I thought it was about time to do an updated skincare routine, but this time, dividing the topic into an Evening and Morning part. I decided to start with my Evening Skincare Routine because this is the time I spend the most time taking care of my skin. It's the best time to get your skin to recover and reconstruct overnight, and prep your skin for a dewy start in the morning!
I am currently so happy with my skin and I think I owe it to this routine. By all means, don't take everything I say as something permanent because I especially switch up my skincare, a lot. I think switching up skincare it crucial with hormonal changes, climate change, and whatever else gets in the way!
watch below :) subscribe to www.youtube.com/etherealellie
I wanted this video/post to be a way where we can all share our skin troubles and give each other advices. This is my advice, but leave a comment below and tell us what some of your advices are.
My very first advice for good skin is hydration. I explain it in the video, but for those of you who are more "readers" than "watchers", I'll ramble on here in this post if you don't mind! My skin is combination-to-oily, sensitive, very dehydrated, and acne-prone skin. I call it, the worst of all things put together. I battled with acne and just bad skin all throughout high-school, and then a bit through college. Then I suffered from adult acne and went through Acutane and other laser treatments.
Besides drugging my body with Acutane nothing else seemed to work. I stopped taking medicine for my skin when I saw how much negative effects it had on my body. Since then, I've been trying to find products that work for me.
I've come to the conclusion that my skin behaves well when I feed it water-based, water-infused products. These are products that are not just creams and butter-y products that are heavy and block the pores. I favor products that feel like water in some cream or gel form that hydrates the skin for hours. You can see by the products I talk about, what those products all have in common. Water.
Removing makeup
I start by removing my makeup with the all-too-well-known Bioderma Miscellare Crealine H2O. It's simple. Take a few cotton pads. Dap it with this magic water. Wipe your face. Makeup off. Boom!
But here's a note to remember. Don't replace this for a proper cleansing session! You want to let the Bioderma be a preliminary step, and then go on to really washing your face with a good cleanser.
Cleanser
I currently use two cleansers on and off. Both I love, both I'm almost done with, and both I will repurchase again! One is the IPKN Pore Refresh Cleansing Foam. Don't care anymore what skincare gurus say about foaming cleansers, because at the end of the day, this particular cleanser gets deeeeeep into my pores and really washes everything out and away! I use this in the morning sometimes too, and I have no trouble with it at all :)
The other cleanser is the Clinique Take the Day Off cleansing balm. The only balm I've used. Seems pretty good. It does the job, takes the remainder makeup off, cleanses skin, makes it feel fresh... what more to say?
Toner
I'm a toner junkie. If there is something I will never leave out, it is toner. Peeps, do tone your skin. It preps the skin for all that luxurious product you apply afterwards. It cleanses the skin somehow too! I am a total fan of the Mario Badescu toners. All of them, but in particular the Cucumber Cleansing Lotion. I know it says lotion, but don't be put off by it. It is a toner.
What I featured in my video though was the Seaweed Cleansing Lotion. Equally good, more gentle because it is for the dry-skinned peeps. It has "witch hazel" that took the skincare blogs by storm! So if your looking for an alternative to the Pixi Glow Tonic you might consider this. But *cough cough* I prefer the Mario Badescu one!
First Level Aqua
I have no name for this stage. The product is called a serum, but it feels too light to be anything really. It just feels like water. I call this the "First Level Aqua" because I like to use a really replenishing, hydrating, water-infused product before I begin with proper serums and creams. This is because when a water-infused product lays as the foundation to my other skincare, I find that thicker and heavier products soak in better!!! And that's so important for me.
Currently I'm using the ISOI Bulgarian Rose Blemish Serum. All natural, no chemicals, and gel-type serum that feels exactly like water that doesn't drip off. It soaks into the skin in less than a few seconds because the skin loves it. It's like watering a tight skin, and giving it instant satisfaction.
Serum
After I lay a good foundation for the skin, only then do I apply a thick oil-based serum. Currently, I am loving the Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate. When I used this oil serum by itself without a water-based foundation, it did nothing. My skin did not eat it up. But with a good water foundation, this did sink it deeply and I found my skin improving so much. It's helped with the scarring and blemishes and overall good skin quality!
As a side note, I also like to use the Mario Badescu Vitamin C serum at times. That also is an oil-based thick serum great for acne-skinned, hyper-pigmented skin types.
Second Level Aqua
I am sandwiching products by layering them with water, water, water! I recommend this light-weight moisturizer to everyone! It is the Missha Water Supply Essence. It replenishes the skin, and your skin will love it. That is all. It's just so great, and it is thicker than the ISOI product and lighter than a regular moisturizer so it's that perfect layer to go on top of my serum.
I want my skin to remain nourished all night. I'm going to finish everything with the thickest and heaviest product. But don't be put off by the sound of "heaviest". It is still a gel and it will help your skin remain bouncy and youthful. It is the Missha Cell Renew Snail Cream. I talk a bunch about this in my last monthly favorites here: May Favorites
It's a great finish off!
Eye Cream
I either do this at the beginning or at the end. Either way, I like to take care of my under eyes before I regret it later on! I currently using the Kiehl's Avocado Eye cream. Great hydration and not too heavy on the skin!
