I'm finally home and ready to write this post about my skincare routine.
In hair news: I was going to set my hair tomorrow, but I think I'll just try to bun it up this week and do my full wash and set on Saturday. I hate rushing to do my hair after work, I like a leisurely afternoon hair day. Hope my hair doesn't get too dry over the next few days. Will lightly oil at night.
I think I said before that i ascribe to the lots of layers/ Korean beauty regimen. There are a lot of steps and products involved, but my skin really loves it. I have oily and acne prone skin and by far the best thing I ever did was go to a dermatologist. There are a lot of great skin care products on the market, but I needed prescription creams to clean my skin initially. I continue to use them for maintenance.
In the mornings I:
Cleanse with my morning cleanser. This can be any gentle cleanser. I like to apply the Glossier Milky Jelly Cleanser (
www.glossier.com) to my dry face, massage, add a little water, and then use a clean, wet white (so there's no dye in the towel and I can see how clean my face is) face cloth to dry my face.
(put my contacts in here)
I use a Mario bedescu (sp?) toner on a cotton round. He has a ton of different varieties, but they are cheap and effective.
Pour a nickel size of "essence" (currently using sk-ii essence, but there are cheaper alternatives) and pat on my face until I can't feel it anymore. Essence is a weird product. Feels like water and you're not exactly sure what it's doing, but most essences have really effective ingredients so anything you put on top sinks in and works better.
Eye cream under my eye and over my eye lids. I love the Cerave eye cream.
Prescription anti-acne gel.
Clarins Mission Perfection serum. This is supposed to target dark spots and give your face a healthy glow. I'm on my second bottle and my face really does glow.
Glossier Priming Moisturizer.
Murad Essential C- Sunscreen.
For me, the key for the morning is a clean and hydrated face. All the products mix well together and wear well under makeup. My skin doesn't feel heavy or clogged, it just looks youthful and smooth.
My nighttime routine is essentially the same, however I double cleanse to make sure I effectively remove makeup. And I don't use sunscreen.
I use the Glossier cleanser to remove my makeup and then I use Tata Harper Purifying Cleanser to actually clean my face at night. I cannot say enough good things about this cleanser. It's all natural, smells delicious, leaves my face clean but not stripped. I must be on my fourth bottle. Everything else is the same as my morning routine, post-cleanse.
I've been using this method since May/June of 2013, and much like hair, there was a LOT of experimentation and trying to figure out what products work for me. I spend more money on my serums and essence as those are the products that do the most "work", and I use relatively inexpensive moisturizers and cleansers (well, the Tata Harper cleanser is expensive, but it lasts a few months since I only use it at night) because those are just being washed right off my face.
I hope that wasn't too long or confusing. I recommend checking out Caroline Hirons' blog and well as peachandlily.com for breakdowns of the layering regimen.