Cleanse. Tone. Moisturise. Repeat - My Daily Skincare Routine.

Now, I am slightly ashamed to admit that up until about a year ago, I didn’t really have a cleansing routine. I remember reading blogs and thinking to myself ‘Hmmm... so Clearasil and water don’t count huh?’.  Yes, that’s right. My cleansing routine echoed that of a 12 year old.

Ever since then, I have been trying to find the perfect combination of potions to fit my skin. I have combination skin (that rubbish one where your T-zone is oily, yet there are dry patches on the cheeks), and I am also quite spot prone. I thought that I would share the products I am using currently.

 

 

Asda Skin System Eye Make-up Remover £2.00– I use this magic product of an evening, to remove my eye make-up (obviously). I have tried many a eye makeup remover, and I still come back to this one! Even in my Emo/Grunge phase I found that this was the best for removing that trade-mark eyeliner.  At £2 a bottle, you can’t complain really.

Clarins Cleansing Milk with Alpine Herbs £19.00 – I received this set from my Boyf’s very lovely sisters at Christmas. I squeeze a little out in my hands and press into the skin. I use the ‘press and lift’ Clarins technique (I had no idea what this was I had to ‘Google’ it when I first started using the cleanser), and it does the job perfectly.

Clarins Toning Lotion with Camomile £19.00 – If I am perfectly honest, I still don’t really understand toners. Do I need one? What do they actually do? I pour a little onto a cotton pad and wipe all over my face. I’m not sure what it does exactly, but I do know that my skin feels softer once it has been applied. It also gives me a slight cold/tingly feeling which I strangely like!

Johnson’s Facecare Hydrating 24 Hour Day Cream RRP £4.07– This is my favourite moisturiser of all time! I have tried lots of different types, by loads of different brands - Simple, Nivea and even Benefit, but none match up to this in my opinion. It leaves my skin feeling beautifully soft and really does last all day! There is no greasy residue either, which I have found in moisturisers in the past. Previous experiences have also led to my skin having massive break outs; however, I don’t think I have ever had one from using this product. It also comes in a glass pot, which I feel adds a certain Je ne sais quoi! The only downside is that Boots seem to have stopped stocking it in store (Why is that Boots??!) – But after a few weeks of frantic searching, I managed to find it in Wilkinson’s, so now I just stock up J

Soap and Glory ‘Puffy Eye Attack’ £12.50  – If you have read my other blogs, you may recognise this product from a haul post. You can read about my initial thoughts on this product – here. Since then, I have been using this cream for about a month. Unfortunately, I found that it played absolute havoc with my contact lenses. It just irritated them and thus my eyes. I now only use it in the evening, which is slightly annoying because I did think my bags were starting to look better!

You may notice that I still don’t really have a separate night and day routine. Shock horror! To be honest, I just can’t be faffed with it, so I tend to use the same products morning and evening.

Have you tried any of these products? What did you think? Which are your favourite cleansing products?

 

Boots Booty (not the Beyonce kind) - A Drugstore Haul

After declaring myself ‘broke’ and spouting lines like: ‘I literally have NO money, I am going to be living on cereal’, I found myself on a shopping trip. After narrowly avoiding the Naked 3 palette (which I still can’t stop thinking about), I found myself perusing the wondrous aisles in Boots.

Somehow these items just jumped into my shopping bag and forced themselves through the till (funny how things have a habit of doing that?)

Soap and Glory ‘Off your face’ cleansing wipes (usually £4.50 but there was a 40% off deal at the time so I got for £2.99): The first thing that struck me about this product was the softness of the cloth! Normally I find cleansing wipes a bit scratchy – but these are like cotton! The cloth has 2 sides to it – a smooth side and a slightly bumpy side. I tested both sides as make-up removers, and I found the bumpy side was slightly more effective. They even removed eye make up pretty well – there was still a little residue on my eye, but overall I was impressed with their removal power.

When using facial wipes, I often find that my skin feels slightly sticky afterwards – but with this product my face felt smooth and dry! With a comforting fragrance of Olbas Oil – I will definitely be getting these again!

Soap and Glory ‘Puffy Eye Attack’ eye gel (usually £12.50 but £8.33 at the time): Normally, I get horrendous bags under my eyes and have been searching for a product to at least minimise them. ‘Could this be THE product?’ I wondered.

This eye gel has a thick texture, and a little goes a long way. I have sensitive eyes, so I have found in the past that some eye products have caused stinging. I am not going to lie, I did get a small amount of stinging, but mainly in the evening where I think my eyes are probably aggravated from my initial make up removing. I also tested the gel under my concealer (I use that magic ‘NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer’) and found that the two products worked well together.

After using this product every morning and every night, I have found that my eye bags are better, particularly near the end of the week. I’m not sure if I am ‘in love’ with it, but it is doing the job for the moment!

Maybelline ‘The Falsies’ mascara (£7.99): My usual go-to mascara is the MAC False Lash effect – so imagine my dismay when I ran out of it during these hard times. I had heard a lot of really good things about this mascara, and knew it is a particular favourite with beauty guru Tanya Burr, so I thought I would give it a try. If it’s good enough for Tanya, it’s good enough for me!

The applicator has a scooped brush, which also has a ‘flexi’ element to it. To be honest, it has probably taken me all week to get used to this. Normally, I like to remove most of the product from the applicator, so I can build up thin layers. However, for some reason this was not working, on the second coat, my lashes were clumping together and it looked like I had a grand total of 5.  I found the product worked better if I ‘tidied up’ the applicator, rather than removing the entire product.

 Now I have got used to the product, I am very happy with the results. I am able to create a fluttering lash, with a ‘wide eyed’ look. I love what it does to the bottom lash too!

Batiste Dry Shampoo in ‘Oriental’ (£2.99): Everyone and their Nan knows that this is the Holy Grail of hair products. This product should be in EVERYONE’S bathrooms, bedrooms, offices (I even have a friend who kept some in her car – sensible lady).

I have very long and thick hair. I am also lazy. These three factors often equate to waking up late, hair standing on end, on those days when I had set my alarm early, in order to leave enough time to wash my hair. This is when I find myself grabbing my dry shampoo in a frenzy, and desperately trying to make my hair do ‘something’. There is now a huge range of Batiste products – ranging from fragrances or specific formulas for your hair colour. I was drawn to this bottle, due to the packaging. I love packaging (I am an advertisers dream), and the purple oriental design caught my eye.

The fragrance is also lovely. Obviously, you can’t get completely away from the aerosol smell – but this product has a musky scent which I like. A great product and I don’t need to tell you that this will definitely be on my ‘repurchase’ list.

So, whilst I get back to my cereal, what are your drugstore essentials that you just could NOT live without? 

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