February is here and with it here I am to commit to a blogging schedule. We will have new posts every Monday and Friday, and a lot more content coming your way. January was a hard month, a lot of stuff happening and I needed to take a step back in order to reorganize and reset myself. Today I kick start the month with an updated skincare routine. I will share all the products I've been wearing since November and give you all my unfiltered thoughts and opinions on them.
Skincare has always been a sensitive topic for me. For years I failed to give it the right importance, focusing all my energy (and money) on makeup. However, as I've grown older, and hopefully wiser I've come to realize that skincare is the base of any good makeup, that the canvas can actually make the painting.
Thankfully I never had awful habits like sleeping with my makeup on or not moisturizing because I had blemishes, but I don't drink enough water and for years I've struggled with understanding my skin (as you can see on the post I did on my experience with dermatologists). Nowadays I know I have combination skin and I seek to use French Pharmacy products in my routine, they normally have a good quality/price relationship and work better than most drugstore products I've tested (this doesn't mean I have abolished drugstore products in any way, there are great affordable options out there and I don't mind using them and testing, but so far this routine has worked perfectly for me.).
The steps I do are similar morning and night. If I am wearing makeup I always remove it with either an oil or a micellar water (my favorite one being the Garnier one).
After that, I use my Clarisonic Mia Fit and the The Body Shop Tea Tree Clearing Facial Wash, I've found these products to work perfectly together! My skin feels cleansed and oil-free after using this cleanser and the Clarisonic is an amazing tool that has changed my routine completely. I tend to use it more at night time, once I'm normally rushing in the morning and I feel that doing the process morning and night might be a bit too aggressive on my skin. I honestly think a skincare cleansing brush is a great tool to add to your routine, especially if you wear makeup. It removes all the dirt and every bit of pollution from my skin and I feel like my skin is cleaner than ever before.
I also have been making an effort to use either cold (in the morning) or tepid water on my skin. I think that I made the mistake to use super hot water on it and it was damaging my skin barrier.
After cleansing, I use a tonner. The Nuxe Aquabella has been my choice. I used to apply my toner with a cotton pad but, as of lately, in my efforts to reduce the waste I produce I have been applying this product with my hands. This way I have actually ensured that the product lasts way longer once it's applied directly to the skin. A tonner is important in your skincare routine because it will help balance your skin pH level, sometimes modified by tap water. It also has an important role when it comes to the appearance of your pores and it also helps to even out your skin tone.
Moisturization is an essential part of any skincare routine (yes, oily skin people, of yours too). Honestly, combination skin can be a total bitch, your skin will be oily AF in some parts and dry in others if you use a gel type of moisturizer you will have dry patches if you apply a thick cream you will look oily. It's hard to find a moisturizer that gets it right. I can proudly say that I finally have found something that truly works for me (and that I'm in the second bottle of already). I am talking about the Jowaé Moisturizing Light Cream, a fluid, and very refreshing product that moisturizes my skin and leaves it feeling like a baby. This is probably the product that I've felt made the biggest difference. I don't think I will need to search more for moisturizers, I use it morning and night and it truly works wonders. I also find it to be very shooting to my skin after wearing makeup the whole day, removing it, exfoliating, etc. this product always helps my skin feel fresh and, overall, good.
The last couple of products that are part of my everyday regime are two products that target special areas of our faces, areas where the skin is a little bit different than the rest of our faces, the eyes and the lips.
The skin under our eyes is extremely thin and sensitive, it makes sense that we should wear a different product to hydrate that part of our faces. I have tried many eye creams, and even though I don't find them to be essential in my routine (ask me again in 5 years when I start having wrinkles and maybe I will have changed my mind), I feel way better when I used them. I normally use my face roller under my eyes before applying the eye cream and I find the combination of both products to work perfectly in the morning when I'm trying to look alive and awake.
The eye cream I've been wearing is the Garnier Organic Anti-age Eye cream (because it's never too soon to prevent aging marks under our eyes). I love this product, it has a nice soft smell, it's hydrating and I feel it does the job of keeping my under eye area hydrated. This is also a step I value because I normally go heavy when it comes to concealer and crazy eyeshadow under my eyes, feeling that I'm taking the time and extra effort to do a step focusing on preserving that area as become quite important to me.
When it comes to the lips, I swear that the Alex Steinherr x Primark Sleep Spa Overnight Lip Mask is the best lip balm I have ever tried.
If you have been reading the blog for a while you know I love the Primark collaborative range with the beauty editor but this lip mask is where it's at for me.
As someone who as always dealt with super dry patchy lips, I am proud to say that I have tested most of the options available in the market when it comes to dry lips and this one takes home the prize for me. I apply a very generous amount before bed every night, I keep it in my purse during the day and I sometimes even use it instead of lipstick due to its natural pink colour.
I am so thankful for having found this product, my lips are so dry (mostly because of the water intake problem I've mentioned in the first sentence) that I found myself bleeding from the cracks and sometimes it was painful to even smile. A good lip balm has always been essential to me and to find one so affordable that works this well is truly groundbreaking for me. So I have to thank the makers for this product and beg them to never discontinue it!
I hope you enjoyed this post, I was originally supposed to write in all the extra products I wore but after doing a little Instagram poll you said you would rather have the post dived in two.
Next Monday part 2 will be up!
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