Jeanne explores the world of skincare for kids 12 years and under. Acknowledging that this was a difficult space for her to navigate as a mom and that there isn't a ton of advice for parents out there. Her advice may surprise you as she walks us through her 5 year-old's facial skincare routine, bath time and sun safety tips.
Jeanne explores the world of skincare for kids 12 years and under. Acknowledging that this was a difficult space for her to navigate as a mom and that there isn't a ton of advice for parents out there. Her advice may surprise you as she walks us through her 5 year-old's facial skincare routine, bath time and sun safety tips.
Key Moments in Episode:
00:00 Introduction
01:49 Why children need a skincare routine? Do they need a facial skincare routine?
03:07 Environmental elements that affect our kids' skincare.
04:30 Jeanne's opinion on skincare for kids available on the market.
05:45 The evening routine: Bath time, facial care, and body care.
14:16 Special rituals during the week: Extra TLC for the problem areas.
15:15 How to look after your children's skin on pool days.
16:50 Jeanne's ultimate suncare tips for beach, pool and Summer days.
20:44 Conclusion
Jeanne Retief: FIGGI Beauty Shop | My FIGGI Life Podcast | My FIGGI Life Blog | Instagram | Facebook
[00:00:02.040] - Jeanne
Well, hello again, my FIGGI goddess, and welcome to the My FIGGI Life podcast. Today, we are going to be talking about skincare for kids. I feel like we don't read about this enough or know about this enough and that there isn't a lot of information out there. I have a five year old little girl and I don't know if you're with me, but I've had to learn by myself and I've been lucky on my journey with FIGGI. I have been exposed to a lot more content and information. So if you want to know my ultimate skincare tips and basic advice and guidelines for kid's skincare, then stay tuned for this episode.
[00:00:41.870] - Intro
Welcome, goddess, to your sacred space. This is my FIGGI Life podcast, where we openly discuss life's wins and losses on our journeys to self discovery. This is your best life. This is your FIGGI Life. And now here is your host, Jeanne.
[00:01:01.600] - Jeanne
Okay, so we're back and we're going to talk about skincare for kids. So let me just preface this by saying that I have a five year old little girl. Skincare is obviously part of our daily routine. It's your largest organ. You take care of your baby's skin from the minute they are born, really. I do not have a lot of advice and content to give in this episode with regards to teenage skin, because I honestly personally believe that it veers more towards young adult adult skin so I would rather cover that in an episode with regards to problem skin, specifically focusing on acne and outbreaks. But for now, I'm really talking about skincare for kids, kids being defined as our little ones aged 12 and under. So a lot of people look at me really strangely when I say my little girl has a skincare routine, especially a facial skincare routine, because I think that there's this idea that their skin is so sensitive and so pure and so new and so small and so why would you be throwing a host of products at it? But the thing that we forget is, yes, their skin is very sensitive, a lot more sensitive than ours, but they are also in many ways a lot tougher on their skin.
[00:02:20.770] - Jeanne
So if you combine those two skin that isn't as fully developed and strong and thick and let's say, luxurious as our skin, and you're throwing everything you can at it, it may not have such a good effect. It's really important to have a skincare routine for your little ones, not just for the health of their skin, but also for the psychological development of understanding and preparing them for this journey and helping them learn that it's important to look after your skin and how to look after your skin, making it part of their normal daily routine. So it isn't something extra that they feel forced to do. But it just comes along with the bath routine and brushing your teeth and all of that. The little ones obviously love to play, especially outside. They're always getting scrapes and bruises and falling down. They're in the dirt and the mud. They're playing in the sand pits. They're on the swings. In the summer, they're in and out of the pool or the ocean, fulled with chlorine or saltwater. In summer months, they're exposed to a lot of sun. I don't know what your playground looks like at your crutch or your kindergarten.
[00:03:33.040] - Jeanne
Ours really does try to have shade for the kids, but I mean, to keep so many kids underneath the shade while they're running around and playing, it's almost impossible. We do have hats and we are advised to put on sun protection before they go to school, but they're exposed to it. I mean, it's the sun, come on. They swim, they go to the beach. Then there are the birthday parties. I don't know if you can find some kindred agreement with me here. But with the birthday parties come the face painting. Oh, my gosh. And I don't know if it's the same for you, but it always feels like the birthday parties with the face paint is on the day when I honestly did not have time to go to this birthday party, or it lasts the longest and you get home at nine o'clock at night and you have this entire unicorn face you have to wash off. All of these things are a really tough punch to give to a developing skin that is sensitive to all of these things that is being thrown at them. Then obviously, they also do all of the normal things that we do.
