Deborah Tosline wrote and published Skin Remodeling DIY: An Introduction to the Underground World of Do-It-Yourself Skincare in 2015. Deborah's education and work experience is in science, where hypotheses are tested through observation and experiments. She has Bachelor of Science degrees in geology and ecology. Her approach to skin care is based on that scientific background, a love of research and over 30 years of DIY skincare experience.

The Red Corner By XoMEoX (Red Corner) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

There are a million ways to be and ways to accomplish goals. Who is to say which is right?

Here is one way to care for facial skin.

I can’t help myself, I am compelled to maintain the main footprint AND the corners, edges, in-betweens and behinds of stuff.

It is challenging for me to clean my house, my car, practically anything because I get absorbed in maintaining the fine details which is time-consuming. However, my old stuff looks new.

While I am a fan of paying homage to corners, edges, in-betweens and behinds, for basic practicality and efficiency, it is important to recognize and honor points of diminishing return for any given effort. Devoting time to detailed tasks is useful but not always possible or necessary. It is wise to spend time on those details that will have beneficial results.

Saying that, forgotten corners, edges, in-betweens and behinds become grimy and are worthy of periodic attention in the long run. Having to deep clean embedded deposits in corners is a time consuming task easily avoided by consistent maintenance.

The corners, edges, in-betweens and behinds of skin care.

Initially, I cared for the main footprint of the face. I washed, nourished and practiced advanced skincare primarily on this area. With time, I extended my focus and all practices and applications to include my neck and décolletage and observed a noticeable difference.

Tom Haggerty practices scalp exercises to maintain the health of his hair. As a result, in my observation, his forehead is enviably tight.

1106 Side Views of the Muscles of Facial Expressions By CNX Anatomy 2013 [CC BY 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Amongst mature, healthy individuals in an idealized visual society, who hasn’t pulled their cheeks back a bit with their fingers to revisit the past?

Ok, hear me out. Maintaining corners, edges, in-betweens and behinds of your facial skin will improve skin health and function and allow those areas to potentially tighten and support the main footprint of the facial skin by gently pulling on it.

Facial corner, edges, in-between and behind suggestions:

· Facial exercises are mandatory; plan accordingly.

· Exercise scalp muscles to lift the forehead, which will lift the eyebrows.

· Protect the front and back of the neck from the sun using scarves, scarves + hats and physical sunscreen.

Gray1194 by Henry Vandyke Carter [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

· Protect the sides of the face from sun exposure. Carry a large scarf to wear alone or with a hat to protect the sides of the face while driving/riding in the car, hiking, yard work, etc. Scarves, so handy for a lady or gentleman.

· It is most important to practice daily skin care in areas that are often neglected. Get a micro-fiber cloth and scrub potentially ignored areas including the back of your neck, hairline, and around the ears, etc., to increase circulation and stimulate the skin.

· Apply nourishing, high quality skincare products to the front AND back of the neck, décolletage, around the ears and along the hairline as well as the main footprint to rejuvenate, revitalize, and maintain holistic skincare.

· Advanced skincare practices, whether obtained from a med-spa, dermatologist, or as a DIY’er should try to treat the corners, edges, in-betweens and behinds. These treatments can be powerful for a person with a healthy constitution as the skin will respond positively. However, would a med-spa or dermatologist treat these areas?

Edited from Getty Villa - Collection (5305205576) By Dave & Margie Hill (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0), via Wikimedia Commons — Edited from Getty Villa - Collection (5305205576) By Dave & Margie Hill (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0), via Wikimedia Commons

Reminder… when the corners, edges, in-betweens, and behinds are maintained in optimum health they tighten and support the main footprint by pulling slightly from behind.

Health = Beauty

Conversly, perhaps if only the main footprint is treated, as it tightens it may actually pull the behind towards the front! No! Treat it all for balance.

Maximize efforts on the corners, edges, in-betweens and behinds to maintain or to reverse the results of past poor self care practices and monitor improvements. It may take a long time to reverse a degraded skin condition. Choose slow progress over continued degradation.

It’s primarily a matter of slowly replacing poor self-care with nurturing self-care and don’t forget the corners, edges, in-betweens and behinds!

Take good care of yourself and for more skin care tips get my book "Skin Remodeling DIY: An Introduction to the Underground World of Do-It-Yourself Skincare" xo Deborah