One great product that you can use as a toner is good old-fashioned rosewater. You just have to make sure that it is 100% percent pure does not have anything synthetic in it. You can go to  www.bulgarianroseotto.com  and get the 100% organic rosewater. Another good brand is from Heritage products, and you can find that on Amazon.com. Just go to Amazon.com and type in Heritage products in the search bar, and it will pull up.

The toner and I am using right now is called Pineapple and Papaya Enzyme Toner and you can order it at  www.brenditasbodyworks.com  It is a non-drying alcohol free toner and it is ideal for balanced, dry, hyperpigmented or mature skin. It has 96% organic ingredients. Even though this is the toner I am using right now, I always keep a bottle of rose water on hand, because after I put all my treatment products on my face at night the last thing I like to do is to spray my face with some rosewater. Rosewater has healing and hydration properties. Also in the morning after I finish putting my make up on, I spray rose water on my face and take a makeup sponge and just press it into my skin. This gives me some nice hydration and a nice glow.

My husband’s skin is a little on the oily side for right now he is using a toner from Gunilla of Sweden, and it is called Leroset Purifying Toner. This is one of the steps in their acne treatment line which is mostly natural. I have a friend who has problem skin who is testing the 4 step system for me now and seems to be having very good results. You can find this brand on Amazon.com

During the day, I use a glycolic acid eye and throat gel first and then I use my daytime moisturizer on top of that. The eye and throat gel is from Reviva and is called Liposome Activated Glycolic Acid Eye and Throat Gel. Reviva products can be found in most health food stores or you can order it from  www.revivalabs.com   This is a mostly natural product. You can go to my section on moisturizers to see which moisturizer I recommend for daytime. The product directions say to use sparingly at night just two weeks per month but since this doesn't combine well with my dry oil, I use it during the day. Just make sure you're wearing a sunscreen on your neck and décolleté. Glycolic acid, which is an alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) makes the skin a little more sensitive to the sun so it is always important to wear a sunscreen when using AHA's. To see my recommended sunscreen go to my section on moisturizers.

I do use this product around my eyes at night and since it is a serum, I put it on first before I put my eye cream on. The eye cream that I'm using right now is from a company called 100% pure. These are all organic and very clean products. I am currently using the Coffee Bean Caffeine Eye Cream. Caffeine will help with dark circles. I use this both day and night, and so does my husband. You can order it from  www.qvc.com  the item number is A82303. When applying your night cream, be sure to use your ring finger and just tap it and gently all around the orbit of the eye and up into the hairline.

I just ordered an eye cream duo from Fran Dreshcer's line which just debuted on www.hsn.com  It is a great product and is not full of chemicals and preservatives. She is a cancer survivor so she is very aware of not putting chemicals on your skin. I feel like I need a little more hydration around my eyes now that winter is approaching. The day one is an eye gel that smells like cucumbers. The night one smells like Jasmine. The scent is a bit much for me at night so I am using the eye gel for day at night and the cream for day. I like the product and may try other things from her line.

LED Light Therapy

LED light has a rejuvenating effect on the skin. It can help to reduce lines and wrinkles by improving circulation and stimulating collagen. It also can offer pain relief so you can apply it to other areas of the body. A lot of the research on this came from NASA. Apparently weightlessness for extended time periods causes problems like slow wound healing. They found that by applying LED light therapy to these areas that it increased the circulation and stimulated the cells into healing faster. The same thing is true for infrared heat so this light combines both. If you get LED light therapy in a salon as an “add-on” to your facial by the time you have a couple of facials you will have paid for one of these. From my understanding, just getting a “treatment” once a month when you have a facial is not really that beneficial since it needs to be used consistently. At first, you are supposed to use it 9 minutes two times a day for the first 30 days and then once a day after that. Unlike some other smaller lights where you have to move it over your face the entire time, this light covers the whole face. Read more about this technology on my site and you can also order the light directly off my site. It is made by a good company and they stand behind their product.

Clarisonic

This is an ultrasonic facial brush. Many of you are already using ultrasonic tooth brushes and this works on the same principle. It will clean your skin 10 times better than using a washcloth or just your facial cleanser. The brush does not rotate like most other handheld facial cleaners. It uses ultrasound (high speed sound waves) that penetrate the skin and get it really clean. This is the brand that I recommend (Clairsonic). I use the brushhead made for sensitive skin. They have one now that has attachments for the body.

I ordered mine from www.qvc.com  Just go to the main page and type in Clarisonic and they will have several different options. The actual Clairsonic is exactly the same in all the kits. Different kits have different attachments and some come with products. I did not use any of the products because I like something more natural. I would just order the basic Clairsonic with the facial brushes. If you think that you might like to use it on other parts of your body then order the one with more brushes, like I said the actual Clarisonic is the same in all the kits.

I like ordering from QVC because they never share my information with anyone and their customer service cannot be beat. If you are not happy with anything you order then you can return it for a full refund (no restocking fees or anything like that) no questions asked. You can return half empty bottles of skin care products, make-up, etc. for a full refund. If you order clothes and wear them and if you do not like them you can return them even without the tags and even if you have washed them so they are very customer service oriented. You have to sign up and get a membership number but you are not charged for that and you do not have to place any kind of minimum order. It is not like any kind of club or anything like that.

You can also order it from www.sephora.com

Microneedling-Ouch! (well just a little)

This is a little roller with a handle that has microneedles sticking out all over. You roll it across your face and it punctures the skin on a microscopic level. Why in the world would you want to do that? Actually, this is a skin rejuvenating treatment that is FDA approved because it actually works to stimulate collagen (collagen is abundant in younger skin).  In essence, by puncturing the skin this sets up a healing process whereby new skin cells grow which results in the formation of collagen fibers and improved blood supply. This improves the thickness of the skin which in turn improves the skin texture and reduces wrinkles. It also helps with hyperpigmentation and depending on the size of the needles (they come in different sizes) it can be used to treat stretch marks, cellulite and scars on any part of the body. These little punctures also create portals for your skin care products to enter and work better.

As far as the ouch factor, well it is a little ouch but not that bad. You are doing it very lightly (not enough to draw blood) and you will look a little pink when you are done. The size that is recommended for the face is 0.5 mm for anti-aging and light acne scarring. 1.0mm for light stretch marks and 1.5mm for deep stretch marks and very deep scarring. I use mine about 5 times a week. You need to replace it about every 6 weeks or so depending on how many times a week you use it. You just pour some alcohol on it after each use so it is easy to care for. My friend Amy (an aesthetician in Clearwater, Florida) carries them. She also has a great firming serum and you can place an order by calling 727-698-5555.

Galvanic Spa System

See my post on this exciting skin care device that helps to tone, hydrate and enhance the absorption of nutrients! I used to get these treatments regularly at a salon but now I can do it myself at home and save thousands. If you have ever priced these treatments they average about a $100 per treatment. This is a must have for great skin.