Hello hello, how is it Wednesday again?
This week has been a blur. I gave facials yesterday, but otherwise I’ve spent most of it with family and the rest of it telling my dog that I wanted to switch places with him. Just for one day! He’d have a blast being in charge and I just know I’d excel at sleeping for 16 hours and not having hands to check my phone.
Yesterday at work, a client told me that she was amazed to see so much improvement from two of my recommendations she’d been skeptical about. The first was regularly icing her face. Icing brings down swelling, reduces inflammation and puffiness and soothes stressed skin. It’s beneficial for acne, post-procedure and just generally to wake up. I suggested she try doing this in the morning after cleansing, either with an ice cube or one of these, to bring down redness and puffiness, or when having a rosacea flare up. The second was to buy a humidifier! I recommend this to pretty much every client from November-February, and I recommend it to you if you live somewhere dry. A humidifier helps to replace moisture in the air and will ensure your skin, mouth and nose aren’t sucked dry overnight. I love the brand Carepod, which makes the easiest to clean humidifiers I’ve ever used. By chance, their team just informed me that they’re having a Valentine’s Day Sale right now, but you can save even more by using the code JOLDEF.
I’m always thinking about hydration and I don’t even own a Stanley or a Yeti to sit on my desk and constantly remind me!!! (I do own an Owala, but I usually prefer the accumulation-of-multiple-half-full-mugs-because-I-forgot-I-already-had-a-water-mug method.) Drinking water is very important, but your skin also needs topical hydration. I rarely go through a day of facials without explaining the difference between dry skin (lacks oil) and dehydrated skin (lacks water). Just like your body feels sluggish when it’s dehydrated, so does your skin. Skin needs water to successfully carry out many of its functions and is largely responsible for glassy skin. Hydrated skin looks less dull, because your skin needs water to naturally slough off dead skin cells. Hydrated skin improves elasticity, barrier function, helps prevent pimples and makes your makeup sit better. When your skin is dehydrated, it overproduces oil to compensate for the lack of water. Ever use the heaviest, greasiest moisturizer but still feel tight? You’re dehydrated, my friend!!!!! Gotta trap that water underneath before using your oil-heavy products! Here are some of my favorite hydrators.
How often should I use a sleeping mask? Thank you!
Like so much in skincare, it really depends – on the mask, your skin, your concerns and your preferences. Also like so much in skincare, the definition of a sleeping mask is a little murky and sometimes just marketing, so there’s a lot of room for variation in how someone uses one.
Quickly, let’s review moisturizers vs. face masks. A moisturizer is a product with some combination of humectants (water binding molecules), emollients (skin softening agents that smooth the surface) and/or occlusives (larger, heavy molecules that sit on the surface and prevent water from evaporating). Many moisturizers are fine to be used both day and night, but something advertised as a night cream will be thick, with more occlusive ingredients and absorb slowly to keep your skin comfortable throughout the night.
Face masks come in many forms, but are typically rinsed off and don’t fully absorb, while still depositing active ingredients into the skin. Masks generally have higher concentrations of active ingredients and are designed to target specific concerns.
Sleeping or overnight masks sit somewhere between a night cream and a face mask. They’ll have a combination of humectants, emollients and occlusives, plus some more potent ingredients. They’ll still be on the thicker, occlusive side, but not so thick that they don’t absorb at all and ruin your sheets. The active ingredients will be able to work their way into your skin over the course of a few hours. Some may have residue to be rinsed off in the morning, whereas others may absorb completely. Some may also take the place of your moisturizer completely or can be used on top. A lot of that comes down to personal preference.