[00:04:33.780] - Jeanne
They wash with soap, which it can be extremely drying because the surfactants, which are the ingredients that attract the dirt from your skin and help cleanse that, can be really rough. I don't know for the life of me why so many baby products have such harsh surfactants in them. I don't understand it. And they have insane crazy amounts of fragrance. Now, I'm not fear mongering. If you don't have a problem with fragrance on your skin, please, as I always say, smell like a bouquet for the rest of us that cannot handle it. But if you're dealing with really sensitive skin, it's best to avoid perfume. Now, my little girl has very sensitive skin because she inherited it from me and her skin daddy also has issues with eczema, so she does have a little bit of a struggle. So fragrance is an absolute no, and we really do try to avoid it. But it's so difficult to find children's skin care products that isn't laden with colorants and all sorts of things that really upset their skin, like essential oils, perfume, perfume, and like I said, the harsh surfactants. What do we do and how do we then care for our kid's skin?
[00:05:43.690] - Jeanne
Let's start with the basics. I'm going to start with the bedtime routine, which is basically the bath routine, the evening routine, the big routine when they come home from school. They're sweaty, they're tired, they've been playing all day. Our first trip usually is that we do bath time quite early. I would do a bath time with her and I would really encourage her not to wash with a really harsh wash cloth. Actually, we don't wash with a wash cloth at all because washing your skin with a wash cloth is exfoliation. And if you don't have unbelievably oily skin with really bad issues and break up and clogged pores, it's really not advisable to be exfoliating regularly because especially when you have dry and sensitive skin. Exfoliating for sensitive skin is a big no, no. Unless you've been advised to do so, or at least unless you do it like once every six months. But most people do not follow that routine. And if you have dry skin, your skin is already flaking off. You don't need any extra help to get rid of that top layer of dead skin. So we wash with our hands and a very gentle soap.
[00:06:49.930] - Jeanne
I personally love to use the Dove Fragrance Free Sensi Skin Soap or sensitive skin soap. It works beautifully for us. I also like the Fragrance Free CeraVe Bar soap. And I find it's better for her because as she's starting to take care of her own body, it's less difficult for her to have the little bar of soap and wash underneath her arms and everywhere she needs to wash. She really does struggle with the pump bottle because she takes too much or she takes too little. So the soap bar for us is working perfectly. But you use whatever you feel works for you as long as if you have a child with really sensitive skin and sensitive skin issues, avoid fragrance if you can. Avoid harsh surfactants. Avoid things like essential oils. Really all the things that you would avoid for your sensitive skin. As a rule of thumb, though, I personally avoid those things with her. For us, it's necessary because she also has these skin conditions, but as a rule of thumb, I would avoid it. So we wash everywhere that the skin makes contact with skin. So where there's sweat and bacteria, so that would be your hands, the folds here by your elbows and your inner arms, your arm pits, around your neck as you put your neck up and down during the day, obviously your feet between the toes, behind the knees, where the knee is bent, and the private parts.
[00:08:16.210] - Jeanne
But that's how we do it. We keep it really soft, very gentle, very sensitive, and we do a nice rinse. I always make sure the bath water is a lukewarm temperature, so it's not too drying on her neck her skin. She's used to this temperature. I've made her used to this temperature, so it's not something strange for her. Then I help her do a facial cleanse. I love using, obviously, the FIGGI beauty products because I formulated them. I know exactly what's in them and the percentages. I know there's no fragrance. I know it's Gluten free. I know it's free of colorants. I know it's free of essential oils. I know it has the softest surfactants available on the market. It. So I feel very comfortable using that on her skin. Now, I do make an exception. It depends on what she's been doing that day. If she's just gone to school and I've just put the normal amount of sunscreen in the morning, I just do the gel cleanse. I won't do a double cleanse with her. Her skin is too sensitive, she doesn't wear makeup, she's not working in the city every day. Yeah, she gets exposed to maybe sand and dirt and all of that.
[00:09:26.930] - Jeanne
But a gentle cleanse is really all she needs just to get that grime off of her face. If she had a beach day or she was out in the sun by the pool with me all day and we've been reapplying sunscreen all day, or we've been out hiking and it's just mud and dust and sand everywhere, I will go in with the Balm Cleanser just to help attract that oily grime from within her skin. But it's not always necessary for you to do a double cleanse for them. So I usually use the FIGGI Refresh the Goddess gentle gel cleanser on her face in the evenings. And it's so lovely because it's really like a tonic almost. It forms into this tonic and she loves rubbing it on her face. It doesn't burn her eyes. So she's not scared to use it. She's not scared to put it over her eyes. And when we do use the Purify the Goddess Cleansing Balm or Makeup Dissolving Cleansing Balm to oil. It's usually on the pool days or when she has come home from the party with the inevitable painted face. And again, it's so soft, it glides so well.
