Skincare Challenge Overview

I apologize for the choppiness of my skincare challenge posts, the only time I have to blog is in the middle of the night while the boys sleep and I'm not the most tech-savvy to begin with.
I learned a lot about myself and about skincare from this experience. Taking pictures has really helped me to see my skin exactly the way it is, without my ego filter.
I have been in beauty retail for ten years now and so often I've been frustrated by clients that said "I don't know" when I asked what their skin condition was. Now I see that they were being more truthful than I was.
So many factors affect the way our skin looks: diet, lifestyle, products, stress-level, hormones, overall health and so on. But so often I think we would like to blame it all on products: "oh, that doesn't work for me" when maybe what we need to look at is our overall habits and lifestyle. I use top of the line products faithfully AND I'm an esthetician but I don't have flawless skin because of lifestyle choices I make. I choose to co-sleep with my boys even though I know their little heads are a bacterial breeding ground. I touch my face. I need to wash my makeup brushes. I need to wipe off my phone. Have I changed my pillow cases recently? I need to go to yoga, my stress level is through the roof....
But lately my skin is looking great despite those things. The weather is good, I'm getting along great with my husband, I was gifted several new outfits including a really flattering skirt that makes me feel great, my period has past....PLUS I have a consistent skincare routine.
, I really feel like this was a completely worthwhile experiment.