramides can help strengthen the skin to prevent maskne.

Aloe

We’re familiar with the soothing and anti-inflammatory benefits of aloe, and your Skin Shield has your back when it comes to soothing.

Cica or Centella Asiatica

This Korean Beauty superstar ingredient is known for helping to quell inflammation and calm skin.

 

BREAKTHROUGH INGREDIENT: VoluSmooth™

We created a 100% plant-based silicone alternative for you, so that you can get that blurred, velvety, beautiful finish – without a drop of silicone. Not only does our VoluSmooth™

Complex leave skin looking and feeling smooth and bouncy, the actual ingredients within VoluSmooth™ work to improve skin from within while fending off damage. Here’s what VoluSmooth™ is comprised of:

Bamboo stem extract: helps to fortify and strengthen the skin barrier to fend off stressors so skin looks vibrant and healthy.

Mulberry extract:  helps fight off environmental stressors which can cause accelerated signs of damage, and creates visibly brighter skin, leaving it with a glassy finish

Burdock root extract: antioxidant-rich superpower that helps quell inflammation that has been historically used to treat visible signs of eczema, psoriasis and acne, for skin that looks smooth and clear.

Consider your Skin Shield your specialized bodyguard that has been specifically created to protect you from the stressors your skin faces each day. And this product is part of the signature Peach & Lily Collection that is 100% worry-free, clean, effective, spa-grade, gluten-free, vegan and cruelty-free.

 

How to use your Skin Shield

Use daily in the mornings after your moisturizer and chemical sunscreen (mineral sunscreens can be applied over your Skin Shield). Keep your skin protected and enjoy your stunningly smooth and blurred finish.

Wear before makeup: Makeup grips perfectly and lasts longer on a smoother, more cushion-y finish, also serving as that protective barrier between your skin and makeup (and pollution and environmental stressors).

Wear without makeup: For days you want to go bare-faced, apply your Skin Shield for protection and a beautiful no-makeup finish with visibly smoother skin.

Wear under your masks: To keep your skin from dealing with maskne, apply before wearing your face mask.

Meet your skin’s new bodyguard. (hyperlink to product page)

Now, you can face your day head-on, 100% worry-free.

 

**

 

References worth reading through:

The Impact of Airborn Pollution on Skin, Journal of European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, August 2019

The Skin Aging Exposome, Journal of Dermatological Science, March 2017

Can Light Emitted from Smartphone Screens and Taking Selfies Cause Premature Aging and Wrinkles?, Journal of Biomedical Physics & Engineering, December 2018

Oxidative Stress in Aging Human Skin, Biomolecules, June 2015

Brain-Skin Connection: Impact of Psychological Stress on Skin, see below once you click through for a repository of more studies

Why you need a Skin Shield - learn how to protect against 4 surprising sources of skin damage
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Best Sunscreens for Summer 2020

It has been 4 years since I last published my top sunscreen picks here; we are way overdue for another...

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Best Sunscreens for Summer 2020
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#DermsHolyGrail: Dr. Donna Tran

Another week, another #DermsHolyGrail, this time featuring Dr. Donna Tran, a board-certified dermatologist who practices in Southern California. Don’t forget...

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#DermsHolyGrail: Dr. Donna Tran
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#DermsHolyGrail: Dr. Cynthia Abbott

We’re back on track with #DermsHolyGrail, this time featuring Dr. Cynthia Abbott, a board-certified dermatologist from Atlanta. Don’t forget to...

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#DermsHolyGrail: Dr. Cynthia Abbott
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#DermsHolyGrail: Dr. Zain Husain

Another post for #DermsHolyGrail, this time featuring Dr. Zain Husain a board-certified dermatologist from New Jersey. I love learning about...

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#DermsHolyGrail: Dr. Zain Husain
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Peach Skincare Academy Mentorship Program

We are so excited to introduce our Peach Skincare Academy Mentorship Program.

Peach & Lily was founded with a single mission: to help transform your skin. Our founder, Alicia Yoon, is a celebrity esthetician and a Korean beauty expert. She struggled her whole life with severe eczema and can personally attest to the power of learning to care for her skin. Years of studies and hands-on experience empowered her to be able to transform her skin.

We are an esthetician-led brand and believe that the esthetician community serves an important role in the skincare industry. We believe caring for your skin is powerful when combined with knowledge and accurate information -- estheticians who have studied how skin works and skincare extensively can help empower our community to achieve their best skin yet. 

**

We also believe that as a beauty brand, we have a responsibility to help create a more beautiful, just, equitable world. In the skincare industry, our Black community is underrepresented. As our ongoing commitment to uplifting our Black community, we are launching this mentorship program first for our Black community of estheticians/esthetics students. We will be expanding this program in the future to include others in our community as well.

