Daily Skincare Routine

Following a bad experience from trying the new YSL foundation I've had a bit of a skincare shakeup to cure my heavily blemished skin. The result is that I'm currently really happy with my skin's texture and appearance. I thought I'd share the products that I've recently been using and loving. For reference my skin type is combination with an oily t-zone & dryer cheeks, prone to blemishes and slightly dehydrated.

Morning
REN Mayblossom T-Zone Control Cleansing Gel, Caudalie Beauty Elixir,
Caudalie Vinosource SOS Thirst Quenching Serum, Alpha-H Daily Essential Moisturiser SPF 50+

In the mornings I try to keep the products down to a minimum. Partly because I don't have much time to get ready and partly because I'm gonna pile a ton of makeup on top of my face anyway. A good cleanser is probably the most important step and at the moment I adore this gel cleanser from REN. Its meant for combination to oily skin types and does a brilliant job of balancing out your skin without stripping it. It helps to unclog my pores and leaves my skin looking clearer and brighter. It foams up just the right amount. I sometimes use this with my Clarisonic but it works just as well without it. I then give my face a generous spritz of Caudalie Beauty Elixir. I'm sure everyone has heard about what a fab skin refresher this is and I love how it works on my skin. I've gone through three big bottles of this now and its something I couldn't live without. A recent addition is the Caudalie Vinosource SOS Thirst Quenching serum. I tried a sample of this in a Glossybox and really liked it. When I went for my facial last month I was told that my skin was a bit dehydrated so I decided to purchase the full size one and its definitely helped to replenish my skin. I finish off with two small pumps of my Alpha-H Daily Essential Moisturiser SPF 50+. Its perfect for my skin type and gives me the high sun protection that my skin so desperately needed.

Makeup Removal
Bioderma Créaline H2O, Boots Botanics Face Soothing Cleansing Balm

What I use to remove my makeup depends on how lazy I'm feeling. If I want something quick and easy then Bioderma is the way to go. A few cotton pads full of this will remove every trace of makeup on my face with ease, even when I've piled on the mascara. Sometimes I feel like my face needs a more thorough clean so I remove a bit of my eye makeup with Bioderma and then I use this Botanics cleansing balm. I really like this balm as massaging this into my face feels wonderful. I use a Liz Earle muslin cloth to remove it from my face and it leaves my skin feeling really smooth and does a fab job of cleaning out my congested areas. Sadly Boots have just relaunched their Botanics range and the ingredient list of this product has now changed. I have no idea if the new cleansing balm is as good as this one but I sure hope so. I fell out of love with Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish as I felt it wasn't really doing anything for my skin anymore. This balm was better, cheaper and made my skin so much nicer. Perhaps because this is more akin to the Eve Lom cleansing balm that Liz Earle tried to emulate long ago.

Night
REN ClearCalm 3 Clarifying Clay Cleanser, Caudalie Beauty Elixir, Embryolisse Lait-Crème Concentré,
Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair, Clarins Lotus Face Treatment Oil, Alpha-H Liquid Gold

At night is when your skin your skin repairs itself so this is when its most important to provide it with some TLC. I begin with another REN cleanser in the form of the ClearCalm 3 Clarifying Clay Cleanser. This range of REN products is meant for blemish prone skin so it helps to clean out any impurities in your skin, shrink pores and clear up blemishes. Its really creamy and relaxing to massage in. It definitely helps to soften and calm my skin. Its so refreshing to find a skincare range for blemished skin that doesn't strip your skin or leave your face feeling tight. I either remove it using my Clarisonic or a Liz Earle muslin cloth. I then treat my face to some more Caudalie Beauty Elixir. I rotate the next few products throughout the week. Most nights I use some of my Embryolisse moisturiser with a few drops of Advanced Night Repair mixed in. I tend to use the Clarins Lotus Oil once or twice a week to give my skin an extra boost of moisture. This oil is suitable for combination or oily skin so you don't have to worry about this product breaking you out at all. Twice a week I use my holy grail skin product - Alpha-H Liquid Gold. I've raved about this product enough but this is just so good at clearing up any spots you have (including those that lie deep under the skin such as closed comedones), brightening your complexion and reducing scarring.

Theres some other bits and bobs I use once a week such as masks & spot treatments but those will be coming up soon in separate posts. I hope this helps some of you with combination skin as it can be difficult to find the right products for this skintype.

March Favourites

John Frieda Full Repair Heat-Activated Styling Spray
I recently invested in the whole of the new John Frieda Full Repair range as I've read so many good reviews about it. Plus it was 3 for 2 in Boots so it would've been rude not to! I love the deep conditioner as it makes my hair feel amazing but the real star of the show has to be the styling spray. You basically spray this all over your hair after towel drying and after using heat tools on it your hair is left feeling very soft & looking very shiny. It really helps to keep your style in place all day. I blow dry my hair & use my Babyliss Big Hair styler every time I wash my hair so using heat activated products means I can still use these tools without having to worry about excessive heat damage. I highly recommend the whole range.

Good Things Deep Pore Anti Blemish Cleanser
I read about this product on Jennie's blog and I immediately went out and bought it. Its kind of a hybrid cleanser/toner product. This stuff smells absolutely incredible which makes it a real pleasure to apply. I like my toners to have a bit of oomph to them and my Liz Earle one didn't seem to be doing much to my skin anymore other than refreshing it. I really like using this because its pretty much a lazy girl's cleanser. When I can't be bothered with washing my face properly at night I remove the bulk of my makeup using Bioderma then I use this afterwards. You just put some on a cotton pad and wipe it on your face. You can see all the dirt coming off in the cotton pad so its easy to tell when all the makeup has gone. I find this has really helped to clear up my skin and although it might seem a bit harsher than other toners it doesn't dry out my skin at all.

