Hello, my beauties! I hope all of you are staying safe from the hectic weather bombarding the states at the moment. Today I bring you a post that I never thought I would do, my skincare routine for morning and night. Until about November/December time, I never had a true skincare routine. I would use whatever acne wash and toner I could afford and get my hands on and the lotion I used in the morning is what I used at night. Then there’s the fact that I didn’t wash my face as often as I should have. But since adopting this routine, my skin has started to look a lot better and that makes me soooo happy! If you’re curious about what I use or want some product recommendations, please keep reading 🙂

Makeup Removers

I have three different makeup removers that I use and when taking my makeup off I will always use two of the three in a sort of rotation. I always pair it with the oil. I start off by washing my face with The Body Shop’s Camomile Silky Cleansing Oil. This has two effects, one it breaks down my makeup and removes about 90% (probably more) of it. I will also use it when I don’t wear makeup as a part of my 2 step cleansing ritual. I will then either use the Garnier SkinActive Micellar Cleansing Water for Waterproof makeup or I will take my The Original Makeup Eraser and use that to remove the rest of my makeup. Some days, when I’ve had to wear really heavy makeup I wind up using all three but it doesn’t hurt my skin at all which is a big bonus!

Cleansers and Tools

I have three different face washes that I use, not all at once don’t worry- hah! My favorite wash is the La Roche Posay Effaclar Medicated Gel Cleanser for Acne Prone Skin, then I have the Neutrogena Deep Clean Facial Cleanser, and finally the Neutrogena Deep Clean Purifying Cooling Gel Scrub. I have the Deep Clean cleanser to try and get my face used to not always using a medicated cleanser because my breakouts are slowly lessening. I like having a scrub, especially when I’m washing my face in the shower. No specific reason, I just feel for some reason that the scrub works best in the shower with all of the steam opening my pores. I also use my Clairsonic Mia 2 (which isn’t made anymore but they’ve made others that you can check out here). Right now I alternate between the Radiance brush head and the Acne brush head. I do not use this every day because my skin tends to get sensitive if I do, so I use it every other day unless I use my scrub that day. The Clairsonic, or any powered cleansing brush, is a great investment if only because it makes your skin feel so good!

Toner

I use two different toners, one for the morning and one for the evening. I use the Your Good Skin Pore Minimizing Tonic for the mornings and I use the Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Stress Control Triple Action Toner in the evening. I do it this way so that the minimized pores will be happening when I’m applying makeup and the stronger one that is for acne will be working while I’m not putting a bunch makeup onto my face so it can do it’s toning magic without interruption. I just use a cotton round to apply my toner, I really don’t like cotton balls because it seems like you have to use twice the amount of product because the cotton ball absorbs it really fast.

Moisturizer

I use three different moisturizers because my day one wouldn’t be too great for the evening and my evening one is too heavy for the day. The Mario Badescu Facial Spray with Aloe, Chamomile, and Lavender is something I use morning and night. I spritz it onto my face after I apply my toner, I just think it gives my skin that extra drink before pulling out the big guns. For the morning I use the Garnier SkinActive Gel- Cream moisturizer in the version for Normal to Combo Skin. I like this because the gel texture means that it absorbs quicker than a straight cream. I’m actually on my second jar of this. Then for the evening I use the Creme Shop’s Overnight Gel Mask. I picked this up at Torrid because the description reminded me of the Laneige Water Sleeping Mask. Oddly enough, that is my backup for when I finally run out of this one. The Creme Shop one is very thick but it sinks in quickly and doesn’t feel heavy on the skin.

Facial Oils

I use my facial oils in a different way morning and night. In the morning I will mix a few drops of the Argan Oil from Amazon in with the Garnier cream gel moisturizer. Especially during the colder months, this really helps to keep my skin from feeling ridiculously dry. Then I use my Tarte Maracuja Oil in the evening but this I pat into my face BEFORE I put the Creme Shop moisturizer on. I’ve only started religiously using my Maracuja oil in the past year and my only thought is, where have you been all my life?! If I am to recommend an oil, it would be the Tarte Maracuja oil. Luckily if you’re up in the air about it, they sell a travel size for around the $16 mark.

Eye Cream

Here’s another step where I have two items. For the morning I use the Nuva Skin Eye Cream that I purchased from Amazon. It is very light and sinks in pretty quick which is a bonus, especially if you do your eyes first makeup wise. Then in the evening I use the Laneige Eye Sleeping Mask which just feels so luxurious. This eye cream is silky to the touch and not ‘goopy’ and the applicator is really unique, it’s a wand with a ball on the end. It took some getting used to but now I love it.

Lips

This is probably the newest addition to my skincare collection, the Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask in Vanilla. This, again, feels so luxurious on my lips. There’s a bit more oil in it than I usually like but since it’s not super thin, I really don’t mind it. It comes with a little spatula looking thing that you can use to apply it to your lips or you can use your finger. Me, it depends on how tired I am.

Acne Spot Treatments

The newest addition to my acne spot treatments is one of those Acne Patch things. It works so well, I was truly surprised. I got mine from Amazon and they are the Liberex Acne Pimple Patches. Then I have my Origins Spot Remover, which is really good if you want to wear it during the day because it is completely clear. I own all of the Mario Badescu acne spot treatments: The Drying Lotion (or ‘that pink stuff’), the Drying Cream, and the Buffering Lotion. The two drying products work really well when your pimple has come to a head and the Buffering Lotion is greatest at helping those really painful ones under the skin. You can get all of these at Ulta in a three pack. There are other brands now sort of copying his pink drying lotion, I’ve seen a few on the Ulta website. I still think his is the best but that’s a one sided opinion.

Well, that’s all folks! I hope you enjoyed today’s post and please, I’d love to hear from you, so put your questions and comments in the section below and we can chat! I’ll see you tomorrow with this weeks Weekly Faves! XO

Be Bold, Be Beautiful, Be YOU!!  Because you is the most beautiful you there is.