**

This year-long program is dedicated to helping estheticians/esthetics students further their career and will be led by our founder, Alicia. 

The program will kick off with a one-on-one zoom call with Alicia, and will be followed by four in-person half-day sessions once a quarter, a end-of-year luncheon, and will commence with an introduction to a beauty recruiter to help maximize your career placement opportunities. Here are the session details:

1. Initial 1-on-1 zoom call with our founder Alicia Yoon to learn more about you and your career aspirations
2. Group Session 1: Ingredient deep-dive - going beyond what you learn in school to stand out in your field!
3. Group Session 2: Hands-on techniques - Korean beauty massages, Alicia's signature facial techniques and more!
4. Group Session 3: Deep dive into various areas to apply your esthetics license - and how to stand out in interviews. There will also be featured guests who will share experiences regarding their specific areas of esthetics. 
5. Group Session 4: Charting out career goals and mapping your path. 
6. Group luncheon: Commemorate program completion and celebrate you!
7. Introduction to a beauty recruiter to optimize career placement

**

Here are key dates to keep in mind!

• Application submission: 6/10-6/30
• Application review & follow-up: 7/1-7/10
• Interviews: 7/15-7/24
• Announcement of mentees: 7/27
• Program kick-off: 8/1

**

For consideration for the program, you must have a valid esthetics license or be enrolled in an accredited esthetics school. You must also be based in NYC or be able to travel to NYC as there will be hands-on sessions. This first class of mentees will be dedicated to our Black community of estheticians/esthetics students. The application will open up to our others in our community in the future. 

Click here for the application link!

We're so excited to meet our first class of Peach Skincare Academy mentees soon!

Sending all our peaches so much love.

xo,

Peach & Lily

Peach Skincare Academy Mentorship Program
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Everything you need to know about Maskne - and how to fight it

What is Maskne?

As the name suggests, “maskne” is newfound acne or bumps or general irritation of the face area where your protective mask goes over. While your skin barrier helps protect you in many ways, friction, rubbing and sweat trapped underneath a mask can cause skin to get irritated, leading to breakouts on our chin, mouth, and nose areas.

The constant, no-air seal pressure from mask, friction heat, and sweat can cause irritation, allergic reactions, acne, lines and discoloration. Stress – both physically on the skin barrier, and internal stress during these more challenging times — can contribute to “maskne”.

What causes Maskne? 

Wearing protective fabric over our faces for prolonged periods of time can take a toll on skin. And you may be tempted to reach for fast solutions, harsh drying ingredients, or just plain confused about how to approach this issue. To combat this newfound "maskne," it'll be key to understand the underlying cause for what might be triggering it in the first place — and addressing the issue more holistically.

Here are four main culprits that can trigger "Maskne":

1. Acne Mechanica: The first culprit your newfound maskne could be caused by is a form of acne called acne mechanica. It’s caused by the combination of rubbing from the mask, which irritates the skin barrier, as well as the hot moisture trapped inside, which dilates the pores and allows bacteria and oil to clog them up. 

2. Skin Barrier Disruption: This can lead to acne (and even acne mechanica) but also other issues — like more reactive skin, even accelerated signs of aging, all signs that your skin barrier has been disrupted. Wearing a fabric over skin that constantly moves around, and coupling that with a moist, potentially even very heated environment as we constantly breathe into the mask, can result in wear and tear on the skin barrier.

3. Dirty Masks: Using masks that are dirty and filled with bacteria can certainly exacerbate any existing issues or trigger new breakouts. Fabric masks, in particular, are prone to becoming petri dishes for bacteria to thrive. Make sure you’re washing your mask or spraying it down with 70% alcohol, for example, after you wear it. You don’t know what bacteria the mask has come in contact with and don’t want germs making their way into your nose and mouth. Make or buy a few masks, ideally in a softer fabric like a silk blend to reduce friction, so you can easily switch them out and wash them in-between uses. Important note: the most important element is the protective function of the mask. Your mask may not work well if it’s being sprayed down or washed (for example, some N95 masks should not be sprayed with alcohol), so be sure to check the directions so that you don’t compromise the protective function of your mask. 

4. Contact Dermatitis: In some instances, your reaction may not be acne at all, but a specific reaction to the fabric of the mask instead. Your mask itself can contain something that your skin is finding very irritating or finding to be an allergen. You may try one protective mask and be OK with it, and another type can suddenly break you out. With contact dermatitis, you may notice that your skin can get very inflamed, very red, very itchy — even weepy and rashy. The best thing to do here is to find the best kind of mask material for your skin that still provides the level of protection that you need.

