Paula Begoun’s skincare tips!

I’ll admit now that I’m a sucker for skincare products; I love the thought of a face wash making my skin perfect, or an eye cream that will slow down the ageing process.  That was, until a few weeks ago when I had the chance to meet and talk to Paula Begoun (aka the cosmetic cop!).

This woman has honestly changed my whole view and outlook on skincare, ingredients and certain skin care brands.  Paula has written a tonne of books about skincare, makeup and the ingredients that companies put into their products and has researched thoroughly into what ingredient does what in almost every skincare product out there on the market. 

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Paula told us her five top tips in skincare, which now make SO much sense to me and I will be following her tips religiously from now on!

1) Expensive doesn’t mean better (SO TRUE!).  Just because a product is expensive doesn’t mean it will be any better for your skin.

2) NEVER buy products in a jar/pot packaging – the minute the product is opened and circulated with air the ingredients start to immediately break down and become useless – all the goodness from them disappears.  It is also unhygienic as your dipping you fingers in and out “no matter how clean you think your fingers are, there are always bacteria lurking on them”.  You should buy products in a pump packaging for a tube with a small opening.

3) You DON’T need an eye cream!!  There is no need for a separate product to use around the eyes, all you need is a really good moisturizer with the exact same brilliant ingredients in that your whole face needs.  There is no scientific proof that the skin around your eyes needs a lighter cream (in fact eye creams are usually thicker than day creams). 

3.5) Whilst we’re on this subject, there is also no point in a separate night cream, the only difference between the day and night cream should be that the day one contains an SPF.  Again, there is no point in a separate product, the same perfect one should be good to use at any time in the day/night.

4) SUNSCREEN, SUNSCREEN, SUNSCREEN, SUNSCREEN!  The most important thing you need in your regime.  Paula explained how you need to wear a sunscreen 365 days a year and that the minute your skin is exposed to sun it and your DNA begins to mutate and break down.  Not good.  A good example of what the sun does your skin is to look at the inner side of your arm, where the sun hardly falls on – notice its smooth, wrinkle free, sun spot free and springs right back when you pinch it – full of elasticity and collagen.  Now look on the outer side of your arm – sun spots (these get worse as you age), not as supple and soft looking as the inside.  Imagine if our whole bodies looked like the inside of our arms – we’d be perfect and baby butt smooth all over!

5) There isn’t a miracle ingredient.  Full stop.  Even if there was, every skin is different and needs something different – skin is complicated and not everyone can be cured by the same miracle stuff. 

Five easy steps to save you money in chemists and pharmacies for sure!  After meeting Paula I went through my entire skincare product box and binned a lot of products and I feel so much better now.  I have also just started using Paula’s own skincare line (name Paula’s Choice) and have seen results already (her range is fragrance and irritant free, so its not going to make my skin react, but should sort out problem areas).  I will update after a month of using the range!

Paula has also just released her new book ‘Don’t go to the cosmetics counter without me, 8th edition’, which is an actual makeup bible.  In the book Paula and her team have trialled, tested and analysed the ingredients in almost every skincare and makeup item out there, so you can read mini reviews of whether the product is any good, what the texture/formula/colour is like and whether its up to scratch basically!  Before I buy any more skincare products I am now going to look it up in the book (which has 1191 pages!) to see whether its worth my money.  You can also find her mini reviews online here on beautypedia.com.

