SOFT, SILKY, SUPPLE SKIN WITH ESTHETICIAN MARLYSE O’HAGAN

I wash my face twice a day, yet I had no clue how to do it properly. After spending an hour with Marlyse I learned how to properly wash my face, how to apply my skin care products, what ingredients to look for in my skin care products and what type of makeup to avoid.

I also learned a bunch of words to describe beautiful skin.

The interview was a delight. Marlyse is sweet, knowledgeable and has a calming presence, which is exactly what you want in an esthetician. She’s also a go-getter, read how she got her dream job using social media. Make sure to follow her (IG profile below) and, if you’re in the El Paso, TX area, visit her at Mix Salon Spa.

Tell me about yourself, why are you passionate about skin care?

I was determined to find my passion in life. I’ve always loved the beauty industry and I knew I didn’t want to go to school for 4-8 more years. I decided to go to cosmetology school and I actually went to 4 different cosmetology schools until I found one I liked, which was Tristate. This is when I fell in love with skin care and that passion has been blooming ever since.

The only thing I wanted was to learn and to have a good mentor. When I graduated I worked as a medical esthetician doing laser hair removal, but I wasn’t doing all the other things I wanted to do. Then, I sent a DM message to Mix Salon Spa through Instagram and that’s how I ended up working there. From the interview I knew that Luz, the owner, was going to be that mentor that I was looking for. She saw how driven I was to learn. She told me that what I would learn from her, would save me 10 years of learning things on my own. In this industry people don’t share their techniques, but Luz is all about positivity. Just talking to her makes me connect to the idea that everything happens for a reason, and I know that working with her is where my journey is supposed to be.

At the Spa I do facials, full body waxing, lash lifting and tint and brow tinting. I used to do eye lash extensions but taking that time to separate every eyelash gave me crazy back pain, so I decided to stop. I love how they look but the pain left me depleted.

You just can’t keep constantly giving if you’re being drained.

What are three things you think we can do to improve our skin care routine?

1. Remove your makeup thoroughly with a double cleanse, which consists of a pre-cleanse and a cleanse. Make sure you use a cleanser that’s right for your skin type. When you’re cleaning your face, clean next to the ears and behind the ears, the neck, the decolette area (chest area), you don’t want to spread makeup and dirt on your pillow.

2. Exfoliate. Skin has a life span of 28 days, then our skin begins to shed off old skin cells and produce new ones. The older you become the longer it takes for new cells to form; frequent facials will help with that by exfoliating. It’ll also help with dull, uneven skin tones and help with fine lines and wrinkles. If you have dry or sensitive skin you can exfoliate 1-2 times per week. If you have acne or oily skin you can exfoliate 2-3 times per week.

3. Always wear SPF. This is the #1 form to protect the skin barrier.

It’s easier to prevent skin damage, than to reverse it. And SPF is like sunglasses for your skin.

How do you know if a skin care routine is right for you?

You can look at the ingredients in the skin care line you use. Make sure the first ingredient is water, to make sure they’re hydrating the skin. Our skin is constantly changing so have different products available. For example, if you’re traveling to a place with dry weather, make sure you have a product that can give you extra moisture. For women, if your skin acts up when you’re about to get your period you can have a charcoal mask handy to apply two days before your period, so that you can start treating what you already know is going to happen.

What are some easy things we can do to take better care of our skin?

Drink water! This is how we can hydrate the skin from the inside out.

Take vitamins- I love taking probiotics for gut health and skin health.

It’s proven that if your gut is happy, your brain is happy.

Exfoliate. Not all exfoliants work the same. Make sure the exfoliant has AHA's and BHA's, these ingredients are derived from lactic acid, sugar, milk, acids and enzymes that actually eat away at the dead skin cells.

Make sure your skin care has Hyaluronic acid. Hyaluronic acid is amazing because it holds up to 1000% of it’s weight in water, so you put it on your skin and it’s going to keep your skin hydrated throughout the whole day.

After only 2 weeks of using hyaluronic acid you’re going to feel the softness of your skin; it’ll feel silky, supple, plump, and it’s going to fill in fine lines and wrinkles.

If I go to a spa what would you recommend?

This depends on your skin type, there are 5 different skin types: normal, oily, combination, sensitive and dry.

Dehydration is a symptom, and has nothing to do with your skin type. You can have oily skin type and have dehydrated skin. Dehydration can occur because of the products we use, certain foods that we eat, not drinking enough water, drinking too much coffee, too much sugar, alcohol and over exfoliating.

There’s also a difference between Sensitive and Sensitized skin. Sensitive skin is skin with disorders such as: Eczema, Psoriasis and Rosacea. Sensitized skin is skin that is reacting to something you put on it. This can show up as dermatitis or topical dermatitis. In this case, you can just build a tolerance to the product and treatment. This is different to an allergic reaction, which would show up as swelling, hives or a rash.

If you go to a spa, a facial is good for anyone. For oily skin I really like to apply masks and the ultrasonic machine, which vibrates down to the third layer of the skin (the hypodermis) to clean pores. If you have dry/sensitive skin, you can go to a spa once a month to treat your skin. If you have acne, you can go to a spa every two weeks to treat your skin. And make sure you have good skin care products to follow up with the treatment.

If you have acne, less is more. So if you go to a spa, a good acne treatment would assist in killing the bacteria and then proceed to calm and soothe the skin. You never want to over irritate acne prone skin.

What are some other things that you can recommend for beautiful skin (beside skin care products or going to a spa)?

Better makeup. Make sure you use a makeup that doesn’t clog your pores (non-cometogenic makeup), like mineral makeup.

Use a primer. A primer is good to protect you skin from the makeup you’re going to apply.

Where can people find you?

You can find me on Instagram here!