One of the hardest things about adjusting to the Covid crisis is not being able to go to all of our favorite places as freely as we used to. For me, one place I really miss visiting is the spa. As part of my “self-care” regimen, I’ve always enjoyed taking a spa day every couple of months or so. It feels luxurious, it gives me the opportunity to check out and recharge and I always walk away feeling pampered and reenergized. Unfortunately, these days, many people just don’t feel comfortable sitting in a facial room for an hour without a mask. With that said, who wants to give up spa day? Well don’t despair. Just because we can’t go to the spa doesn’t mean we can’t create a home spa ourselves. Let’s look at some ways we can treat ourselves to a luxury spa experience from the comfort and safety of our own home. Start with scheduling: One of the most luxurious elements of spa day is the alone time we get to experience. So, choose a day or night when you know your spouse and children will be out of the house. Block out your schedule, turn off your phone, close the shades and make yourself unavailable. You’re about to have a home spa day. Coordinate your spa services: I love booking my spa appointment, going through the menu of services and picking out how I’d like to be pampered for the day. We can still do this. Start by planning your services ahead of time. Prepare the areas of your house that you are going to use by having your spa essentials and spa kit ready. And don’t forget to have your relaxation area setup. Here is a step by step at home spa day checklist you can follow: The Home Spa Setup One month out - With any spa service, your skincare professional will often give you recommendations on diet and supplements. The home spaexperience should be no exception. Supplements are a great way to optimize the results you get from your spa experience. We recommend starting a skin supplement like Skin Complete at least a month before your homespa day. This combination of Skin Vitamin A and Skin Antioxidant will increase skin cell turnover and cycle out old skin cells while creating new cells that are brighter, healthier and more resilient to free-radical damage. You’ll love the results and your home spa day will be the perfect unveiling of the work this supplement has done. Learn more aboutSkin Complete from jane iredale here. Set the mood for relaxation – If possible, do any necessary house cleaning the night before. Decorate the house as if a special guest is coming. That guest is you! The morning of your homespa day, you can see the family off to wherever you’ve sent them away to but after that, no work is allowed. Turn on some spa music. Pandora and Apple Radio have great stations. Light scented candles in every room so you smell them wherever you are. In particular, put some around the bathtub. Prepare your spa drinks and snacks – Mix freshly cut cucumbers, citrus slices and spring water in a pitcher with ice and set it out 30 minutes before your home spa appointment begins. Get out your best crystal glass and set it next to the pitcher. Make yourself a healthy salad, put it in your best china bowl and have it waiting in your refrigerator. Begin the day with an aromatherapy bath – Run your favorite bubble bath and add some oatmeal, baking soda, coconut oil and any essential oils you’d like to add. I love adding chamomile and ylang ylang. Soak in your bathtub for a good 30 minutes or until the water becomes cool. Have a fresh fluffy towel waiting for dry off. Put on your softest garment – Whether it be a robe and slippers or your favorite T shirt and sweats, make sure you are comfortable. The Home Spa Facial Now it’s time for the at home spa experience to begin!Assemble your spa kit with jane iredale and use our helpfulat home spa day checklist to get started. Start by Exfoliating and Removing Makeup– Take off your makeup to start with a fresh face.The Magic Mitt from jane iredale is a knitted micro-fiber cloth glove that fits over your hand and cleanses your face easily, washing away makeup, oil and dirt with only water. The micro-fibers mimic the action of emulsification and get your skin very clean while gently exfoliating. Fill a bowl with warm water and submerge the Magic Mitt. Cleanse with BeautyPrep Cleanser – The BeautyPrep Cleanser is a soothing micellar water that gently cleanses skin without upsetting PH balance or drying. Ring out your Magic Mitt and sprinkle a few drops of Beauty Prep Cleanser onto it before cleansing in small circles. Refresh with BeautyPrep Toner – BeautyPrep Toner is a delicious fruit- and vegetable-infused elixir that refreshes and normalizes the skin to prepare it for treatment and moisture. Saturate a cotton pad with the toner and gently swipe all over your face. Saturate two more, set them to the side and cover them with ice. Revitalize with your Hyaluronic Serum – BeautyPrep Hyaluronic Serum is a skin drenching treatment that quickly absorbs into skin leaving a silky hydrated feeling that lasts for hours. Work one pumps into hands and gently massage into your face. Hydrate with BeautyPrep Moisturizer – BeautyPrep Moisturizer is a soothing lemongrass aromatherapy moisturizer that deeply hydrates with a variety of rose essential oils and extracts. It provides wonderful lightweight and powerful skin-loving nutrients. Don’t forget the body– Always finish your home facial with a little attention to your hands, arms, legs and feet. HandDrink Hand Cream is an excellent way to nurture those parts. Rich in emollients and infused with refreshing lemongrass, HandDrink is the perfect ending to your spa service and protect your skin with a broad spectrum SPF 15 before walking outside. Break Time – Now that your facial is done and your skin is hydrated, go to your relaxation area and bring your cotton pads soaked in BeautyPrep Toner. Lay back in a comfortable chair or lounge and apply the cotton pads to your eyes. Listen to music, relax for