As athletes we do so much to take care of our bodies, massage, nutrition, compression, but what are you doing for your skin?? If you regularly wash your face after sweaty practices and reapply sunscreen throughout the day you are already a few steps ahead of most.

We spend exorbitant amounts of time outside, from open water to outdoor pool swimming, long Saturday rides, long Sunday runs and everything in between, throughout all this our skin takes a beating.

Every race we enter we want to be able to put our best foot forward, but what about our best face forward? At barely 25 I have already started to notice the stress I have put on my skin, from dark sun spots appearing on my face to the galaxies of new freckles that appear all over my body every consecutive summer that I am out there busting my buns to be a better athlete. I don’t know about you but I don’t want my skin to age me faster than I need to. I work dang hard to be/feel/look fit and I want my skin to reflect how healthy I feel inside.

This is why I decided it was time to take preventative measures and seek help from a professional. On top of visiting a dermatologist yearly to keep track of the freckle constellations and monitor them for melanoma I have teamed up with a fantastic aesthetician!

Let me introduce M’Lisa Hansen owner of The Loft Spa. M’Lisa and I are working to reverse the effects of sun damage and pre mature wrinkles I have already wrought on my poor mug. Too much sun isn’t my only issue though, embarrassingly enough I have always suffered from acne. I took Accutane in college hoping it would be the magic solution and while it worked for a time I still get those god awful face craters, the kind that make you want to hide under your covers until you look human again. Even as healthy as I am all the sweat, grime and chlorine that my poor face is exposed to on a daily basis takes its toll. Add in the fact that I’m a picker…don’t look at me like that! I just can’t help it! AND consistent sun exposure on the poor skin I just attacked means I also battle acne scars all over my chin and cheeks.

Now as a professional athlete with 2-5 sessions in a day wearing makeup just doesn’t make sense. Smoldering raccoon eyes from dripping mascara is just not the trend this year. Which means that I am running around with dark sun spots, erupting volcanoes, and erupted volcano scars for all the world to see. As you can imagine it takes a toll on your self esteem. I often find myself walking places head down and avoiding eye contact with people when I am out with a naked face. The whole if I can’t see you then you can’t see me principle.

No makeup! This is how great my skin looked after just one facial.

Thankfully this is were M’Lisa will be my saving grace! Not only is she a very educated aesthetician, skilled makeup artist and 100% qualified to do the picking er…extraction for me, but she is also a philanthropist. She donates her time and a portion of her proceeds to the YWCA, helping women who have been disadvantaged whether from abuse, addiction or just hard luck, look and feel their best with facials and a little pampering. How amazing is that?! Every woman deserves to feel beautiful and loved and cared for. Taking care of your skin and the number one thing you look at every day you catch a glimpse in a mirror is a huge step towards that. I am so excited to post progress on how my skin changes and share guest posts from the lovely M’Lisa. I may be a gross sweaty triathlete, but I am still ALL girl and I like to look and feel pretty too. I cannot praise her enough and highly recommend her services, which are absurdly reasonable considering the level of skill and professionalism she brings to her craft. Check out her website and her complete list of services listed below and stay tuned for more beauty tips and tricks.

Follow her on Instagram  @TheLoftSpa #BeautyandGiving