pets & acne

we love our pets as if they’re our own children. they teach us was what unconditional love & loyalty looks like. unfortunately they can have effects on our acne, so before you go snuggle your fur-baby, take some precautions to help keep your skin clear. my pups have been under the impression many times that my bed is their bed, my pillow is their pillow. and while i hate to disappoint them, i make sure they don’t touch my pillow or the top half of my bed. (i do let them on the foot of the bed, i’m weak!) the reason it’s important to keep your pets away from your face & bedding is due to the oils, residues, and flea medications that coat their furs (as well as the random dirt + dust they get from roaming around in their day to day). often times the ingredients in their shampoo is not acne-safe and the residue can transfer. also, most flea medications keep your pups safe from fleas by coating their hair follicle in chemicals. not to mention the other grime on their fur just from being dogs/cats ;) while I’m out out of the house, one of my dogs likes to break the rules and sleep on my pillows and even started digging and burrowing, i would end up coming home to a disheveled bed and dog hair everywhere. so I started taking precautions to prevent her from being able to get in the bed by tucking the bedding and putting extra layers on. this has been successful for about 2 years now! read on to see my step by step in action. in a nutshell, you make your bed first, then lay a big bedspread over it to keep it contained, and lay a smaller snuggle blanket on top for the dogs to burrow in.

here is a time lapse of my routine:

here is a step by step

• pull the sheet up to cover my pillow(s) and tuck in:

• pull the comforter up to cover the sheets, and place display pillows/shams over the top:

• pull a blanket up over the pillows/shams and tuck in at the top:

• put a bed cover over the entire bed and tuck in at the top. it's important to get this tucked securely, as this is the protective layer that will keep the dogs out of your sheets safely tucked underneath!:

whew! it sounds like a lot but it’s super fast. she got the picture quickly and she’s pretty happy just laying at the foot of my bed. I even got her her own dog bed & blanket to burrow in. and as a treat, i let her under my covers and all up in my bed on sunday mornings - which is when i do laundry & change the bedding. this goes the same for snuggles, kisses, and clothing. I keep scarves & shower towels, and face towels away from my pups. and as evil as it sounds, i don’t let them kiss my face or touch my face in general. they can snuggle my head, my chest, my arms… just not my face. BUT were all human right? and we may end up letting our pets touch our face & bedding despite our best efforts to avoid it. I've been using earthbath shampoo on my dogs and the ingredients seem somewhat safe. although the 'coconut-based cleansers' is questionable (coconut oil?) and the orange oil is most likely not safe. a better option would be their hypo-allergenic shampoo. but none have been tested or proven to be safe. my fellow sS esthetician, emily, bathes her dogs in her shikai body wash, so that's definitely another option! so while we all may wish to use our pet as a pillow, we just have to be mindful and make adjustments. like maybe while you’re laying your head on your pet, make sure it’s just the back of your head, or put a clean blanket over her :)! And if your pet wants to come up to the top of your bed, have her lay on her own special blanket, etc.. they will still feel the love and so will your skin!