Marissa, Gritty Beauty

08/07/2022

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07/11/2022

Picking causes your breakouts to go away slooooooowly and creates scarring that ruins the texture of your skin permanently.

If you experience breakouts, there is something very wrong with your skincare approach. Ongoing breakouts is a sign you have wasted money on products and treatments… once you get on the correct Daily Care Routine, your skin will begin to improve in about 21 days.

Once you are on your Daily Care Routine, I recommend quelling a purge with the Rinse Off Method using benzoyl peroxide. If you are allergic to BPO, then red light phototherapy with the Illuminate LED panel will heal it in no time.

Last, cover it up with your holy grail non-comedogenic foundation.

07/04/2022

Skin is a protective organ, which means it inevitably shows wear and tear as it ages. BUT If you have followed me long enough, you know that we are hacking beautiful skin together despite internal and external skin stressors.

If you don't want beautiful skin, use tallow. It does not mimic our skin's natural oil composition - it will create acne, barrier impairment, and inflamm-aging. It's thick and saturated and can be used to functionally waterproof leather and make flakey biscuits. But did you know it's been around as long as cows, and has never had a reputation for creating beautiful skin?

Women who reach out to me with reactive skin usually use products that are:

-biologically foreign to the skin, i.e. products that are homemade, high % of plant ingredients, essential oils

or

-mostly correctives, i.e. AHAs, salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide, retinoids, too many products (continued in comments)

06/10/2022

SUPER IMPORTANT: If you feel the need to use a concealer, there is something wrong with your skincare approach as you shouldn't be breaking out so much that you need to use a concealer daily.

Yes, you will be reaching for concealer at the beginning of your skin-clearing journey as I recommend that you conceal your acne to feel more confident... but a good quality foundation should be prioritized over a concealer, which is often too heavy to use to cover larger portions of the face.

Other than using concealers like highlighters for special occasions, I have found that most of my clients (once they have cleared their skin) only use concealers undereye... or they ditch them completely and use a good eye cream and brightener.

ALSO If you already have a favorite concealer that you use UNDER-EYE ONLY, you may be able to keep using it because it is considered a low-risk beauty product for acne-prone skin. This means that the concealer may not contribute to the formation of acne because the eye area usually can't form comedones.

WARNING: There are many liquid and cream concealers on the market that contain non-comedogenic waxes and/or oils. However, acne-prone skin may not tolerate the high % of these waxes or oils in the product,g as they may overly occlude the skin creating bouts of bacterial breakouts.

From left to right:

Il Makiage F*ck I'm Flawless Multi-Use Perfecting Concealer

Typology Tinted Concealer

Lily Lolo Mineral Concealer

100% Pure Fruit Pigmented® 2nd Skin Concealer

Comment with your favorite concealer and I’ll let you know if it’s acne-friendly!

06/03/2022

🚨Over-exfoliating and under-nourishing is a skin EPI-demic!

Your skin is not going to look stunning when you do the following:

🚩Peel it
🚩Pick it
🚩Shave it
🚩Suck it
🚩Scrub it
🚩Burn it
🚩Kill it
🚩Dry it out

Did you know, your skin wants to be plump and flawless?

When your skin is in bad shape:
You must take massive amounts of action to break the habits that got you there in the first place!

Confused? Tell me more… 👇🏻

05/29/2022

Light coverage foundations are a great way to show off your clear skin while evening out PIE and PIE… without breaking you out! Touch up with a little acne-friendly concealer and you're good to go!

Like with "green" beauty, acne-friendly BB/CC creams and tinted moisturizers are tough to come by!

Important! All-in-one beauty products are requested from me ALL THE TIME... yes, they are a good idea in theory, but not in practice! Some of the most essential products to keep separate are your moisturizer and your SPF, and here is why...

1. Your moisturizer needs to properly occlude your skin and also contain skin-identical lipids, which you are likely deficient in. All-in-one products are missing many key ingredients for healthy skin. Note: If you have oily skin, it's best to use a lightweight moisturizer before apply a tinted moisturizer.

2. If you think your skin is getting enough sun protection from other products that contain it, think again! You need reliable sun protection from a dedicated sunscreen - this needs to be a separate step applied between your moisturizer and foundation - if those product contain SPF, even better! Be sure the layer sunscreen atop your moisturizer before applying foundation.

(Two of these were discovered by Gritty Beauty client, Christy, and I found the other two on a whim.)