at least 30 minutes and then enjoy your fresh salad and infused water. I recommend having a little piece of dark chocolate to end your meal! The Home Spa Makeup Application Now that you’ve finished your luxurious spa treatments, you want to treat yourself to a natural-looking makeup application. No need for anything dramatic, just a fresh complexion with SPF and some soft color. Prime your complexion with Smooth Affair - Smooth Affair Facial Primer and Brightener is a hydrating primer that brightens skin, smooths texture and increases makeup longevity. Created with citrus extracts and botanicals, it’s the perfect undergarment for your luxury foundation. Dust on PurePressed Base – PurePressed Base Mineral Foundation is the perfect after-facial product with it’s 4-in-1 function of foundation, skincare, concealer and SPF. It goes on so easily and lasts for hours without ever looking heavy or cakey. Best to apply it with The Handi Brush. Spritz with POMMISST – POMMISST Hydration Spray is one of our most popular spritzes. It sets makeup and provides powerful antioxidant protection while infusing skin with refreshing moisture. It also smells like a dream! Create your glow with Peaches & Cream – Peaches & Cream Bronzer is a luminous facial finish that has four different colors that are harmonious with a variety of skin tones. Dust it around the outer parameters of the face using the Chisel Powder Brush for a beautiful glow. Condition your lashes– PureLash Lash Extender & Conditioner is a powerful lash product that can be applied alone or under mascara for extra length. Enriched with Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, it strengthens lashes and conditions them with Panthenol and Carnuba Wax. One really good quality of this product is that it contains no petroleum, so lashes never get brittle. Finish with LipDrink – LipDrink Lip Balm is a luxurious lip treatment that infuses your lips with hydrating essential oils and provides a broad spectrum SPF 15. It comes in 7 different shades including a colorless version called Sheer. This treatment will sooth dry cracked lips and help exfoliate dry skin. People love the way it smells! The Perfect Home Spa Day It’s perfectly possible to have a spa day from the comfort of your own home. Take some time to prepare a homespa for yourself and let us know how you enjoyed your experience. We hope to see you back in all your favorite locations again soon but until then, enjoy your home relaxation.

As Summer approaches, excitement starts to fill the air with visions of longer days, short-sleevedtops and leisurely days at the beach. Unfortunately, that’s not all that comes with the warmest time of year. The warmer weather beckons us to shed heavy clothing and show more skin, while invisible UV rays aremasked in warmth of the sun. This is why SPF is a crucial step in our summer skincare regimen. Many of us may think of SPF as something we wear to the beach or if we’re going to be in the sun for long periods of time. As important as SPF is in those circumstances, it is just as important for daily use. Even just going to and from our car can subject the skin on our face, neck and arms to a world of damage. So, what are the most important things to remember when choosing a Summer SPF? Let’s cover our bases: Physical vs. Chemical Sunscreen Chemical sun protection is quite popular in the US which is no surprise considering how easily accessible it is. Grocery store and drug store aisles are dominated by chemical SPF products which would lead one to believe that they are the best option. Don’t let that fool you. Physical SPF skincare products aremuch better for your skin, your body and for the environment. Here’s why: The mechanism of chemical SPF is to absorb the UV rays into your skin and then, through a chemical reaction, turn them into heat to disperse them. This mechanism heats up the dermis which can cause irritation, redness and discomfort. Physical SPF bounces the light off your skin like a mirror, whichis much more effective.UV rays never absorb into the skin.  Some Chemical SPF ingredients can be very irritating to the skin while Physical SPF is typically soothing and calming. Chemical SPF works great the first time you apply it but must be washed off before reapplying if you want to get the same SPF. This is because the chemical compound in the SPF must be able to get down into the skin to work. The residue of the expired SPF gets in the way of new SPF, preventing it from working as effectively. Physical SPF can be layered without washing it off. UVA / UVB Protection in SPF Skincare Products You always want to use broad spectrum SPF because UV rays are different and both UVA and UVB rays have their own threats. UVB rays are the most common rays that SPF products are created to protect against. They are most prominent in the hottest months of year and the brightest hours of the day. They are responsible for burning the skin. But UVA rays are much more insidious. They are present year-round any time there is daylight. They can penetrate glass and clouds and areknown to degrade our skin’scollagen and elastin. They are also responsible for several different kinds of skin cancer. We always want to make sure our SPF protects against both.  At jane iredale, we make a wonderful assortment of makeup and skincare SPF products to meet your needs.  Powder Me SPF 30 Dry Sunscreen – sheer coverage with our highest SPF 30 PurePressed Base Mineral Foundation – semi-matte finish and sheer-to-fullcoverage with SPF 20/15 Amazing Base Loose Mineral Powder – luminous finish and sheer-to-full coverage with an SPF 20/15 Glow Time Pro BB Cream – radiant-satin finishand medium coverage with an SPF 25 Enlighten Plus Full-Coverage Under-eye Concealer – semi-matte finish and full coverage with an SPF of 30/20 LipDrink Lip Balm –hydrating lip balm with SPF 15   We know you’ll enjoy using all our SPF products. Let us know which is your favorite!

