Current Skincare!

Hello everyone! Hope you had a great Easter!

This post will be all about skincare: what I'm using at the moment, my philosophy behind it, plus a few thoughts on changes that I need to make. At this point, I should say that my skintype is the very definition of combination (dry&normal areas meet an oily t-zone), (severely) acne-prone and lightly sensitive. A pain, in other words.

So, let me take you through my current skincare routine:

First stop is cleansing.

- For the heavy duty daily makeup removal, I trust MAC Cleanse Off Oil completely. It melts off the makeup that I've piled on within a few seconds. I use it as is, without adding any water for maximum results.

- I don't use it to remove my eye makeup too though: for that, I use the Garnier (Fresh?) Essentials Eye Make-Up Remover. It doesn't sting or irritate my eyes at all, which is a huge deal for a contact lense wearer like myself. It removes all of my eyeshadow and if I leave it on my eyelashes for a while with the help of a soaked cotton pad, it will take off a good 70-80% of my mascara (I pile it on like nobody's business). I may repeat at the end of my cleansing routine to remove all mascara traces if needed. The reason that I use a cheaper eye makeup remover is that I don't see the point of splurging on sth that I need to repurchase that often. That said, I must admit I am curious to try the fancy Lancome Bi-Facil one.

- Last step is a liquid cleanser, usually a gel one. Right now it's the L'oreal Perfect Clean Foaming Gel Wash for normal&combination skin (review to come soon). Usually it's the Garnier Pure Foam Wash. However, I'm starting to think that neither actually meets my needs: I always seem to have the best skin when I'm using the Cetaphil Gentle Cleanser (which is super gentle as it cleanses effectively without lathering at all). A change (*) is definitely needed here.

Moisturising and nighttime treatments.

- So, after I've removed all of my makeup, I'll apply the Effaclar Duo Anti-Imperfection treatment on areas that are broken out. It's a nice product, definitely better than the Vichy Normaderm moisturiser, but it's no miracle worker. However, I will continue to repurchase as it seems to work, is affordable and its serum formula allows me to layer it under another product.

- Namely....my moisturiser: the YSL Hydra Feel (the gel version instead of the cream), Holy Grail material for sure: it quenches and plumps up my dry skin immediately and it locks in the moisture for hours on end! The feeling that you get once you apply this is that of relieved and healthy skin. I use it day and night, all year long and it's never too much or inadequate.

- As for the eyes, I've only recently started to explore the numerous options out there. So, I'm testing out the Chanel Beaute Initiale Eye Energising Multi-Protection Eye Gel, which is supposed to work against puffiness and dark circles. Does it work? Not that much differently from the Garnier Nutritionist Eye Roll On I think. Still undecided though - so any effective eye treatment (*) recommendations are well welcome!

Weekly treatments.

- Two times a week I'll give my face a good scrub using the Korres Pomegranate Cleansing Scrub (the Apivita one with Olive is lovely as well) or the completely homemade oil&sugar special scrub mix. My conclusion: nothing beats sugar when we're talking about exfoliation!

- As for masks, I'm a huge fan of the Apivita Express Mask satchets with the Revitalizing and Radiance Mask with pomegranate and the Moisturizing and Nourishing Mask with honey being my favourites. They go on smoothly, are light and gentle on the skin and they do restore the moisture and shine of a dry and dull complexion.

As you can see, my approach is pretty basic and simple and favours the more natural and gentle products when possible. I think that works best for my skin - I remember trying out my mother's Lancaster (or was it Clinique?) hydrating mask once and it turned my face red within minutes! :/

But I'm still far from being happy with my routine. Along with finding a good cleanser and eye treatment, I feel like it's time to add an anti-wrinkle product into my routine as well. I know that the Korres Quercetin&Oak Night Cream actually works (rarely has a skincare product impressed me this much), but I don't really want to change my trusted Hydra Feel for anything else. So it would probably have to be a serum. I've tested the Caudalie Vinexpert one and quite enjoyed it, now I'm using the Lancaster 365 Cellular Elixir serum - not that majorly impressed, we shall see how that goes.

Obviously coming up with a good skincare routine is equal to solving a puzzle!!!

If you've tried any of these products or have some to recommend for my skintype, please comment below! I'd love to read that, plus your thoughts on skincare!

How do you choose the products to suit your needs?