Update to my 2014 New Year’s Resolution: Skin Care

Hello! It has been a few months since I updated my New Year’s resolution regarding skin care, so I thought it was time for a new post. In my last post, I talked about how my skin had gone from dry to oily and how crazy the change had been for me, so I had started looking for solutions. I have found quite a few solutions since then and I feel like I know exponentially more about skin and skin care than I used to and I’m so much more confident about where I spend my skin care dollars. I’m here to let you know what I’ve learned in the past 4 months. Going from knowing literally nothing about skin care, to knowing as much as I feel I know now.

I also want to say again that (obviously) I’m not an expert and that I think everybody’s skin is different and what works for me may not work for you and vice versa. And, as in my last post, I’ll just stop and remind you here about my post about Glam Glow, and also my first post where I initially talked about developing a regular skin care routine.

Moving along…

Last time I updated, I talked about what I did and which products I used; I think that format worked well, so I’m fixin’ to use it again!

Morning:

Cleanse: I use Liz Earle’s cleanser and natural muslin cloth, that I got absolutely addicted to after I sampled it through BirchBox. (BirchBox is a monthly subscription makeup sample service.) It is really pretty, and comes in a sort of Tiffany blue tube, and the muslin cloth is slightly exfoliating. I absolutely love the Eucalyptus smell of it, it reminds me of the spa. It also feels quite luxurious on the face. I really recommend it, and you can get a huge tube of it (the small sample size lasted me 30 uses or so) plus 2 large muslin cloths (the sample came with a small one) for $24.50.

I don’t exfoliate in the morning, as I consider the exfoliation I get from the muslin cloth to be sufficient, so I tone next. I usually use a mild toner, like The Body Shop’s Tea Tree Skin Clearing Toner, as that seems to be working well for me.

Next I apply a serum, usually The Body Shop’s Pomergranite Firming Serum, because it seems mild to me, no heavy acids (AHAs, for example). I’m probably going to try to find a different “mild” serum, because I don’t love this one, but it’s good, and I would recommend it.

Finally, I apply a layer of sunscreen. If I’m wearing makeup that day, I still apply sunscreen, it’s the one thing I won’t leave home without, and I keep some in my purse- always. One cannot overstate the importance of photo-aging prevention. As for which sunscreen, I’m currently testing out a few but I like The Body Shop’s Aloe Soothing Sunscreen, and Philosophy’s Take A Deep Breath SPF 30.

Night:

My nighttime routine is a little different from my daytime routine. I start with a basic cleanser, I have quite a number of them that I’m experimenting with right now, but I usually reach for either The Body Shop’s Seaweed Deep Cleansing Facial Wash or Purity by Philosophy and apply that to my Clarisonic.

I do a more intense exfoliating treatment in the evening, and after using my Clarisonic, I use a basic exfoliating gel or cream. I have been using The Body Shop’s  Tee Tree Blackhead Exfoliating Wash and Skin Clearing Lotion, but I am no longer enjoying it as I find the particles are too big to concentrate on exfoliating properly. The two I’m enjoying most right now are Aveeno’s Active Naturals’ Positively Radiant Skin Brightening Daily Scrub and Philosophy’s The Microdelivery Exfoliating Wash. I prefer the Philosophy one because it has smaller particles that seem to last longer, so I have more time to exfoliate, but they’re both good and I would definitely recommend the Aveeno one to someone looking for a good drugstore product. The only thing I don’t really like about the Aveeno one is that it has Sodium Laureth Sulfate in it, which is, in my view, more of a shampoo ingredient than a face wash ingredient.

Then, once I’m out of the shower (did I mention that I Clarisonic in the shower?), I usually throw a mask on. Sometimes I Glam Glow, but most days I’ve been using Origins’ Clear Improvement Active Charcoal Mask. I really like the Origins mask because you can use it every day if you want I don’t think I’ll repurchase the white jar of Glam Glow again, but I do want to try the black jar next time, as I’ve heard it would be better for my skin type. On days that I don’t use masks, I use Biore pore strips to clear my pores, although it does say on the box not to use them more than once every three days. I also want to mention that the reason I do this after I shower is because it is when my pores are most open from the steam and how water, so my mask or pore strip will be most effective at that time.

Once my mask dries (or my Biore strip “paper maches”), and I remove it, I rinse off and dry my face. After that, I’m ready for toner. The evening is when I use a more intense toner. So, I usually apply my Clean & Clear Deep Cleaning Astringent, but once I run out of that, I’m switching to a Paula’s Choice one to see if I like it better. I’m happy I finally found a toner with a higher percentage of salicylic acid. I’ll let you know if I like it once I try it.

I usually wait about ten minutes after applying my toner to apply my serum and night cream. I don’t think I have to wait, it’s just something I like to do. My night serum is either the DDF sample I got (which I still have) or the same one I use in the morning.

My night cream is also in a state of flux. I know Philosophy’s Take A Deep Breath is not a night cream, but it’s so luxurious that I can’t resist using it sometimes. I also have some samples from Clinique and Origins I’m working through. I really haven’t made any significant development towards an evening cream, but I’m learning about what I like and what I don’t like. I enjoy a thick cream, but I don’t like ones that are strongly scented.

If y’all have any recommendations for a night cream I should try, let me know in the comments below. I’ll definitely update this post once I try out a few more things and develop a more concrete routine. This is really starting to become a hobby for me, as I feel I’ve learned a lot about proper skin care, even if I’m not 100% of the way there, it’s a long way from sunscreen and basic bar soap.

 

Thanks for reading!