Environ skincare

A beauty therapist friend of mine introduced me to Environ skincare products more than a year ago and although I got distracted I’m now regularly on that skincare regime and have advanced to AVST 5 with my daily moisturiser (explanation below). The reason I went back on it is because I started developing pigmentation marks on my forehead and cheeks and Environ products are known to assist in improving uneven skin tone and appearance of sun damaged skin. Here’s my story :

One morning last summer I stared in the mirror and couldn’t quite understand where that darker blotch of skin between my eyebrows had come from. It looked like I had done a bad job at applying a tanning lotion on my face. I had noticed a slightly darker coloration on my cheeks but they were not as noticeable as this new addition on my forehead. It took me a couple of days to realise what this was and I think I was just in denial, hoping the marks would just disappear. Of course they didn’t (and still haven’t… completely…) ! I cannot explain the devastation I felt, our wedding was coming up and it was the middle of summer, we were enjoying a heatwave and I do like the sun… I develop a tan very fast and I couldn’t really accept the idea of hiding from it and not being able to just lie out in the sun again. Because that would just make the pigmentation worse. Of course I use sunscreen but not all the time… and from that point on I made sure that I always applied at least SPF15 on my face. This sounds awfully dramatic and I describe it like my life was over but anyone with a similar problem can hopefully relate to this.

I started testing and buying different foundations to help conceal the pigmentation and I must have gone through quite a few products and I must have been relatively happy with the result but I knew I had to do something more serious about it. So last autumn I became a regular at Skin3 salon that at that time offered a free skin analysis consultation. They use Environ creams and facials to fortify your skin topically meaning that it will be protected from environmental aggressors which contribute to the ageing process. The products also boost collagen while reducing lines and sun damage, giving you a more radiant, youthful appearance. The AVST face creams have a step-up system, each level containing a bit more vitamin A, C and antioxidants.

I use the following products:

• Sebuwash – daily (evenings)
• Toner – daily (evenings)
• Colostrum Gel – daily (both mornings and evenings)
• AVST 5 – daily (both mornings and evenings)
• Revitalise mask – once a week

Since March 2015 I have also been having monthly Cool Peels with lovely therapist Hayley. I found a very thorough review describing the treatment so I won’t go to great lengths myself. I’ve had five peels and I’m due one more and although I wish I could say my skin is 100% better… it’s slowly on the road to recovery but that also means I need to keep up with the regime and take extra care of my skin. Something I wasn’t too good at in the past apparently, why else the pigmentation? Sure, it’s probably a combination of hormones going a bit crazy too but that’s not a consolation.

I wish I had those before/after photos of my face because there is a bit of progression to see since summer last year. The marks on my cheeks and forehead are there and still very visible but if anything… they’re slightly fading and I hope it continues. And as my good therapist Hayley keeps saying, nothing will happen in a week’s or month’s time, this will unfortunately take years. In the meantime I’ve found the best mineral foundation to hide my uneven skin tone: Jane Iredale’s Purepressed Mineral Powder. It’s a foundation, powder, concealer and broad spectrum sunscreen with SPF 20 UVB/UVA all in one! I really swear by it and it’s part of my daily make-up regime, except for the weekends when I sometimes dare to go bare.

Sometimes I wish I could turn back time and I wish I had been more careful in the sun. My skin did get a lot more sensitive after spending seven years in Ireland where there is almost never any sunshine. That sort of thinking is rather useless so I have kind of accepted that my skin tone will remain quite uneven for a long long time and I just need to have a little patience.

I would really like to hear from readers who might be going through something similar and what you have done about it. What changes did you make in your skincare regime, what products do you use, are there some home remedies that you swear by etc.

Thanks for reading. xx