New Year Skin Care - Inventory What You Already Have

On my New Year's Beauty Resolution List I talked about sorting through your skin care products.
Now that we are actually into the new year, lets break that down a bit, and get a little more specific.

At the beginning of each year you should get out all your skin care products and do a little inventory on what you have, what you forgot you had, and what you need.

 What You Already Have
Before you go spending beauty dollars on new things, look through what you already have.

Which products really are working for you and which ones really aren't? Our skin changes throughout the year as well as over the years, so chances are products that were beyond brilliant before might not be quite so great anymore.

I am a big believer in only using the products that you see discernible results with.

Which are not necessarily going to be the products with the biggest, glossiest magazine ads!

If you're not seeing the results you were expecting, it might be time to change what you're using.
Caution: buyer beware of marketing hype...

Are you using products that are ideally suited to your skin type? Your cleanser might be stripping your skin, your moisturizer could be too heavy or too light for your skin type.
If you can, go see a facialist and have her analyze your skin and tell you what types of products you should be using. Sometimes the tiniest changes can make the biggest difference, such as changing out a foaming cleanser for a cleansing milk, or an eye cream for an eye gel.

Do the products that you're using actually work together? I try to stick to one line at a time so that I'm achieving skin synergy. Within that line I make sure that I'm not using products that work against one another. Competing products can create havoc with your skin, or can cancel one another out.

Check that you're not hoarding products that have gone bad. If it looks funky, smells off, or if the product texture has changed chances are it has passed its "best by" date and needs to be thrown out.
 
 Once you've established what you already have, you can start looking at what you need.