This is the coldest time of the year so many of us are experiencing typical winter skin issues such as dryness, dehydration, redness and itching.  This isn’t surprising with heaters and radiators drying everything out and extra coffee-drinking to feel warm.  It’s no wonder why our skin is often in full crisis mode by February.  To make matters worse, the winter skin only makes us look older as our skin becomes more textural and our color becomes blotchier.  Our immediate instinct is to wear makeup to even out the skin but some people may be reluctant to apply foundation with concerns of further irritation.  We can’t blame them for thinking that way.  There are a lot of foundations out there that don’t perform very well in cold weather.  Well, you’ll be pleased to know that, at jane iredale, we have some excellent winter skin foundations that you’ll be delighted with. What Foundation Is Best for Dry Skin? At the top of our list is HydroPure Tinted Serum with Hyaluronic Acid and CoQ10.  If there was ever a foundation made to repair dehydrated winter skin, this is it.  We don’t have to tell you the first two key ingredients as they’re in the name but let’s talk about what they do.   Hyaluronic Acid has an extraordinary ability to help skin hold on to water. As a matter of fact, it enables the epidermis to retain about 1000 times its weight in water.  This is excellent news for our dry and dehydrated friends.  The next ingredient, CoQ10, addresses the free radical damage. CoQ10 is a powerful tool for collagen and elastin support so, if you’re concerned with unwanted texture, it will definitely help.  There’s also Allantoin which helps tone down redness and irritation. HydroPure can be worn as a primer under any of our powders or over one of our Smooth Affair Primers for extra glow and smoothness.  You’ll love the way it melts into skin and creates a dewy finish that lasts all day long.   Learn more about how to use HydroPure Tinted Serum. Keep in mind that there’s no sun protection in HydroPure so we typically combine it with an SPF product for optimal results.  The next solution we’re featuring for winter skin may surprise you because it’s actually a system that contains a powder.  There’s a misconception that all powders will dry the skin but not this one! PurePressed Base Mineral Foundation is a powder foundation that covers like a liquid, has no drying agents and features a skin-soothing formula packed with minerals and antioxidants.  Our best recommendation is to use it in The Skincare Makeup System which consists of Smooth Affair Brightening Face Primer, PurePressed Base Mineral Foundation and POMMISST Hydration Spray. Smooth Affair Brightening Face Primer will give you a layer of hydration, create a hydrated finish and smooth out the texture of your skin. PurePressed Base will soothe and calm your skin while providing a broad-spectrum SPF. It contains Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide which are soothing and calming to even the driest skin.  Learn more in this guide to PurePressed Base Mineral Foundation. POMMISST Hydration Spray will set the makeup for a long-lasting finish and give you even more hydration. Pomegranate is a powerful antioxidant that protects the skin against environmental damage and works hand in hand with your SPF.    Skin Care Routine for Dry Skin Along with the using the best possible skin hydration products and following a hydrating makeup routine for winter, there are also a few daily practices that will optimize your skincare and makeup regimen.    When doing your morning and evening skincare, never let your face get completely dry. Apply treatment serums while skin is still damp from cleansing, apply moisturizer while skin is still damp from treatment and apply primer while your skin is still damp from moisturizer.  Building your complexion on top of a layer of moisture helps keep skin more hydrated all day.  Always use a Hydration Spray. After makeup application, spritz with POMMISST, Calming Lavender or D20 Hydration Spray for added moisture.  Take your Hydration Spray with you and use it throughout the day.   Add an Omega to your daily supplement regimen. Omegas help your skin cells to hold water more effectively and they tone down redness in the complexion.  Our Skin Omegas from Advanced Nutrition Programme, combine Omega 3 for dryness and texture with Omega 6 for inflammation and redness.  We recommend two a day.  You’ll see the results within a few weeks of starting them.  Be mindful of sugar and caffeine intake. Sugar and caffeine are two of the most inflammatory and drying substances you can put into your body.  Try to limit your coffee intake to one cup per day and replace refined sugar snacks with fruit or healthier options.  You’ll thank yourself later.  Wearing the right foundation in winter shouldn’t be a challenge and we like to pride ourselves on giving healthier options than traditional makeup has to offer.  Remember that jane iredale formulas are made without the top sensitizers that are in traditional makeup.  This includes talc, mineral oil, parabens, phthalates, synthetic perfumes and chemical SPF.  What’s left behind is high performance skincare makeup that looks as good as it feels.