[00:10:29.990] - Jeanne
Two things that are great about it is one, again, it doesn't burn your eyes. So I don't have a crying hysterical toddler on my hands that won't sit still because I'm trying to get the deep, set inner blue paint of the mystical magical unicorn out of her eyelids or the point I'm so bad at makeup, there where you put your eyeliner, there. And that helps a lot. The second thing that helps a lot is it comes off really quickly. So she doesn't have time to really get frustrated with me and start moaning and begging for it to stop because basically in two wipes, everything is off, it's dissolved, it's fine. The thing that I also love about the FIGGI Balm is if you do not use that as a double cleanse like you should when you're an adult and you're using this line. And you wash it off, but you do not wipe it off with a microfiber cloth or dry it off with a microfiber cloth afterwards. It's a wonderful, wonderful moisturizer to stay on your skin. So if she's had a really tough day and it's just one of those days, I think all moms know one of those days where you just cannot do anything right and everything is an issue and everything is a struggle and you just don't have time for the battle of trying to put cream after bath time, you're good to go.
[00:11:44.160] - Jeanne
After a cleanse, I do give her a little bit of the FIGGI Evening Rescue Cream. I love that cream because it is deeply nourishing and hydrating. It's got a lot of healing ingredients in it. It has Provenin, MinB5, which is I think an essential ingredient in every baby or child skincare routine. That's why so many creams for nappy rational of that contain it. And again, she loves it. It's silky. You use so little of it. And I just apply a little bit, just a little bit to the cheeks, and I rub it in everywhere else. It's really such a hassle free routine because it sounds like a lot because I've explained the background to it. And when I choose to do this and when I choose to do that. But actually, all it comes down to is a gentle soap bar or body wash of your choice. Not washing with a washcloth because she doesn't need that extra exfoliation, but washing with our hands, all the places that collect sweat, dirt, buildup bacteria, and then a gentle face or facial cleanser and a moisturizer. That's really all. The same goes for the body. When she gets out of the bathtub, I really try and encourage her to not dry her skin with the towel and to rub at it viciously and aggressively.
[00:12:56.940] - Jeanne
I try to make a moment out of it for mommy and me when we get out the shower or whatever. We tie the towel around our bodies and we just tell each other about our day and what's happened that day. Or we have some fun playing with some of the skincare products or the water or whatever to encourage more of a natural way of drying off the skin. And this is also a great way to make sure that her skin is still nice and damp by the time we apply the moisturizer. And this is a really key part for children's skin care. Their little skins get so dry, so dry, from all the playing in the sand and the dirt and the running and the pools and beach and the ocean. So you really want to do your best to lock in that moisture. And if you have a good moisturizer, that's what moisturizers are supposed to do. They're supposed to create a seal over your skin to keep all of the moisture inside and keep it from evaporating. You may have heard about this referred to as trans epidermal water loss. We want to prevent that from happening.
[00:14:00.960] - Jeanne
So all of that beautiful damp water we have on our skin, we want to keep there. We don't want to dry it off and then try to put it back by only bringing in a moisturizer. We want to seal it in with that moisturizer. Twice a week, maybe on Wednesday evenings or on a Sunday, we love doing that on a Sunday, I will give her a little bit of extra TLC. So my little girl tends to get really dry on her shins and her calves, and she also tends to get really dry on the tops of her feet by her toes. So I'll give her a massage and I'll make sure that it's after bath time when the skin is nice and damp and I'll really massage the moisturizer into her skin and I will lock it in there. So I will essentially slug over her skin with Vaseline to make sure that that moisture stays inside all night long. This really helps and is such a great skin rescue. It's especially for dry, cracked, irritated skin, especially when they've had a scrape or a bruise that's healed, that's already healed, or if they've just been outside a lot more than usual.
[00:15:15.210] - Jeanne
Another great tip I have for skincare, or at least I think it's a great tip, is on summer days, days in the sun, days on the beach, but especially I would think for days when you're swimming a lot or you're by the pool. The pool tends to have a lot of chlorine. If you have a saltwater chlorinator, it still has a lot of salt. And it really, really dries out the skin. So I try to get her used to the idea of swimming and having fun, getting out and rinsing off under the tap, just like a clean stream of water, just to get that chlorine saltiness off of her skin. And that night we will do a little extra. That's usually when I will bring out the big guns and put some Johnson & Johnson's baby oil into the bath water. And while she's in the bath, I'll massage her or massage this into the skin. It's such a wonderful way to just lock in that hydration, to add that extra moisture, and to protect the skin, and give it that extra oomph, that extra boost, that extra foam of protection that you need, especially when the little ones have been tough on their skin.
[00:16:20.740] - Jeanne
Follow it, of course, by a moisturizer still. When she gets out of the bath, so many people will say, Oh, what's the point of a moisturizer? You already put so much oil on your skin. The moisturizer won't penetrate. Yes, that's true. But you know what? It's great for my peace of mind. So I just put the moisturizer.
[00:16:37.810] - Intro
You're listening to the My FIGGI Life podcast.
[00:16:41.190] - Jeanne
So the next tip. Okay, this is valid right now because we're in the summer holidays and everybody's having fun in the sun. Yes, the boring, boring bit about sunscreen, sun protection, sun care. So what I found works the best for me is to have three or four different types of sunscreen in my arsenal, which I can rotate between judging on her willingness to be sunscreened at that moment. Because I'm sure you all know that once they're out there and they're playing or when they're super excited to get out there and playing, the last thing they want to do is stand still so you can put sunscreen on them. This is where this has come in so handy because I have really done my best from a young age to teach her that part of our morning routine is to be getting ready for school, brushing our teeth, brushing our hair, putting our sunscreen. So she will come to me in the mornings and she will say, Oh, mommy, I don't have sunscreen yet. So the first one for me is free. And that's usually when I go in with the thick cream spray, because this is probably the last time that day that you will give me enough time to sunscreen her like this.
[00:17:55.220] - Jeanne
And I just get in there and put as much of the cream on her as I can. Obviously, obviously remembering all the places that we forget, the tops of the feet, behind the ears, on top of the ears, the back of the neck, especially if they're playing on the beach and they're building sand castles, they're looking down all the time. There's always, depending on the hat you use, this little area between the hat and the costume that gets exposed to the sun. The backs of the knees and the hands. Then I have an air gel type of thing. It's a mousse. It makes hair mousse on your skin and you can rub it in, but it rubs in really dry, non sticky. It's beautiful. I love it. And she loves it because it's fun for her to put it on her skin because it bursts out in this bubble. And she just thinks it's the greatest thing in the world. While I'm still in her good books with application two, that one works really well. Then I have a sunscreen stick for the face. I found that this also works well. It's a little bit later in the day.
[00:18:51.930] - Jeanne
She's a little bit more prone to wanting to play. She's getting a little bit more tired. She doesn't want me to be fuzzing around her. And this is a great one she can put on by herself with my supervision. And she loves doing it because it feels like she's doing a facial or something. So she's just putting the stick all over her face, and that's wonderful. The last one I have is an invisible sunscreen spray. This is the best thing that has ever been invented. Just make sure that when you get an invisible sunscreen spray, you know the brand, you understand the research that they've done into sunscreen efficacy, and they have solid, solid results and backup. This is the ultimate. This is the one that she's playing in the sand or she's at the pool and you don't even call her to come to you. Just sneak up on her and just spray it all over her body. And it's so quick and it's so fast and nothing needs to be rubbed in. And it's just the least amount of hassle. Those are my four tips for being out in the sun. Thank you so much for listening to this episode.
[00:19:48.740] - Jeanne
I really hope it helped you because now that I'm saying these things and I'm doing this episode, everything I said sounds so silly to me. But these are things that I never really knew. I knew I had to take care of her skin, but I didn't know, are you supposed to be cleansing her face with a cleanser? How much moisturizer? What soap? And now I'm in a better situation to understand this. I've really seen a difference in her skin. She has a lot less irritations. She's got a lot less eczema flair ups. Her skin is a little less sensitive. It's a lot less dry. And I also feel good about it because I feel like I'm instilling a good facial skin care and body skin care routine into her daily life, something that to her seems normal and not an oddity that I'm going to add on later. I hope you found the same value in this. And if you have any other questions about children's skin care that I can help you with or perhaps answer, or if you have any tips for me, I am also always happy to always open to tips, then please let me know.
[00:20:47.600] - Jeanne
You can go to figgilife.com, drop me a comment in the contact form or read one of the blog posts and drop me a comment there. You can also send me a DM or comment on Instagram @jeanne_figgilife. I'd love to connect with you anyway I can. So until next time, please remember that everyone deserves to celebrate the goddess within.
[00:21:15.630] - Intro
The FIGGI Beauty skincare line is here, the best skincare routine for your dry and sensitive skin. FiGGI's Sensi Soul Regimen gives you back the power to indulge in skincare luxury without upsetting your skin's delicate balance. Finally, someone created a luxury skincare experience for goddesses with dry and sensitive skin. On sale in the US now. Shop at FIGGI.eu.