Skincare - Home and Away!

Since the bells rang in 2013 I have not worn a single ounce of make-up! No base, no mascara, not one single piece of make-up has graced my skin. Mainly because I've had the flu since New Year and have barely left the house, lucky me. Today, since the only thing I've been using since then is skincare, I would take you through my daily skincare routine, what I use and why. Also, since I do overnight shifts at work quite frequently, I thought I would show you what skincare I use when I travel too! So here we go...

HOME

For cleansing I like to begin with Superdrug's Naturally Radiant Brightening Hot Cloth Cleanser. This is my first foray into using such cleansers, but I really like this, it has a very light fragrance, and it cleanses well, leaving my skin feeling refreshed and looking bright. If I'm removing make-up first however, I will use Clarins Water Purify One Step Cleanser with a cotton wool pad. This is great at removing all traces of make-up (though for mascara I tend to just use water, I don't like eye make-up removers).

Next: exfoliation. I use Body Shop's Pore Cleansing Facial Exfoliator. This a great scrub for me; I like scrubs that are quite chunky and scrubby (know what I mean?), and this fits the bill. My skin always feels extra smooth after using this.

Some people don't like to use toners, but I feel I need to in order to reduce the amount of oil and open pores on my face, so for that I use Body Shop's Seaweed Clarifying Toner. It's light, not harsh on the skin, but does the job I need it to do. And it does it well too!

My next step is to use a serum/facial oil. At the moment, I am working through some samples of Lancome Genefique. It is amazing, my skin is smoother, more radiant when I use it. If only it didn't cost £56 for the smallest bottle! Even though I've managed to stretch out a 5 day sample pack into nearly 3 weeks worth of usage, I'm still not entirely convinced that this is worth so much money. My preferred option for this step is Antipodes Avocado Oil and Rosehip Divine Facial Oil. This is very rich, and it does take some time to fully sink into the skin, but it has helped so much with my spots (when I have them) and it smells divine, as the name would suggest!

Moisturiser is my next step, and at the moment I'm using No.7 Beautiful Skin Day Cream for Oily Skin. For a moisturiser designed for oily skin, this is actually quite thick, more akin to a moisturiser for drier skin types, however it doesn't make my skin feel greasy, and it provides the right amount of moisture for my skin. At this point I also like to use an eye cream/gel. I know some people don't really see the point of these, but the one I use at the moment, Body Shop's Elderflower Cooling Eye Gel has made the skin under my eyes feel firmer and, I might be having some kind of placebo effect here, it appears to have reduced the dark circles under my eyes. For added benefit, I keep this in my fridge; this keeps it cool and means you get an extra boost of freshness when you apply it, great for a kick on those early rises!

When my skin needs a deep clean, instead of cleansing I'll start off with a face mask instead. The two I use at the moment are Eve Lom's Rescue Mask (which is lovely, but smells weird and doesn't seem to do much) and Lush's Cupcake Fresh Face Mask (which smells like chocolate, reduces shine and redness, and leaves my skin fresh and non-oily.).

Also, an extra product I use when I get spots is T-Zone Spot Zapping Stick. This is a little rollerball with tea-tree oil which you rub over your spots and this will reduce redness, swelling and keep the area cleam. This always yields results for me and I've used this for years. I usually buy this from my local Home Bargains, so if you have a store near you, have a look because it's usually much cheaper there than elsewhere.

That's my skincare routine in a nut-shell! What products do you use in your routines?

Christina xo