My Morning Skincare Routine.
Compared to most people I know I have quite an extensive skincare routine and I am constantly tweaking and adding things. When I started a blog this was high on my list of content – since initial planning there have been four rewrites and now I’ve finally written this I realised it needed to be split into two parts. Yep, you read that right. I am super obsessive about my skin.
I have skin allergies which cover so much ground it’s ridiculous and in high school I had my share of acne issues. Add in living in a warmer, humid climate and its one giant balancing act really. I have seasonal variations and spend a large amount of my spare time keeping an eye on brands I love and researching new products. So, for now, this is part one of my skincare routine. And yes, I promise there will be updates as I go.
In the morning I start by washing my face with Frank Body’s Creamy Face Cleanser, massaging it in a little and always rinsing with cold water. FYI this is done with a cloth – I don’t get splashing your face with water, it makes such a mess and usually ends up with cleanser in my eyes. Next up I tone my face, neck and chest with a few drops of the Body Shop’s Vitamin E Hydrating toner on a cotton pad. This helps freshen up and gets rid of the rest of last night’s moisturiser from my neck and chest.
Let’s get down to business. Next up is Clinique’s Pep Start Eye Cream which I’ll always pat around my eyes – make sure you don’t forget to apply above your eyes! If I have time I massage this in with my fingers in little circles around my eyes starting in the middle, then up and down around but this cream is great at depuffing and brightening so it’s not all that necessary.
Now comes the serums… and no I’m not kidding when I’ve mentioned using bucket loads! I start with some hyaluronic acid using a few drops of the Mizon Bio Hyaluronic Ampoule Serum patted into my face and a pump of The Chemistry Brand’s Hyaluronic Concentrate on my neck and chest. Why two? Well as you might’ve seen on my stories a while ago I got pretty excited when I found a 240mL pump bottle of Hyaluronic at Priceline so I always use that on my body and the Mizon is much lighter to use on the face.
Next, I use three pumps of Clinique Moisture Surge Hydrating Supercharged Concentrate over my face, neck and chest. This I originally bought on a whim with a voucher I got for my birthday but oh my god it was everything so after a little while and some cost/efficiency comparisons it has become a staple. Then I follow this up with about a 10-cent piece worth of Clinique’s Moisture Surge Extended Thirst Relief which I always scoop out with a little cosmetic spatula thingy. If I’m spending money on my skin those products are staying as fresh as possible – there are no fingers getting dipped!
After this I put on my final product before moving into makeup, the Clarins Beauty Flash Balm. This stuff is liquid gold and it is the longest standing item in this routine. I have only ever found one item that came close to it but my skin didn’t take too well to it. It is pricey definitely but you only ever need about a pea size for the face and I have been known to cut up and scrape the tube before replacing it. A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do!
I won’t go into makeup because I am actually the worst. I have a few tricks to make it passable but honestly you don’t want my advice on that. Also, I know there is no sunscreen in this! I usually rely on my foundation for SPF because I just haven’t found any I like on my face! So feel free to comment below some that you love because I am in desperate need of guidance.
But I will leave you with one final golden rule that I’m sure you’ve all heard but if you’re anything like I was, have probably ignored. Whatever you do to your face, do to your neck and chest. I thought this was just a way to waste product but after noticing that my chest and neck’s skin was getting a little worse for wear compared to my face I started and it has changed everything! Once I started doing that, THAT was the moment I started getting more and more people commenting on my skin.