MAKEUP REMOVER / MICELLAR WATER
I must admit that when it comes to removing my makeup I am quite lazy, don't get me wrong, I mean most of the time I do double cleanse and all that jazz but when my cleanser does a pretty decent job of getting rid of my makeup, why take the extra step? To remove my makeup on the whole I currently use the Elemis Pro-Collagen Cleansing Balm; I scrape out the tiniest bit of this onto my fingers and apply it all over my face and makeup with a splash of warm water and it literally melts my makeup away. I then use a hot damp muslin cloth to wipe it all off and I find that this combination does a really good job. I do this every day and with a second cleanse after (which I'll go into detail about below) I usually find that there isn't a scrap of crap left on my face!
For little bits of eye makeup and getting rid of the extra scrapes of mascara that usually get left behind I normally use a micellar water with a cotton pad; for me it's the most gentle way to get near to my eyes and does a pretty decent job for getting those stubborn bits gone. Normally I use a Garnier Micellar water (the really popular one with the pink lid) but recently I splashed out a little and have been using this YSL Micellar water. I did get it through a work discount when I worked back at the Body Shop, so I didn't quite pay the hefty £25 for it, but it was definitely a splash of the cash compared to my £4 Garnier bottle. It's good, don't get me wrong, but I won't be repurchasing this when the bottle is finished. I'll be back to my drugstore remover in no time!
For little bits of eye makeup and getting rid of the extra scrapes of mascara that usually get left behind I normally use a micellar water with a cotton pad; for me it's the most gentle way to get near to my eyes and does a pretty decent job for getting those stubborn bits gone. Normally I use a Garnier Micellar water (the really popular one with the pink lid) but recently I splashed out a little and have been using this YSL Micellar water. I did get it through a work discount when I worked back at the Body Shop, so I didn't quite pay the hefty £25 for it, but it was definitely a splash of the cash compared to my £4 Garnier bottle. It's good, don't get me wrong, but I won't be repurchasing this when the bottle is finished. I'll be back to my drugstore remover in no time!
FACE MASK
I love giving myself a pamper and face masks are one of my favourite ways to do that! I usually pop on a facemask straight after removing my makeup and before cleansing my face for the night as a bit of an extra clean of my face. Before applying any face mask though I always make sure my face has been washed and then spritz on some of the Origins Maskimiser facial spray. I always feel like my mask works that little bit hard when I've used this and I feel like it gives a nicer base for my mask to be applied to. I then have a couple of staple face masks that I go back to time and time again which I'll talk about in a minute, but to properly treat my skin I recently bought myself the Lush Mask of Magnaminty self-preserving face mask to really drag out those spots! After being recommended it by one of my best friends and complete lush addict, Melody (she has so many Lush videos on her Youtube Channel) I couldn't wait to see the end results. I've been applying this every couple of days at the moment for a deep clean of my skin and love how fresh it feels. It literally smells like mint choc chip ice cream and honestly takes all of my will not to just lick it off (pregnant lady craziness right there). I've been loving how radiant this leaves my skin and thanks to the added honey and it's antibacterial properties (which is the main ingredient to make it self-preserving) have found that it really does bring out any spots that are hiding beneath the surface.
Another one of my all time favourites that I always use is the Origins Clear Improvements active charcoal mask, a clay-like drying face mask that I apply about once a week for a really good deep cleanse of my pores! I have loved this one for a good two or three years now and with one tube lasting me around 6-9 months, it's definitely worth the price and purchase! I've never once applied this and had a bad result, it always delivers and always leaves my skin feeling refreshed and polished. It's one that I will continue to use and continue to love time for many years to come and I would honestly recommend it to everyone out there looking for a new face mask!