What skincare tips do you live by?  Do you check ingredients before you buy skincare products?

xxx

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35 Comments

  1. June 29, 2011 / 5:16 pm

    wow great post! I have never paid much attention to Paula although have heard of her before. but I'm a complete skincare junkie and this post made me think a lot! i might buy the book! thanks for the post xo

  2. June 29, 2011 / 5:17 pm

    This is a really interesting read! I try to avoid jars/tubs but sadly the moisturiser I'm trying currently only comes in a tub, which is a bit of a niggle for me!
    Apart from that, I currently swear by natural ingredients, and I've always doused my face in witch hazel, morning and night! x

  3. June 29, 2011 / 5:30 pm

    Sophie – I'd actually never heard of her before (booo to me!), but now I'm obsessed, she is the god of cosmetics! I really recommend the book, I can't put it down, I might photograph a few pages and pop them up in a post so you can all see what its like! XX

    Jenny – I found her points fascinating also. One of my favourite moisturizers is in a jar tub too (TBS Vitamin E Day cream), but I've only used it once since meeting Paula!
    I wish everything I used had only natural ingredients in! XX

  4. June 29, 2011 / 6:10 pm

    I had never heard of Paula before but omg what she says is totally true. I never saw the point in a night cream might as well use your morning moisturizer in the evening and it would save a whole lot of money.
    I would be really happy if you would take photos of the book and post it here 😀

  5. June 29, 2011 / 11:34 pm

    This is the most interesting post I've read these days! Very informative and precise! I just can't 'digest' number 3! Is it that we are such an easy target for cosmetics companies and their marketing plans, and we are just trained to believe that we need eye-creams? I'm buffled!

    Please post some photos of the book. Amazing post again 🙂

  6. June 29, 2011 / 11:52 pm

    I just read some of her mini-reviews and I'm in shock! A few hours ago I was writing this review on Clarins Beauty Flash Balm, and she actually thinks it's 'extremely average'. I was raving about it. Great. Ok..I really have to explore her site..Thanx for the info!

  7. June 30, 2011 / 2:22 pm

    These tips make so much sense!
    Especially the 3.5- there are a lot of companies out there that release new skincare lines containing a separate night cream, while the day cream has no spf! I recently became serious about using sun protection throughout the year and I got a Korres moisturiser with a mere spf6… Isn't that lame?

    Thanks for sharing all these wonderful tips, Katie 😉

    xx

  8. June 30, 2011 / 11:30 pm

    Amazing post!!
    I would LOVE to meet Paula B! I have her 'Don't go to the cosmetic counter without me' book which I literally use for everything! I won't buy a product until I've read what Paula thinks haha! xxx

  9. July 1, 2011 / 10:40 am

    This was a really interesting read! It's made me think a lot about the products I use. I'm obsessed with natural ingredients, and I use extra virgin olive oil on my skin at night as a moisturiser and it's amazing! Lemon juice and caster sugar also makes a really good exfoliator, you should definitely try making your own stuff up so you know exactly what's in it 🙂 xx

  10. July 1, 2011 / 4:40 pm

    Excellent post! Really well written and informative and, gosh, you do pay attention, don't you?! Certainly makes you think…

  11. July 4, 2011 / 10:11 am

    wow, its a very informative post and its actually pretty interesting

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  12. July 8, 2011 / 7:23 am

    Another homemade cleanser can be made by adding a few drops of lemon or lime juice or apple cider vinegar to milk and for me this natural skin care is still the best to consider.

  13. July 30, 2011 / 9:04 pm

    perfect:) thanks for sharing:)

  14. August 3, 2011 / 10:24 am

    Many did not know that being expose to sun causes brake down of DNA in our skin.And all the information's you provide are all very true.

  15. Nat
    August 30, 2011 / 8:29 pm

    Firstly I can't BELIEVE I have only just discovered your blog. I sense this is going to become religious reading so I'm not sure whether to thank you or not for probably taking up a lot of my time now 😉 (meant in the nicest way possible ha!).

    I did want to ask a few things about Paula's Choice products though. Are you still having positive effects from using it/are you still using it? Which products did you get? I've just bought the face wash (literally as a result of your high praise here and then elsewhere on the net when I did a bit of research!) and am waiting for it to be delivered. Currently having the most irritating breakouts so hoping it will help out. I am really struggling with finding something that is right for my skin – sometimes it will be perfect and other times it will just go crazy! Thank you for shedding some light on this! I look forward to keeping up with the rest of your posts! x

  16. September 29, 2011 / 6:26 am

    This is most interesting post i have ever read. and i am going to bookmark this page.

