Beautiful SkiN Consider skincare as self-care By Bridget Graham
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n order to have beautiful skin, we have to make sure we are taking care of it.
“Skincare is like going to the gym,” Kat James of Malibu Shine said. “Basically, you can go to the gym and spend one hour with a trainer—but it won’t keep you in shape. For whatever else you do [at a med-spa], it’s what you do at home that has the biggest impact.” At-home skincare can be as easy as a few minutes a day. “People will say three to five steps is too many,” James said. “But those steps can be done in as little as 15 minutes.” Her biggest tip: Exfoliate! Without exfoliation, skin ends up dull, and dead skin can’t utilize even those most expensive product. “Exfoliate two times a week,” she said. “The basic cell cycle is 26-28 days. Skin is meant to be sloughed off to be radiant and plump. You want fresh skin to absorb fresh product.” As James noted: Cleopatra took milk baths to exfoliate. (Milk is high in lactic acid, a natural exfoliant.) Meaning, the Egyptian queen knew the secret to beautiful skin. James’ other best tips? Remove make-up / wash face with a cleanser; use eye cream, a serum, lotion and a neck cream. “Consider this self-care,” James noted. “It’s a mindset to take care of yourself and your skin.” James has fallen into the mission of educating people on skincare and self-care. Her TikTok following is growing by the day, up to almost 332,000 followers at the time of this MTM story.
And, it all started when she found the social media platform by accident through her children. (She was using theirs, which they subsequently banned her from so she didn’t “ruin” their algorithm.) With an 89% female following, between the ages of 35-75, this wide demographic demonstrates that no matter our age, we want to know the secrets of good skin … without the gimmicks. “There will always be trends and gimmicks, so don’t jump on the bandwagon” James said. “But there are certain ingredients that will always be beneficial to all. Those include hyaluronic acid serums, and products that provide hydration.” Skincare at the spa really falls into two categories: anti-aging and problematic. Some of the best tools for anti-aging include radio frequency and microneedling. They fall into the “medium cost” range James said, but said there is a huge ROI for the skin. For problematic skin, look for microdermabrasion and deep cleansing treatments at the spa. Not only is skincare a huge beauty focus for 2022—but so is makeup and color. Which means there is room for lots of fun. “I think it started with the show ‘Euphoria’ and the very futuristic makeup look,” James noted. “It really opened up looks we haven’t seen since the 80s and 90s.” She noted that trends have been nude and naturals for so many previous seasons but now we’re shifting color to the mainstream—especially on the eyes. It was most prevalent with the idea of masks only exposing the top
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