FACE SCRUB
About twice a week (when I'm not having a face mask kind of day) I like to insert a facial scrub into my routine. I like feeling like I'm doing something to help my skin and getting a nice gritty scrub in there to really buff up my pores is just the thing for me. I have a couple that I really like (especially one of the Liz Earle scrubs) but at the moment I am obsessed with the Pineapple Papaya Facial Scrub from Kiehl's. Now, even though there is currently a lot of Kiehl's in my skincare routines, I am fairly new to Kiehl's products and honestly I'm not entirely sure why I've never ventured to the brand before. Again, I did get a lot of these whilst getting a discount through The Body Shop, but I'd 100% repurchase many of the products I've tried purely because they are incredible. I have been loving this scrub in particular for a good deep clean of my skin on those in-between days and really feel like this is doing something for me. The scent of it is incredible (how could it not be with two gorgeous fruits) and I really like the feel of the way it scrubs on my skin. It's not overly abrasive and harsh, yet I still know it's doing it's scrubby job, if that makes any sense?
CLEANSER
Cleansers are something that I often chop and change between in my skincare routine and are things that I even tend to change between on a daily basis (especially for my morning and night routines). I never want my skin to get too used to a specific cleanser as I feel like that defeats the point, but for the past week at least I have been loving this specific combo. The Biore Baking Soda Cleanser has been my go-to for about a month now on and off and I really liked how that one made my skin feel, but most recently I've been loving the Biore Deep Pore Charcoal Cleanser. I love massaging this onto my face, specifically around the areas where I usually suffer most with breakouts and blackheads and letting it work it's magic for a minute or two before splashing this off with water. I love the tingling sensation I get when I use this as it really makes me feel like it's working hard and if you know me, you'll know there's nothing I love more than a cleanser that feels like it's doing it's job properly! Like I said, I've only really been using this for the past couple of days (almost a week) but already I can tell the difference this is making in my skincare routine and I think I'll start sticking to just changing between this one and my baking soda cleanser for the foreseeable future.
Honestly when it comes to toner I'm a little bit of a newbie. In that sense, I mean that I've used it on and off for the past two years but I've never really understood what it does! I currently use the Kiehl's Ultra Facial Oil Free Toner every evening after my cleanser and do so on a cotton pad to wipe away any excess bits of crap that may have been left on my face (although I must admit, with my routine, nothing usually gets past the cleansing stages!). I like to think that my toner does something, but in all honesty I have not one drop of clue as to what that thing is! If anyone could enlighten me in the comments, please do! I've tried many in the past, but right now I'm stuck on two (my other will be coming up in my morning skincare routine soon) and this Kiehl's one seems to be 'working' for me as my evening one! My skin does feel a little tighter after applying it and ready for my next steps!
TONER
Honestly when it comes to toner I'm a little bit of a newbie. In that sense, I mean that I've used it on and off for the past two years but I've never really understood what it does! I currently use the Kiehl's Ultra Facial Oil Free Toner every evening after my cleanser and do so on a cotton pad to wipe away any excess bits of crap that may have been left on my face (although I must admit, with my routine, nothing usually gets past the cleansing stages!). I like to think that my toner does something, but in all honesty I have not one drop of clue as to what that thing is! If anyone could enlighten me in the comments, please do! I've tried many in the past, but right now I'm stuck on two (my other will be coming up in my morning skincare routine soon) and this Kiehl's one seems to be 'working' for me as my evening one! My skin does feel a little tighter after applying it and ready for my next steps!
FACIAL OIL
My Facial oil of choice these days is one that I was introduced to by my kinda sister-in-law Emily when I first discussed my love of all things beauty and skincare with her. In fact, she's the whole reason behind my new Kiehl's obsession, so I'd like to really thank her here for my huge credit card bill a few months ago! The Midnight Recovery Concentrate from Kiehl's is a cult favourite that everyone and their Mum raves about and quite frankly I don't know why I'd never discovered it before. I apply one or two drops of this to my fingers and pat over my face lightly every night after what I like to call my 'bathroom routine' (everything up until this point as these next three steps are kept in my beauty room). Again, I'm not entirely sure what exactly this does to my skin in a sciencey kind of way, but in short, after applying this my skin just looks so much clearer in the morning. I really feel like this helps to heal my blemishes and even out my skin tone over night. Like I said before, so many people rave about this product and although pricey (£49 for 50ml) I definitely think it's worth it as you use so little every night. Before purchasing this Emily gave me a sample she'd been given whilst shopping (around 5ml or less) and that kept me going for about 3 or 4 weeks before I finally gave in and purchased the real deal!