  17. October 11, 2011 / 8:40 am

    Thanks for bringing this up, such a great information to share with. Every blogger and health conscious people should look for this.
    Krisha
    dermatology emr

  18. November 1, 2011 / 7:49 am

    I think you made some good points in Features also. Keep working, great job!

  19. December 5, 2011 / 1:45 pm

    It's been great time to read your article, really informative thanks keep it up.

  20. January 19, 2012 / 5:13 pm

    great information ! thanks for the tips. I just started using this new product from Nardo's Natural. There face cream is AMAZING! and its organic !! If your looking for safe skin care check out there website at nardosnatural.com

  21. February 7, 2012 / 12:47 am

    Nice! These are all very helpful, and I do have problems about my face. I seem to get pimples easily.

    • May 4, 2012 / 9:07 am

      skin is the largest organ of our body, it requires optimal nourishment and feeding it well is necessary for a lifetime of quality health. Eating a balanced diet full of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, unsaturated fats and lean protein is essential to supply the skin with the nourishment it requires and the best thing we can do for our skin is to drink plenty of water.
      cosmetic surgery

  22. June 5, 2012 / 9:17 am

    WOW!

    This is amazing post so for.. I definably would like to meet Paula B. These tips creating huge inspiration for the viewers..

    Natural Skin Care

  23. August 23, 2012 / 1:43 pm

    Very interesting topics here in your site mate. Can't wait to read more of your blogs. Just keep it coming. 🙂

  24. October 6, 2012 / 10:10 am

    The beauty products mostly the facial products are high on demand all the time. The skin care products which are using for skin whitening, Skin Lightening or acne treatment have to be belong to reputed brands.

  25. February 9, 2013 / 11:08 pm

    Well, I'm not exactly a fan, even though we agree on some things. Expensive does not mean good, and keep a keen eye on ingredients!
    But then again P.B. is a raving about Botox, advocates mineral oils and is apparently not aware of the fact that all living organisms, plats or animals, behave completely different while we sleep as compared to when we are awake, hence our skin needs different treatment at night. On top of that she is claims she has tested 45 000 different products. Seriously, how much can you test something that you skimp by in that manner?

    • Anonymous
      October 31, 2013 / 10:12 pm

      Well i would say that at night, there are no sun ( no spf needed) and seemingly, since you are more or less not stressed out, there are less immunosuppression ( this happens when you seriously overwork or are financially ruined). Beside those, i don't think there are any differences in sleep for skin than in the day. The skin would have 'recovered' themselves better because there are no sunlight to induce damage and less stress! Unless you have a dream where you might be stressed if you have a nightmare.

  26. February 25, 2013 / 9:39 pm

    I used to use Clinique but I still got dry flaky patches (and I have oily skin) so I switched to simple coconut oil and it's much better now

  27. July 18, 2013 / 12:10 pm

    I have to agree that it doesn't automatically mean that an expensive product works well for everyone. I also have to agree that sunscreen is still better than using anti aging creams.

  28. October 3, 2013 / 8:38 am

    Hello Katie!!

    Really nice post about skin care!!! This is so much more than I needed!!! thanks for sharing it with us. keep it up!

  29. March 25, 2014 / 3:51 am

    Some of the foods you will need to stay away from include white bread, pasta, white sugar, maple syrup, agave and honey. Put emphasis on foods that are rich in dietary fiber, essential lipids and proteins.

  30. July 21, 2014 / 4:12 am

    To have naturally good skin health, you will have to do the right kind of workout and you will need to be careful with your meals. Getting sufficient sleep and understanding how hormones interact will also be helpful. Take your time to choose the routine that you feel comfortable with and stick to it.

  31. July 9, 2015 / 11:04 am

    Thanks for sharing the informative tips with us about skin. If you then face any problem then visit Skin check Melbourne clinic and increase your knowledge.

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