Embryolisse Lait-Crème Concentré
I only got this stuff a week ago but it was love at first application. I felt that my Dermalogica Active Moist wasn't doing as much to my skin anymore as I still had dry patches if I didn't use a primer or serum under my foundation. I've heard a lot about this product and Sam from Pixiwoo always uses it so I figured it must be good. It hydrates my skin beautifully, evening out my dry and oily patches. Its very comforting & soothing on my skin and leaves you with a perfect base for makeup. I got mine from Screenface where it was £20 for 75ml including shipping.

Estée Lauder Idealist Pore Minimizing Skin Refinisher
I've recently become really interested in serums as I felt my skin could do with a bit of a boost. I'm a big fan of Estée Lauder products so I figured I'd give their Idealist serum a go. You apply a couple of pumps of this to your skin before your moisturiser in the morning. This works as a primer for your foundation as well as making your skin feel really nice. It does minimise my pores and helps to get rid of any dry patches because it aims to resurface your face. It has also helped to fade acne scars I have. Its really expensive so I don't know if I would repurchase it but I do really like using it. It has definitely helped my skin out a lot but I think I might just stick to putting some Advanced Night Repair into my moisturiser instead.

Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair
This stuff is simply amazing. I often buy Estée Lauder products so I've always had tons of samples of this floating about the house from those gift with purchase deals. I kinda dismissed this product as I only bothered using it once before and I didn't really notice a difference then. Recently my skin has been a little bit on the dry side so I went through my drawers looking for samples of serums to mix into my moisturiser at night. I used this every night for about a week and it made my skin feel really soft & look even toned. It has also helped to get rid of any spots I had as well as stopping the appearance of new ones. I think this serum is mainly meant for anti-aging properties so thats an added bonus, hopefully I won't get any wrinkles if I keep using it! I've since gone through two of the little samples bottles and I purchased a 30ml bottle from BuyaPowa. I heard that theres a small amount of this stuff mixed into the new Estée Lauder Invisible Fluid foundation (which I am also loving) so if you use that you can keep on reaping the benefits throughout the day. Either that or mix a couple of drops in with your moisturiser before you apply any foundation. This stuff is definitely worth its price tag and I don't think I could go without it now. I'd recommend getting this over Idealist but they do work brilliantly together if you're wanting a different serum for day and night.

Revlon Lip Butters
I've gone a bit mad with the current 3 for 2 offer in Boots. The hype won me over and I finally managed to grab some of the Revlon Lip Butters. I have never bought any makeup from Revlon before, their products just never appealed to me. But these are something else! They're more like a moisturising lipstick than a lip balm. They all have excellent colour payoff and give my lips a lovely sheen. They wear really nicely & fade evenly leaving a subtle stain on my lips. I picked up Strawberry Shortcake, Peach Parfait & Sweet Tart. None of the other colours really appealed to me so I can't imagine myself buying any more of these but I really love the colours I got. I've not worn anything else on my lips since I got these and for someone with a rather extensive lipstick collection thats quite an achievement.

Maybelline Color Tattoo 24 Hour Eyeshadows
Another extremely hyped product. These cream eyeshadows are great worn on their own or as an eyeshadow base. They don't crease on my eyelids at all and last until I take my makeup off at night. I picked up the colours Eternal Gold, On And On Bronze & Permanent Taupe. My fave is definitely the bronze one, it looks so lovely on its own. I would definitely get some more of these. I really want the white or silver to use as an inner corner highlight but all the point of sale stands I've seen only have four slots which have these three colours and then either the grey, blue or purple. Hopefully they'll release the rest of the colours soon.

Twinings Green Tea*
In my kitchen I have a whole cupboard filled with loads of different varieties of tea. Most people seem to think I'm a bit odd for preferring herbal teas over a regular cuppa. I think its mainly down to the health benefits they provide plus they taste great and only contain like 1 calorie. I remember chugging down raspberry tea to help bring on labour when I was nearing the end of my pregnancy and I always have copious amounts of echinacea tea whenever I'm poorly. My all time favourite herbal tea is Twinings Pure Peppermint. Its just so refreshing and it really helps to calm my stomach. I've had at least one cup of it every day for the past five years.

I was recently contacted by Twinings to see if I'd be interested in trying out some of their new green tea range. I'm already a big fan of green tea, I love the taste and its no secret that it can help to boost your metabolism. Its also full of natural antioxidants. I'd only ever had plain green tea so I was really interested to try some of the new flavours. My local Sainsbury's only had a few of the new range but I decided to try the Pomegranate Green Tea & Jasmine Green Tea. Both have a definite green tea taste but are very different. The pomegranate smells divine and tastes slightly fruity whereas the jasmine is a lot more delicate and floral. I think I prefer the jasmine one because it tastes exactly like the wonderful jasmine tea you get in Chinese restaurants. I'd love to try some of the other flavours. The mango & lychee and pineapple & grapefruit green teas sound especially nice.

If you want to try some Twinings tea for free then you can get two free samples by 'liking' the Twinings Facebook page. I'd suggest picking the Pure Peppermint & Pure Camomile, they are definitely my teas of choice.