When deciding how often to use a sleeping mask, consider the directions, ingredients and its purpose. Again, it’s often up to you. Looking through some popular overnight masks, most say you can use as often as desired, so I’d take that to heart and figure out what you desire! Try it on top of moisturizer and without. Try once a week then 2 nights in a row. Pay attention to how your skin looks and feels. This applies to the popular overnight masks from Laniege, Belief and Tatcha (which I often use as my sole moisturizer). If it says use 2 or 3 times a week for best results, like the favorite Sulwhasoo Overnight Vitalizing Mask, I’d listen to that, even if it doesn’t seem like there’d be any harm using nightly. Like a weekly hydrating hair mask, think of it like a special treat for your skin, where using too often can diminish returns. If it has active ingredients, like for brightening or clarifying, it’s best to treat those more like a regular face mask, just once or twice weekly, to minimize irritation. I couldn’t find a ton of these to be honest, except this one which has a high concentration of vitamin C and this one which has AHAs.
From the DMs…
quick questions & comments you may have too
I was wondering if you had any tips on getting a good cleanse when you can’t put much pressure on your face? I fainted and broke my nose and have a pretty big goose egg on my forehead. I want to wear some concealer but I’m worried about not being able to get it off effectively. Also anything for preventing scars? Oh no!!! I’m so sorry. For cleansing, I would get some Clean Skin Club towels. They’re single use, biodegradable and so so soft and gentle. I like to dampen one side to help rinse off excess cleanser and use the other side to pat dry. For scars, ice is going to be your best friend! And the manuka mask is incredibly healing and reparative. You could also pick up some classic Mederma to help with scar tissue.
In response to my Instagram story recommending Sofie Pavitt’s Mandelic Clearing Serum. Consolidated/edited for clarity.
When do you incorporate it in your routine and how often? It’s an exfoliating acid? I use it most mornings as the first step after cleansing on dry skin or after my LED if I’m using it. It’s super gentle so I can tolerate daily, but you might not need to! I’d recommend starting off every other day or every 2 days if you have sensitive skin. You could also use it at night if you aren’t using a retinoid, benzoyl peroxide or other exfoliant. And correct! Mandelic acid is an AHA like lactic & glycolic, but it’s very unique in that it has a much larger molecule size so it penetrates slower for less irritation, is both oil & water soluble & antibacterial to help with more types of acne.
In response to my Instagram story sharing an excerpt from Emily Sundberg’s newsletter–yes that one–shouting me out/blaming me for introducing her to the 30 Day.
Is the Bioeffect 30 Day Treatment a noticeable improvement or more subtle? Trying to manage my expectations lol. Noticeable within 30 days! (Newsletter addendum: I am very mindful of managing expectations, so I don’t say this lightly. You can use the 30 Day all the time, but the idea is 1-4 times a year as a booster treatment, then maintain with this or this.)
Three Other Things
Snail mucin’s ability to stay in the conversation is so impressive. @Capricorneum.skin recently made an incredibly informative post about its history, supposed benefits and how it’s collected (it’s not great!)
I watched the time lapse of Paris Jackson getting all 80 of her tattoos covered with makeup for The Grammy Awards approximately 600 times. Makeup artists are so talented! I am in awe of this setting spray’s ability to prevent transfer!!!
Did you hear? Dieux Skin is coming to Sephora.
Office Hours Reminder
Join us for Office Hours on Sunday! This exclusive weekly opportunity is available to paying subscribers.
Every Sunday at 5pm EST, I’ll begin a new thread for the week in Substack Chat, where you can ask me anything. Every Monday from 5-6pm EST, I’ll be in that chat live, answering questions for the hour. That way, if you can’t make it, you can submit any time after 5pm Sunday and still get an answer. If you can make it live, join in! You can ask questions in real time and (hopefully) interact with others in class ;)
Discount Codes
Carepod Humidifier: JOLDEF for more savings than their V-Day Sale
Experiment: JOLIE10 for 10% off
Jordan Samuel Skin: JOLIE15 for 15% off
Ställe Studios: HOTLINESKIN for 15% off
Have a great week! Hug your loved ones extra tight.
xx,
Jolie
P.S. You may have noticed I’ve been exploring new formats and sections for this newsletter. If you have any, I’d love your feedback, just reply to this email.