-Maybelline Instant Age Rewind® Instant Perfector 4-in-1 Matte Makeup - 6 shades, non-comedogenic, oil-free

-Yibu Beauty Multitasking Tinted Moisturizer - 2 shades, non-comedogenic, oil-free

-Mary Kay® CC Cream Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 15 - 5 shades, non-comedogenic, oil-free

-Fenty Beauty Eaze Drop Blurrring Skin Tint - 25 shades, non-comedogenic (to the best of my knowledge), oil-free

05/25/2022

WHAT IS THE ACNE DIET?

In some circles acne is called “diabetes of the skin” because of the close relationship acne has with blood sugar and insulin.

Even PSOS, endometriosis, and emenorrhea are tied to blood sugar imbalance - bingo! Many women with acne experience these negative reproductive symptoms. Also, many of these women report having unstable moods, poor sleep quality, tiredness, adrenal fatigue, and taking medications for these things that eventually lead to vitamin and minerals depletion.

Women with acne typically have a history of the following:

-Eating disorders
-Food intolerances
-Paleo and Keto
-Avoiding carbs and sugar
-Dieting
-Fasting
-Low interest in food
-Catabolic exercise like HIIT and cardio

What all of these lead to is under-eating, which has a massive effect of your blood sugar and your health.

Blood sugar imbalance has less to do with avoiding sugar and carbs, and MORE to do with eating enough healthy food throughout the day.

To start to see an improvement in the way you feel and your skin looks, start eating meals and snacks (with protein, carbs, fat) everything 3-4 hours. Hit your protein goal of 100g a day. And eat a small snack right before bed.

Female caloric needs vary, but you can aim for about 2000 calories a day if you are of average height and weight.

05/20/2022

READ THIS IF YOU ARE TIRED OF ACNE -

Acids, skin peels, scrubs, picking, extractions, dermaplaning, shaving, waxing, vacuuming pores, scrubbing, exfoliating, zapping, killing

All the ways that DON’T help you sustainably heal your skin.

Before you make an appointment or buy a new skincare product ask yourself if it’s helping your skin or hindering your skin. Deep down you know if you are working your skin too hard.

Skin goal: Comfortable, hydrated, healthy

Do nothing else, until you can sustain this day in and day out.

05/06/2022

The Natural beauty industry is notorious for creating beauty products that are unbeneficial for acne-prone skin. Just because a product says it's made from plants doesn't mean it's good for the skin.

It's wild to think that acne = toxic skin, therefore it's a myth that purging means the skin is detoxing. The irony is that essential oils and nut and seed oils superfluously used in natural beauty products are creating clogged pores, weakening the skin barrier, contributing to perioral dermatitis and other microbiome imbalances.

It makes more sense to detox from natural beauty as I've seen so many wrecked faces from using natural beauty products - some skin with permanent damage.

There are few natural beauty brands that are actually formulating with the skin in mind, especially when it comes to makeup - YIKES!

The most commonly recommend foundation for acne-prone skin is actually comedogenic… I believe this particular brand is claiming the product is non-comedogenic but it hasn’t been third-party tested.

I'm all ears! Ask me below if your favorite natural foundation is acne-friendly and I’ll let you know if it’s safe to keep using!

04/12/2022

04/12/2022

02/28/2022

A good skincare routine is:

1. Complete - it contains cleansing, moisturizing, healing, and targeted products, and SPF!

2. Utilizing the right products for your skin, excluding featured-ingredient serums (say no to hyaluronic acid and plant oil serums) and harsh exfoliants.

3. Communicating with your skin cells and fortifying with skin identifiable ingredients. A perfect partnership of corneotherapy and science.

4. Focusing your skin’s primary needs at all times, and then targeting issues like acne, hyperpigmentation, scarring, and skin rejuvenation when it’s time is right. Your skin doesn’t respond well to the firehose method, and this is on you! Create better habits!

5. Exposing your skin to active ingredients at the right volume, percentage, and frequency. Effective skincare is productive + intentional.

6. Swapping out products for gentle and powerful skincare devices as needed. You know like LED, microcurrent, and microneedling.

11/20/2021

I used to use the term acne-safe all the time. If you are Gritty Beauty Member, the files section contains dozens of lists that have "acne-safe" in its title, lists of beauty products that have been checked for comedogenic and acnegenic ingredients. I also use this type of wording on my website over and over, and I plan to update it to acne-friendly, and here's why...

