I just listed to the BEST podcast ever! The LadyGang had on Kate Somerville to answer questions and share her top skin secrets. They asked her everything you will want to know about oily skin, hormonal acne, choosing the right products and so much more. If you don’t know who Kate Somerville is, she is Hollywood’s skin care guru. If the top A-list celebrities trust her with their skin, you know she knows what she is talking about.
When you get a chance, I highly recommend listening to the full episode here, and if you don’t already, subscribe to the LadyGang podcast. It is awesome and will make your commute or long drives fly by! But, I know you ladies are busy, so I can’t wait to share her top skin secrets with you!
Find out what other podcasts I listen to: 5 Addictive Podcasts for a Better Commute
Note: This post contains affiliate links
How to fight shiny, oily skin
1. Good exfoliation and hydration are the two keys to combatting oily skin.
People with oily skin sometimes think they don’t need hydration since they produce a lot of oil, but this is not the case. You should hydrate with a product (e.g. Kate’s Nourish) that has hyaluronic acid in it and then use an oil-free moisturizer. Looking for a budget-friendly option? You may like the hydrating moisturizer from Cerave. Read below for more on choosing the right exfoliating product.
Skin secrets to get rid of hormonal acne
2. Birth Control
Birth control does help with hormonal acne since it helps regulate your hormones. Since some people don’t respond well to birth control, though, she has a number of other skin secrets you can use.
3. Diet
Make sure you are eating organic dairy and meat since the hormones that are sometimes added to these animal products may mess with your hormones and contribute to acne.
4. Add chlorophyll to your water
This is a skincare hack she got from Reese Witherspoon. In a 2011 issue of InStyle, Reese states, “If I start to get blemishes, I add chlorophyll to my water and my skin clears up in three days.” If you’re as excited to try this as I am, you can buy it here. Chlorophyll is thought to possibly help regulate hormones and reduce inflammation among a whole list of other proposed benefits.
5. Use probiotics
Kate uses Bio-K, but she advises to make sure whatever you use is refrigerated when you buy it.
6. LED light treatments
This treatment, which was originally developed for cancer, can lead to major skin-clearing results by killing the bacteria that cause acne.
How to Prevent Acne Scars
7. Pop your pimples properly.
You are constantly told never to pop your pimples, but Kate is much more practical in her approach. She gets that no one wants to walk around with a white head, so she teaches her clients to pop their pimples properly with her skin secrets. If you don’t, your nails can tear your skin causing damage and tearing, which leads to the lasting redness that hangs around long after the pimple goes away. So, make sure that
So, make sure that you wrap your fingers in toilet paper before extracting. If there is not a clear white head yet, use a lancet to create a canal for the gunk (my technical term) to come out of so you don’t have to squeeze so hard and cause damage to the surrounding skin.
8. After popping, treat the area with hydrocortisone and Neosporin.
The hydrocortisone will help with redness and the Neosporin will speed up the healing process.
9. Use D-Scar to treat existing acne scars.
People rave about this product that has gone viral and has a cult like following. The reviews speak for themselves.
How to Get Rid of Under Eye Circles
First, identify if your problem is dark, pigmented under eye circles or if you have puffy bags under your eyes.
10. For dark under eye circles, you should use an eye cream with retinol.
11. For puffy bags under your eyes, use green tea & ice-cold spoons.
Steep green tea bags in warm water and then apply to your eyes for 5 mins. The caffeine helps restrict the skin and fight the puffiness. While you are waiting, put 2 spoons in ice cold water. Once you remove the tea bags, apply eye cream and massage it into your undereye are using the two ice-cold spoons. Here is another budget-friendly eye cream option.
How to Get Rid of Tiny Bumps on Your Skin
If you have tiny little bumps on your skin, it is probably due to trapped sebum (oil) under the skin.
12. To get rid of these tiny bumps, you need good exfoliation.
When selecting a good exfoliating product, here are Kate’s tips on what to look for:
- Make sure the scrubbing beads are extremely fine so they don’t tear the skin
- It should contain AHA and lactic acid
She specifically developed her ExfoliKate product with these things in mind, and people swear by it! Here is a more budget-friendly option as well.
13. Women should shave their faces.
Ever wonder why men seem to age better than women, well they shave their face every day! It acts as an exfoliant and removes dead skin cells. She says she has been doing it since she was about 23 after hearing that was the beauty secret of the top Hollywood actresses.
- What type of razor should I use? You may have heard people recommending the Tinkle eyebrow razors, but Kate doesn’t. She recommends using a high-quality razor like a man would use (e.g. Gillette Mach 3 ).
- Any other razor tips? Make sure to change your blades often and keep the razor very clean.
- How do I prep my face? Use a gentle daily wash and lather well before shaving.
- Will my hair grow back thicker? No, that is a total myth.
14. The key steps for skin care in your 20s are: exfoliate, hydrate, moisturize, and use a retinol.
- How often should I exfoliate? Her rule of thumb is in your 20s, 2x/week; in your 30s, 3x/week; in your 40s, 4x/week…
- Make sure your moisturizer has SPF to protect you from sun damage.
- Pick products with antioxidants (Vitamins A, C, and E) to fight free radicals
- Looking for the right retinol product? See below.
15. Retinols are the #1 ingredient you can use to prevent aging.
- What product should I use? Kate has a retinol product that she highly recommends called DermalQuench because it is wrapped in a lipid, which is moisturizing. Then, it is able to melt into the skin and penetrate the deeper layers. But, if you are looking to buy one at the drugstore, here is what you should look for:
- Not too intense to avoid excessive drying and peeling
- Time released
- Coupled with hyaluronic acid for hydration
- Here are some options: Roc or Radha Beauty
- Retinols are also great for acne.
Popular Post: 25 Easy Makeup Tips You’ll Wish You Knew About Sooner
Hope you enjoyed learning these incredible skin secrets from Hollywood’s skin guru, Kate Somerville. Think your friends would be interested? Share this post on Facebook or pin on Pinterest:
