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Athlete Essentials: Basic Skincare

This shelf sums it up!
 For facial clean up-no matter what is on skin-BIODERMA's Micellar Water gets it off, gently and leaves no trace behind. The way we like our skin. Available now with targeted solutions...meaning oily, dry and what we use, Sensiblo (sensitive skin).

For regular hand washing-which is the third thing we do after getting home off city sidewalks and mass transit...(post take shoes off and give the cat massive hugs)... Dolphin Organics's fragrance free liquid hand soap - thorough enough for fingers of all ages-gets deployed. We like how the hand soap rids digits  of nasty bacteria and grime without drying out skin like other cleansing soaps and importantly-is 
EWG Verified™ * Triclosan free * certified cruelty-free and vegan * gluten free * hypoallergenic * and of course free of parabens, sulfates, petrochemicals, artificial fragrances or artificial dyes. Comes in a convenient pump bottle too. 
For sunblock that actually works-and for hours-and that includes after sweating and  swimming- we still are using our fav fragrance/dyes/preservatives/oils FREE-completely non-irritating TIZO-the tube version...that comes in clear and tints for skin match-ups and in a facial primer- with added skin saviors like anti-oxidants C+E (SPF 40).
We faithfully use the light tint for neck up  defense...and it pretty much serves as our foundation too- if we're going out-with help from cover-up if needed.
Big bonuses-
TIZO coats our skin with a silky, non-greasy feel (matte finish)-and totally blends in color wise. We find the one two combo of Titanium Dioxide (8%) and Zinc Oxide (3.8%)-is EXTREMELY  long lasting (in a race-we're not stopping to re-apply!!!)- and protects us from a full spectrum of damaging rays-indoors (Bluelight from smartphone/computer screens etc) -and the outdoor kind- UVA and UVB-the sunburn ones and the penetrate the skin-long term damaging ones. We read Consumer Reports take on sunscreens two years ago- and are convinced the testers don't do nearly an eighth of the outdoor activities  we do-as we can vouch from experience that chemical sunscreens do not work at the first break of a sweat. Physical sunblocks-are even cooler feeling-as the sweat can escape...but the sun protection is still there. (See picture below),
Our best proof -is seen at triathlon competitions-with athletes grouped by age increments-which gives us a visual on skin ravaged by the environment. EASY TO SPOT -those who maybe lived on the beach or at high altitudes...looking  a decade plus older than same age competitors...despite spraying on those household name chemical sunscreen.
Plus-the ingredients like oxybenzone are questionable in terms of human health (at best). IMO-if it's toxic for coral reefs ( Hawaii's latest law banning them)...why would it ever be safe for vertical moving earth inhabitants.
Just saying.
TIZO-also introduced a physical block- lightly-  barely there tinted lip protection stick-SPF 45 that-we think would work on all skin tones. It also contains no chemical sunscreens-protecting with titanium dioxide and zinc oxide. 




For neck down protection-before a workout/race we slather on CALIFORNIA Baby (EWG rated)...leaving a white pasty coat on our skin. No-we're not competing in beauty contests here-but we can attest that our skin, after it's wiped clean- is way less sun damaged (wrinkled, brown spots, saggy) than the other gals our age, As one can see by this picture -cooling sweat isn't blocked either-a good thing-while the sunblock is still visible---and this after a 15 mile run in heat. FYI-a light coat of California Baby-actually blends into our skin after a few minutes. NOTE-def shows up and stays on some fabrics if one isn't careful applying,..our experience.

Lastly when our arm/leg skin gets weird scaly from all the pool/jacuzzi chemicals-a coating  of NeoStrata's Ultra Smoothing Lotion-is the cure. It has a slight tacky feel when applied-but it disappears quickly---the effective glycolic acid+citric acid -though-lasts long enough to effectively slough off our rough-patchy dermis. We have even used it a few times on our face-though we felt slight stinging there-but afterwards-our facial skin was super soft.FYI-now sold in a tube.