EYE CREAM & MOISTURISER
Another two products from Kiehl's here but two that I have been loving for the last couple of months. First up is the Avocado Eye Treatment which for £34 for a 28ml pot it's definitely pricey, but when I say you literally need the smallest amount of this ever to cover your under eye / eye area every evening I really do mean it. I've never really been an eye cream kinda gal but since being pregnant and getting barely any sleep due to being so uncomfortable and having my little bubba kick all through the night an eye cream has most definitely been required to banish those bags! I have been loving the consistency of this eye cream as it's nice and thick but sinks into the skin with minimal effort and my under eyes look so much better for it in the morning. The dark circles are no where near as bad as they normally are and my eyes don't feel as tired as they usually have done. I've read a lot of bad reviews about this product by people saying they just haven't got on with it when using it in the morning before makeup and honestly I can kind of see where they're coming from as it is quite oily and thick, but for me, I always use this before bed and see such a massive difference in my skin under my eyes that I just think this is wonderful! I have dry/combination skin so a really moisturising product like this is just perfect for me before bed!
The next product I slap onto my face before bed is usually a moisturiser and in the past I have used ones such as the Origins High-Potency Night-a-Mins which I absolutely adore, but when I ran out of that about 4 or 5 months ago I wanted to try something a bit different. The Kiehl's Ultra Facial Overnight Hydrating Masque has been my go-to for around three nights of the week for me recently and I've loved the effect that it has on my skin. I apply a very small amount all over my face (avoiding the eye area that I would have just covered in my eye cream) and let it sink in before heading to bed. On the website Kiehl's recommended that you wipe a layer of this off with a cotton pad before you sleep (after around 10 minutes or so) but for me, if I apply a tiny amount to begin with I find that I just don't need to waste the product. For 125ml of this, it will set you back around £29 which I honestly think is a really good price for a moisturiser of this size and for Kiehl's. I love the way that my skin drinks this in and my face always feels super smooth the next day. I use this around three times a week because it is quite a hefty moisturiser and it is recommended that you only use it a couple times a week; I don't normally listen to guidelines like that but in this case, I don't want to over indulge my skin and make it have the opposite effect. As it's quite an oily product I feel like too much of a good thing could make my skin too greasy and so I like to mix it up a bit and just use this every other night. On the off days from my Ultra Facial Hydrating Masque I like to just leave my face with the eye treatment and Midnight Recovery Concentrate and I've found that this combination throughout the week just leaves my skin feeling it's best!
Obviously at the moment I am very hormonal thanks to pregnancy and so my skin is breaking out quite a bit, but with the routine I've set myself with all of the above, I've found that I'm breaking out a little less and the spots/belmishes/scars aren't staying around as long at all anymore. I'm really hoping that I can keep this routine up throughout the rest of my pregnancy and when bubba is born as it's really working for me right now! Of course being a blogger I do occasionally break the cycle and insert a new product to review, but for the majority of my time over the next few months I'll definitely be sticking to this as close as I can! I'd love to know you're skincare routine and what holy grail products you've been loving!
BekyLou, Beauty, Fashion, Fitness and Lifestyle Blog based in the South West and London.
(*this post may contain items gifted to me for PR purposes*)
This post contains affiliate links - Disclaimer
These products look all amazing! I love your blog, wanna follow each other?
ReplyDeletehttp://julesonthemoon.blogspot.it/