Q&A With The Skin Specialist: Allie Schmidt
What motivated me to become an Esthetician?
Not only did I discover an infinite passion for working with the skin, I found I had a natural, and powerful touch. As someone with adult acne myself I also have an authentic empathy for those living with challenging skin conditions. My own skin journey and personal holistic approach to my own life has lead to me developing a unique integrated skin practice which combines a modern take on ancient techniques with technical, skilled skin work. Built on the principal of love, touch, gratitude, grounding and intention this gets real results especially on difficult and damaged skin and translates, with dramatic effect, on those with younger, less challenging skin.
On a scale of 1 – 10 (10 being the highest) how much would I rate the impact of a healthy and active lifestyle on our skin?
Without a doubt it’s a 10! The longer I work with the skin the more I understand that the words we say and think, the food we eat, how we move, breathe, stretch and hold ourselves, the actions we take and how we live our lives literally shapes our features, our body and our skin. The love that we have for ourselves is reflected in the care we take of our bodies and our life and this shows in our face.
What is the most common skin care mistake?
Not taking responsibility for our skin, which comes from a place of not loving ourselves enough. Forgetting that our skin is a functioning organ of the body and that as such it simply mirrors our inner health, balance and well-being. Somehow we expect our skin care products to work miracles on our skin without fully acknowledging that they are just one piece of the jigsaw. Not acknowledging our personal responsibility for the health, look and feel of our skin is definitely the most common mistake I see and this lack of responsibility comes from a lack of self love.
As a esthetician, I love skin care products and using the right ones really does make a huge difference to our skin – to remember exactly how much difference they make I only have to try out products that don’t work on my own skin as my acne will immediately flare up! However, the role skin care products play in how our skin looks sits alongside eating a varied, vibrant plant-based diet, moving and stretching everyday, living an authentic life, being in healthy relationships, being grounded and of course all of this comes from the foundation of a strong and genuine self love.
Is less is more the way to go in our skin care routine?
It depends on the skin. I believe there are some skins that benefit from multiple skin care products being layered but only when each product is specifically targeted to specific skin conditions. There are also times when skin care rituals need to be stripped right back and the ‘less is more’ rule applies. This is particularly pertinent for reactive skin with flare ups and/or breakouts.
Now, should one wear sunscreen everyday?
Yes! There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that wearing sunscreen, avoiding harsh weather conditions and not having much direct sun exposure leads to a less environmentally damaged skin. I see this every day in my treatment room. If you want your skin to be less damaged my advice is to wear, and reapply your sunscreen every two hours (or sooner if your skin burns easily – remember the number of the SPF refers to the number of minutes it protects for after your normal ‘point of burning’). Everyday I treat women who have a real skin age of 5, 10 and sometimes 20 or 30 years older than their chronological age and the majority of that accelerated skin aging is caused by harmful UV rays in sun and daylight.
What would be my No.1 tip for (a) oily skin (b) dry skin (c) sensitive skin (d) mature skin?
My number one tip in relation to this question would be to not think of these skin conditions as separate. We can be experiencing multiple skin conditions at any one time and we need to build our own unique skin care ritual prescriptions around these multiple skin needs. However, if you are looking for just one product that I would recommend to help the skin
whatever the skin conditions presenting I would give a general recommendation of oil. Pure oils are beautiful and balancing for all skins, although we can chose specific oils for specific skin conditions, oil will regulate an oily skin, nourish and plump a dry skin. Oil also encourages us all to touch our skin more by providing the perfect base for massage and it’s by massaging our skin with the Intention of love and well-being that we create skin magic!
Do I have any favorite green Skin Care Brands?
Yes! I love Eminence Organic Skincare. In and Out of my treatment room! Eminence Mission Statement: We continue to use hand-picked fresh ingredients to create products that contain potent healing and beautifying properties. Many of these ingredients are combined with pure waters drawn from a thermal hot spring lake containing minerals and trace elements found nowhere else on earth. Our products are handmade without any severe heating or hydrogenating processes that can affect the nutritional content and potency of natural ingredients. Vitamins are captured in their all-natural fresh base, offering dramatic results as actual seeds, pulps and peels impart regenerative and healing powers that only nature can produce.There is something to best suit every skin type with Eminence, and for every product you buy they will plant a tree in an underdeveloped area!
If you have any questions for me, I would love if you would post them in the comments below..For the meantime come in for a Skin Healing Ritual and we can put you on a new nighttime routine with Eminence Organic Skincare!