So how do you combat Maskne?

There are universal things that help maskne, no matter what the cause, given the more stressed-out nature of skin when wearing masks. Here are three things to keep in mind:

1. Be gentle with skin:  Wash your face with a gentle cleanser before, and, after applying a mask in order to calm skin and prevent trapping bacteria under the mask and pushing it further into skin. If you’re using a harsh cleanser that strips skin dry, your skin will have a harder time withstanding all the stress induced by wearing a face mask. Try Power Calm Hydrating Gel Cleanser as it’s sulfate-free, low pH and hydrating and soothing.

2. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate: More hydrated skin tends to be stronger and healthier, so you’ll want to double down on hydration. What’s interesting is that when your skin flares up, you typically reach for something that is super-liquid-y and absorbent like an essence, but did you know that you can also boost hydration with a serum as well? You can’t go wrong with either the Wild Dew Treatment Essence and/or the Glass Skin Refining Serum. The Glass Skin serum formula includes niacinamide, which helps reduce inflammation and redness, hyaluronic acid to seal in hydration, madecassoside to help heal and fortify skin and peach extract to help nourish and bolster skin.

3. Exfoliate gently: While it is important to exfoliate during this time, if skin is weakened, using a harsh exfoliator can damage the skin barrier. We recommend Good Acids Pore Toner, which sloughs away dead skin cells and is gentle enough for daily exfoliation on even the most sensitive skin. This formula includes a pore-refining blend of AHA, salicylic acid, and glycerin to both exfoliate and hydrate your skin. 

Now, depending on your specific maskne culprit, on top of the above, here are solutions that can help: 

To combat acne mechanica: Start with Acne Spot Dots hydrocolloid patches to speed the healing process. With more than 30 million patches sold, the OG of pimple patches promises to keep bacteria out with its hydrocolloid material, while absorbing secretions from breakouts that you’re trying to get under control. Not only does it help keep bacteria from re-infecting the area, but it also pulls out any fluid that’s trapped in your zit. Bonus: The dots come in three different sizes and are thin enough so you can wear them all day undetected, even under makeup. Exfoliation is a key step here and our Super Reboot Resurfacing Mask effectively and gently exfoliates, resurfaces and retexturizes skin, ungluing impurities deep within pores to reveal fresh, clear skin.

To help fortify a disrupted skin barrier: Add in ceramides and fortifying lipids — both are instrumental in strengthening the skin’s barrier, ultimately helping improve the skin barrier function in acne-affected skin. Incorporate an oil that can help fortify your skin barrier and doesn’t clog pores like Pure Beam Luxe Oil. A multi-purpose solve-all-salve like KBeauty Rescue Balm gives places that attract friction extra TLC. And Lazy Day Pads come pre-soaked with moisturizing and nourishing ingredients that deliver benefits deep into pores.

To keep masks clean: According to Jade Flinn, a nurse educator for the Biocontainment Unit at Johns Hopkins Medicine who specializes in personal protective equipment (PPE), a good rule of thumb is to treat your mask like you treat your undergarments. “I always recommend that you change your mask like you change your underwear: daily,” she says. You can launder DIY cloth masks or bandanas in the washing machine, but Flinn suggests washing them separate from your other garments. Opt for the hottest setting on both your washer and dryer and use regular laundry detergent according to the instructions. 

Another important point Flinn makes: Be conscious of which parts of the mask you do and don’t touch in any part of the removal, sanitizing, or discarding process. Consider the exterior of the mask, and your hands, soiled after going out in public. “When you wear PPE, there should be a mindset change where you’re a bit more conscious of your environment,” she says. “It’s important to be aware of what you are touching.”

To combat contact dermatitis: A dermatologist can help and may prescribe a steroid or even suggest an over-the-counter hydrocortisone, but you should consult your doctor. In general, though, we recommend avoiding harsh products plus a skincare routine with skin-fortifying products and to double down on the hydration.

And if you’re looking for the best products to combat maskne all in one place, our Maskne Essentials collection includes our top picks from our estheticians to help you combat maskne and stay smooth-sailing.

Cheers to radiance, peaches!

 

Everything you need to know about Maskne - and how to fight it
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Sun Safety for Me and Baby

Sun Safety for Me May is skin cancer awareness month, and I wanted to put together a post on sun safety for adults and babies. I’ve written a few posts about sunscreen (a few times) and UPF swimwear before, and I wanted to update my recommendations. Melanoma is a scary diagnosis to receive and I […] Read more...

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Sun Safety for Me and Baby
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Mother's Day Wellness Ideas

Happy Mother's Day, peaches! We're celebrating all moms today for giving life and light. Thank you, moms, for all that you do. 

Whether you're a mom or celebrating your mom, here are five wellness tips to indulge in today or to share with your mom, to make today a bit more rejuvenating.

Take a Korean Half Bath: Need an easy way to get an extra boost of energy while melting away those feelings of stress? Fill up your tub with very warm water such that when you sit in it, the water reaches your belly button. Keep your belly button down immersed in the warm water. Keep your belly button up, including your arms out of the water. Tip: lean over the side of tub with arms dangling over the edge (holding a good book or just watching something on a propped up iPad)  for a comfortable position. Relax for twenty minutes. The difference in temperature in the lower body and upper body will help boost circulation. You'll feel revived and rejuvenated (and sweaty as the circulation gets that kickstart!). Power up after with a tall glass of water and you'll feel completely renewed.

Give yourself a hydrating, easy at-home facial: Skin feeling tired and lacking glow? Often times, the culprit is a lack of hydration deep in our skin. Drinking water doesn't unfortunately directly hydrate skin, but using topical humectants that bind water to skin can plump up our skin with hydration. Use a hydrating, gentle toner or essence like the Wild Dew Treatment Essence, and on clean skin, layer this on twenty times. Use your hands, and pat into skin. When you receive a professional hydrating facial, a spray device can be used that allows hydrating treatments to sink deep into skin. A good amount of hydrating ingredients (not just the one or two layers you'll apply during a typical skincare routine) can be effectively applied onto skin. And that's why after an intensively hydrating facial using these professional tools, skin literally looks born again and visibly plumped up and dewy. While we may not have these devices at home, gently patting in twenty layers of a hydrating essence or toner can have similar effects. Tip: turn on your favorite thirty-minute show, and as you watch, relax and pat on these layers. By the end of the show, your skin will thank you and you'll look like you just got that professional hydrating facial. 

Masking and breathing: Apply your favorite sheet mask and lay down for fifteen to twenty minutes. During this time, take deep breaths using your diaphragm to inhale deeply. Imagine those breaths you take in traveling down to your right toes, then with the next breath, imagine your breath traveling down to the middle of your right feet, then with the next breath, your right ankle, then with the next, your right shin. And so forth. And then your left foot and leg, then your torso and arms. Envisioning that deep breath and all the oxygen being carried to various parts of our bodies is both meditative and relaxing - and helps us to cultivate the habit of taking in deep breaths, even when we're going about our days. Remove sheet mask, pat it all in, follow up with your favorite moisturizer and emerge with a radiant face and your body filled with oxygen and calm.

Pamper your feet for a full-body effect: It's no secret that our feet have so many reflexology points and connect to the rest of our bodies. It might be hard during these times to be able to get a full body massage. One easy hack is to relax the feet. Fill up your tub and sit on the ledge, or a fill up a basin and bring it to your favorite armchair. The water should be very warm and come up to your ankles. Mix in with epsom salt and/or a drop of lavender or peppermint oil. Or just plain warm water will do. Relax for fifteen to thirty minutes. If you'd like and you can, find some stones of various sizes, rinse them off, and include them in the basin or tub. Lean your feet into the stones (be careful not to actually stand up, so that you're securely still sitting so that you don't slip), and let the stones add massage relief to the feet. If you loved how that felt, keep the stones around for your next easy foot bath. Helping our feet relax can help our whole bodies feel relaxed. And you deserve it, mama!

Clear your pores and your mind: Our favorite treatment for those very stubborn pores or to give skin a total deep-dive reset is to use the Super Reboot Resurfacing Mask followed by the Pore Proof Perfecting Clay Mask. The Super Reboot mask has clinically proven ingredients to help resurface and exfoliate skin instantly - think of it as a pro-grade chemical peel combined with a soothing mask (so yes, sensitive-skin friendly!). You'll have babysoft, fresh new skin. The Pore Proof mask meanwhile uses kaolin clay and bentonite to act as a "pore vacuum" and is infused with strawberry and cherry extracts as your mega dose of vitamin C and antioxidants. The Super Reboot mask can be applied for five to twenty minutes depending on your skin, then washed off; and the Pore Proof for about fifteen minutes, then washed off. Curl up with your favorite magazine or book for twenty to forty minutes (depending on your skin), and we encourage you to imagine all your worries leaving your mind along with your dead skin cells and trapped impurities leaving your skin -- and melt into positive thoughts or that compelling book or magazine you're reading.

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Moms - thank you for all that you do! We hope you feel celebrated today!

xo - Peach & Lily Team

 

 

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