Unfortunately my skin seems to dislike the onset of colder weather as much as I do. It gets drier, and flakier, but as dehydrated as my skin gets it still does not like super heavy creams and serums.
I also can’t seem to get myself to wake up any earlier than the absolute last available moment in the mornings. There is little worse than leaving warm, fluffy, covers in the cold, dark, morning. Therefore morning skincare routine has been slimed down to the barest of bare. Which means I have to baby it come bedtime.
My current skincare routine has been heavily influenced by a particular Sub on Reddit. If you don’t know what Reddit is, it is more or less like the front page of the internet; a sub-reddit being like the business, or sports section. However, the wonderful ladies (and men) who frequent R/SkincareAddiction are such a helpful and knowledgeable community. They have even launched their own website recently (found here), if you are having trouble pinning down a routine that works for you, I HIGHLY recommend these two sites as a starting place. The actual website even has a guide for routines based on skin types, and a guide to find out what your skin type is if you’re unsure.
First step varies from day to day, if I’m wearing waterproof mascara/eyeliner, I’ll use an eye makeup remover. If I’m not, I just skip to step 2… After diving into thread after thread, and reading all of the FAQs, I decided that I really wanted to try out the oil cleansing method (read about said method here). I work about a pump or two of the oil cleanser onto my dry face, and massage it in for a minute or two. Then I wet my hands and let the oil emulsify a bit before washing it off completely.
Now you may think that I’m done cleansing, and if this were the morning, you’d be right. However, the double cleansing method + exfoliating at night has made a huge difference in my skin absorbing all of the wonderful ingredients packed in my moisturizers and oils. Normally I prefer to use a more creamy cleanser for the “double” portion of the DCM, but I’ve recently run out of the Korres milk proteins cream cleanser. So I’ve been using this tee tree face wash until I find a new one to try out (Any recommendations?). Pretty simple, pour a little bit of cleanser on the Clarisonic, use clarisonic, then wash off residue with warm water. When I first got my Clarisonic, it came with the sensitive brush head – which I found a bit too harsh for my skin for daily use. I recently switched to the acne brush head at the recommendation from one of the sales associates at Ulta, and it is so much more gentle and doesn’t over-exfoliate my skin anymore.
Next I apply toner with a cotton round. I’ve been using Etude House Wonder Pore as my toner for the past year or so. Even though it does have alcohol in it, I haven’t found it drying or irritating at all. It probably helps that it is packed with hyaluronic acid. Once that soaks in I layer on whichever night cream/moisturizer I’m using and some eye cream. Since these take a little longer to absorb than the toner, I usually move on to something different, like brushing my teeth, or getting my work bag ready for the morning, before applying facial oil. Once that’s done I return to the facial oil, put a few drops on the pads of my fingers, and kind of press/pat it into my skin. Voila! It may seem like a lot of work, but once you get into a routine, it actually goes really quickly.
Tl;Dr:
1. Remove waterproof eye makeup if needed (I like the Lancome Bi-Facil found here).
2. Oil based cleanser (I like this one and this one the best so far).
3. Creamy cleanser + Clarisonic (still in search of good cream cleanser, Clarisonic here).
4. Toner (I’ve been using this one – though it’s not alcohol free).
5. Night Moisturizer (Love this one).
6. Eye cream (I got the Restorsea one in a sample box, but think the Clinque one here is just as good)
7. Face oil (Really like this one from Fresh, and this one from Kate Somerville).
What skincare products/steps are you loving now that the weather is changing?
♡ Em
