Over the past couple of months my skin has not been looking its best. I've been getting alot more breakouts than normal and instead of feeling overly dry like it normally does, it has turned on its head and started to get slightly more on the oilier side of things. I think the main cause of this change in my skin has been the change in seasons. The weather has gotten alot cooler in recent months and I feel that this definitely has taken a toll on my skin. So in a bid to combat this I have switched out a few products from my skincare routine and I thought I would share them with you.
For removing my make-up in the evenings I have been sticking with the Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water. I just soak a cotton pad (I use the big square ones that you can get in the Baby section in Boots!) in it and just take my make-up off with it. It does a brilliant job at removing the bulk of my make-up including eyeliner and mascara!
The main thing I have changed is my cleanser. I have been a firm fan of the Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish for years now- but I am starting to think that my skin is getting too used to it and it just wasn't doing the same job for me. So I did my research and eventually decided to go for the Clinique "Take the day off" Balm. It is suitable for all skintypes, so as my skin is flitting between being dry and oily it will cover me for all days. I do enjoy using cleansers that are slightly thicker in consistency during the colder months. I find that they are just slightly more nourishing for my skin during this time. The Clinique balm does slightly resemble a pot of fat when you first look at it, but don't let that put you off! It is a lot lighter in texture than I was expecting but once you rub it between your hands it turns into an oily substance which you then rub into your skin and rub off using a hot flannel/cloth. I imagine that this will last me ages because I only use the smallest amount and it is quite a big tub.
I am still loving the Liz Earle Instant Tonic Boost for my toner. I find it soothes my skin when I apply it and does a good job at calming any redness that may be going on. I have this in the spritzer bottle so I can either just spritz it directly onto my skin or just apply it onto a cotton pad and use that to wipe my face with. I sometimes use this in the mornings before I apply any make-up, to freshen up my skin for the day. The next step which I also do in the mornings is apply my beloved La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo. This cream is absolutely amazing, it helps to clear up breakouts really quickly and any redness that may linger from spots. It feels so light on the skin so when I apply it in the mornings before make-up it doesn't make a difference to how my make-up looks. I recently ran out of my favourite Origins GinZing eye-cream and unfortunately I couldn't justify paying for it at the moment (Christmas is coming!) so I went on the hunt for something similar. I look for something that is brightening as well as hydrating in an eyecream. I do tend to get alot of discolouration and puffiness under my eyes so anything that can combat that is a star in my book. So again after a bit of research I decided to go for the Una Brennan Superfacialist Vitamin C eye-cream. I am a massive fan of the Una Brennan range, and everything that I had tried I had loved. In the couple of weeks that I have been using this I have noticed that the dark circles under my eyes have been neutralized quite well and puffiness has been brought down.
My moisturizer has not changed, I am still loving my Origins GinZing moisturiser. I find it really brightens my skin while still adding a decent amount of moisturizer. Plus it smells like oranges...yum! And finally for any unwelcome friends on my face I use the Origins Super Spot Remover. I am a massive fan of this stuff. Just pop a tiny bit of this onto the offending area and I find that it reduces the size of the area, the redness and overall just speeds up the healing process. It does tend to dry out the spot so only apply this where needed!
So those are the products that I reach for on an everyday basis to try and keep my skin in as best condition as it possibly can. I do think that consistency is a major part of skincare. If you are chopping and changing products like nobodies business then your skin doesn't get a chance to settle down and it will eventually react. So that is why when I do find a product that I like, I stick with it as best I can. What is your all time favourite skincare product and are there any products that you think I should try out?
