Few people enjoy talking about skincare as much as Drew Barrymore; in fact, she's dedicated the last week to talking about her beauty routine, favourite products, and and personal skincare struggles. In her latest string of Instagram posts, which use Barrymore's original hashtag #BeautyJunkieWeek and are not paid sponsorship for any brands mentioned (though she does mention products from her own cosmetics brand), the Santa Clarita Diet actress opened up about dealing with "crazy level 10 melasma" and reminded herself and others not to leave a certain crucial area out of your beauty routine: your neck and chest.
"#BEAUTYJUNKIEWEEK HAS BEGUN. Your beauty routine starts at this line, and we must work upward!" Barrymore, 43, explained in her post, indicating an invisible line mid-chest with her arm. "We forget our neck and chest!"
She confessed that even a skincare fanatic like herself can forget to nourish the skin below your jawline, which is particularly susceptible to signs of ageing such as fine lines, wrinkles, and loose skin. "My dermatologist said to me, 'Don't forget, your beauty routine starts from here up,' and made this exact line on her chest. And I can't forget it. We know this, but we don't do it. I don't. I love my skincare routines. But I forget anything below the chin," Barrymore wrote in the post. "So next time you go to wash your face, remember this hand on your chest and work upwards!"
Living with melasma
Barrymore has also been open about her struggles with melasma, a condition usually associated with pregnancy that causes blotches of dark pigmentation across your face, especially your forehead, temples, upper lip and bridge of your nose. Melasma can also be associated with hormonal birth control, excessive sun exposure, or darker skin, all of which can cause melanocytes in your skin to over-produce color in some areas.
"After the summer, I look, honestly, like I have dirt all over my face from the melasma. It was so bad after my kids. No matter how much sunscreen and how many hats, I have a lot of brown spots," Barrymore told The New York Times in 2017. The safest, most effective treatment for melasma is low-energy laser, and Barrymore routinely uses this to keep her dark spots under control. "It's as light as it gets and is non-invasive," she wrote in her post. "But it helps me with my crazy level 10 melasma after babies."
Banishing dark under-eye circles
Barrymore revealed one of her biggest beauty struggles is dark circles under her eyes, which she joked leave her looking like "the crypt-keeper."
"I love laugh lines. Can't wait for more. But dark circles are a problem, because it looks like instead of being impossibly happy throughout my life, I look more like a ghoul who came from the graveyard!" she wrote. She recommends finding a more pigmented eye cream: "I often find white-tinted ones and ones with a light pearl or pinky tone."
The miracles of aloe vera
Over several posts, Barrymore shared the tale of how she cured a mysterious "giant bite or reaction" on her face with a small chunk of aloe vera from her yard. After leaving the plant on for a few hours, she noticed the aloe vera was turning red. "It was actually suctioning out the red from my face," she explained.
Eventually, Barrymore said the aloe vera piece fell off her face, and the mark on her skin was noticeably lighter. "I did it again the next day, with a much milder impact. But in two days, it was gone." She noted that she's even tried bleaching creams, but only the aloe vera worked to calm the red on her face. Now, she keeps an aloe vera plant in her New York apartment in case of more face emergencies: "It's amazing for cuts, scrapes, and especially burns. It's a must to have around, in any form," she wrote.
Experts have talked up the powers of aloe vera for a long time.
Finding beauty solutions for all
Skincare and beauty have been important topics for Barrymore for a long time, and there's no doubt she'll return once again to share #BeautyJunkieWeek tips and tricks in the future. "I like to find real results without invasion and real attainable methods for working women and mums," she wrote. Here's hoping her next round of skincare hacks is sooner rather than later!
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