Often, members post product checks for makeup and skincare products to see if they are safe or unsafe for acne. I often get this pitted feeling in my stomach because there are SO many variables that make products optimal for complex skin. First off, you CANNOT judge a product by its ingredients list alone. (It angers me that is not uncommon for reputable brands to mislabel!)

All about acne-safe. If you have worked with an esthetician trained in clearing acne (conventional or otherwise), they will most likely give you a long list of ingredients to avoid. They will also tell you to avoid consuming dairy, sugar, protein shakes, B vitamins, biotin, eating any high iodine foods, etc. They will tell you to frequently change your pillowcase and wash your makeup brushes, wash your face before and after exercise, and the list goes on and on and on.

I have no idea why humans are drawn to restrictions or rules. We see this with the mandates around us. It's a mindset of giving over power instead of being empowered.

You are never going to heal your acne if you give your life over to lists of rules. Your answers are going to come from within - observing how your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors affect your skin for better or for worse.

What if we lived our lives with integrity and took full responsibility?

Back to acne-safe... When it comes to skincare products, I have transitioned to the word acne-friendly, which leaves room for nuance. You have have heard me say the magic to clearing your acne is in the nuance.

11/14/2021

Ok ladies, especially you gals with acne… you need to invest in your foundation. A high-level foundation is an instant pick-me-up.

You need to reset your criteria for your foundation. Stop looking for natural brands, stop your drug-store habit, and stop your obligatory purchase from your friend’s MLM. You are a woman, and it’s time to grow up and buy yourself the foundation that makes your skin look it’s very best. When you have acne, this is vital!

Set the expectation that you may be spending $50 or more. Take time swatching shades to get the perfect match. Are you cool? Warm? Olive? Do you need a winter shade and a summer shade? Do you need a matte, semi matte, or dewy finish?

Not all foundation is acne-friendly. So be sure to check the ingredients against the list on grittybeauty.com. If you are a Gritty Beauty Member, check the files for a list of acne-friendly foundations. One of my favorite foundation is Mirabella Invincible Foundation, which is available in the Gritty Beauty Shop (tap the post).

What is your holy grail foundation?

11/02/2021

There is only ONE reason why your acne becomes suppressed, and it’s because your skin has become dehydrated.

Yes, there are topicals that can dry the skin out like crazy, like benzoyl peroxide and retin-A. They are not directly suppressing your skin, it’s an indirect effect due to skin dehydration.

There are a lot of Estheticians and skin pros who need a scapegoat to blame why your skin isn’t clear. And this has become a common one, especially those who promote more natural skincare products. But the truth is, even natural products can dry out the skin.

The reason why *skin desiccation* can suppress breakouts is because cellular turnover just slows down. It’s like a lasagne pan left out on your counter overnight. As soon as you soak that bad boy, the food starts to unstick. Skin hydration from humectant-based products will naturally “exfoliate” your skin because they keep it alive.

So yes, once you start a Gritty Beauty Routine, the skin rehydration process may cause a purge initially. Which is good! Call it a detox if you want.

I have come to appreciate topicals used on hydrated bouncy skin, which is the only way to use any treatment based product.

What other advice have you been given about your skin that is 🚩?

10/14/2021

Roccoco is phasing out their minis, so we have decided to do a 20% off mini sale so you can try those products you have eyeing. Grittybeauty.com is restocking every week, so keep your eye out! Until supplies last.

10/14/2021

Just FYI…

What do you call the SC?

10/13/2021

Can’t afford it? Don’t have time? But want your skin to look its best? …You prioritize what you value. Period.

Being desperate is a red flag! It just means you don’t want to invest your time and money in the process, and waste the time of everyone around you. But what you communicate is that you have no idea and will do anything to help your skin. Wrong! You challenge the skin pros you work with and create a lot of issues for them. You are inconsistent and wishy washy, and then expect them to be there for you when you are desperate again. You don’t trust them and then reach out to other skin pros to see if what they are saying is true. You deviate from your skincare plan and make no progress.

The truth is you don’t trust yourself. The best healing comes from a long term relationship - it’s in these professional relationships that a skin pro can pickup on the nuance, pinpoint patterns, and give you meaningful feedback.

Don’t start your skincare journey when you are desperate, start when you are ready to trust.

Have you had issues with trust?