Beauty: My daily skincare routine

Welcome to my first beauty post! I am both nervous and excited at the same time to see what you think of this new section of the blog.

I thought I’d start with a fairly easy post for me to write, my daily skincare routine. The post may be easy to write but my journey to finding this routine certainly has not! My skin type changes regularly, I know this sounds strange right?! At the age of 14 I was referred to the doctors for acne and came out with a strong medicated gel to help combat my spots. I decided not long after that this wasn’t the right remedy for me and my skin so started using the Clinique 3 step system of cleansing soap, toner and dramatically different moisturiser. This worked and my skin was glowing within a couple of weeks, no spots in sight! A couple of years later and my skin changed meaning it no longer liked the soap of this system. It started to make my skin feel tight and dry so I had to try something else. This has been a pattern throughout my 20s but I have FINALLY found my perfect skin fit. I’m pretty sure this will change again in the future but, for now, I’m really happy with my skincare routine.

My skin, for those who are interested, is fairly clear with few breakouts other than the odd stress induced spot. I get an oily patch on my forehead and dry spots on my cheeks when the climate changes. Other than that I would call it sensitive/combination as I also get redness on my cheeks and it can feel itchy if I use the wrong products.

This is the ‘wet’ range I use and will be introducing you to today. The only product I won’t be talking about is the Decleor Aroma Cleanse as I don’t use this on a daily basis. I’ll write about this in a future post if you guys are interested 🙂

Dermalogica Precleanse £33.20

I have tried Dermalogica’s skin care system but this is the only product I have stuck with. It is an oil textured formula of olive, apricot and kukui nut oils designed to lift daily grime, make up and sun screen products from the skin allowing for the cleansing stage to have a better effect. This product is designed for oily skin so don’t let the oily texture put you off! It is a fabulous product that I find makes my cleanser work so much better. This lifts the muck, my cleanser then does its job, cleanses my skin.

This is how the product looks when it is dispensed from the bottle, I then spend some time massaging this all over my face concentrating on the areas where I feel my skin needs the most attention, mainly around my cheeks and forehead. Once you have done this you then wet your hands and rub them over the surface of the skin to transform the Precleanse into a cleansing milk. I like this step as I think it helps me to determine whether I have covered my skin fully.

This is how the formula starts to turn into a milky consistency… then give it a rinse with clean warm water. All done with stage 1!

Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish £13.25

Liz Earle is a queen when it comes to skincare in my opinion. I have used this product for years but decided about 12 months ago that it was too expensive and I needed to try something cheaper. I never found anything that came close to this so I have gone back to it. My skin no longer looks dull and clogged so it is well worth it. This product is fantastic on my sensitive skin as it only contains natural ingredients including the wonderfully balancing eucalyptus and the calming chamomile to settle down any redness outbreaks I may get.

The pump dispenser is great as that is the exact amount you need, one pump will cleanse your entire face and neck, no overuse here! Applied in the same way as the Dermalogica Precleanse it is then removed by buffing away the cream with the cloth soaked in hand hot water. A quick splash of warm water to remove any excess and you are good to go. The best thing about this product is how well it removes waterproof make up and it is gentle enough to use on the eyes so no need for extra products to remove that waterproof eyeliner and mascara, this does it all for you.

Liz Earle Instant Boost Skin Tonic £13.25

Liz Earle’s interpretation of toner is also a big plus for the redness my skin sometimes likes to get. It contains cucumber and aloe vera to combat that redness and smells good enough to eat. I dispense a small amount onto a cotton wool pad and sweep across my face to remove any remaining cleanser and to give my skin a lovely radiance.

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair £44

As the name suggested I use this in the evening, it is a wonder product that has won a huge amount of awards including Cosmopolitan’s best age defying serum award. If it is good enough to win such an accolade it is good enough for me! Estee Lauder recommend putting a drop onto each of your fingers and massaging into the skin from the centre outwards. I don’t use this much as find one drop is plenty to massage into my skin.

This is one drop, doesn’t it look enough? I also find this makes the product last longer and at £44 a bottle I need it to last me a fair while 🙂

Liz Earle Skin Repair Moisturiser Dry/Sensitive £19.25

I think this is a bargain price for such exclusive ingredients. The avocado oil and vitamin E moisturise so well and the creamy texture sinks so well into the skin. I just use it where I feel my skin needs moisture after the Estee Lauder serum and don’t use it in the mornings as it is very creamy meaning my foundation doesn’t like sticking to it a whole lot.

Vaseline Pink Bubbly £3.49

I’m not a lipstick person, I love a good gloss but find them too much for daily wear. More posts will follow of my plight around gloss and lipstick! For now, this is my favourite lip treatment. I put it on thick at night to moisturise my lips, I love the smell from the champagne grape extract too. It gives a lovely soft sheen to the lips for day wear, perfect for the person who doesn’t want too much fuss and the perfect start to my daily make up routine which, will follow later!

So what do you use on a daily basis? Anything you think I need to try instead of my picks?