About Face - the basic ins and outs of my skin

So...before we even start, there will be faces of my naked skin, no filters, no creams, potions or lotions.  Just freshly washed skin.

I've wanted to do this post for such a long time.  First, because I am deep in the throws of a skincare obsession that shows no signs of waning.  And secondly, because I review makeup, I wear it and I need to get better about posting FOTD's, but it would be nice to show you what I am working with.  I am hoping that this goes far in helping someone that may share some similarities with me.

Alright, here we go...

Tanned against my will, freshly washed face, no product

So here is my mugshot.  I recently helped a friend move coming on a week now.  I was much paler before this and now am toasty brown.  Anymore sun and I will definitely be hitting brownie status.  But here we are...lets go down the list of exactly what nature is throwing my way!

*dark circles (horrible sleep schedule that I keep)
*hyperpigmentation (Im sure getting sun the other day didnt help, but I've been getting kind of impatient with pimples and bumps recently, so I have been picking more than I usually do)
*fine lines under the eyes (yup, its starting...but hey, I laugh and smile, sue me.  It shows!)
*texture (bumps all over the place!  I try to keep this in check and though I won some battles, I have not won the war yet :( )
*dryness - another war I have not won yet...moisturizers galore and exfoliation to boot and I have yet to find something that will kill the dryness monster altogether!
*oiliness - don't get me started.  Your typical combo-oily gal, T-zone oily poster child...here I am!

Issues, I haz them

Let's start from the beginning...as a teenager, I was lucky enough (thanks mom and dad) that I did not have a traumatic experience with teenage acne.  Mom started me on Noxema cream from a very early age, that and okay, yeah, I let her pick my face.  I attribute the condition of my skin then to those two things.  Slightly oily in the tzone, normal everywhere else, I had no trouble with any makeup or skincare I decided to add to my routine.  I state confidently that I had normal, not in the slightest sensitive, great skin.  This followed throughout my 20's, with hormonal acne taking a bigger bite out of my face, but nothing I could not handle.  Then came my late 20's to early 30's....and here is where it got ... weird.

Texture and peach fuzz galore!

In my 30's, my skin changed quite a bit.  Gone were the days where I could slather whatever lotion or foundation I could get my hands on and not experience any changes with my skin.  I started to experience sensitivities that I had not in my younger years.  Redness around my nose, dry patches on cheeks, forehead, and corners of mouth, hyperpigmentation, texture that I could not exfoliate off, increased pore size, fine lines (which I expected though).  I am sure there are a myriad of other details but hey, I'm sensitive :p.

I am hoping this gives you a good look into my specific makeup and helps you and I track what future skincare works or doesn't.  You may have my issues, maybe more, maybe less, but let's see if we can't get to a much more improved state together!  I decided to take a break from a lot of the previous skincare I was using to cleanse my skin and also to introduce new products.

You guys will see all the new things I am obsessing over soon :)

Let's start this journey...shall we?

xo, D