Skin Care Routine

It's so important to find a skin care routine which works well with your skin, and doesn't cause breakouts or irritation, and I think I've finally found my perfect skin care routine! 

After years of struggling with acne prone, oily skin (largely overcome by roaccutane - see my experience here), I've now found a range of products that keep my skin looking its best - at least most of the time.

To a lot of you this is going to sound very strange, but to remove my makeup I use olive oil. It's gentle on my skin and I just like the thought of using a natural product, especially when it achieves the same result as any other makeup remover would.

To remove my eye makeup I opt for one of two products, either the L'Oreal 'Gentle Eye Make-up Remover', or the Elizabeth Arden 'All Gone Eye and Lip Makeup Remover'. Both state that they are suitable for sensitive eyes, but if you consider your eyes to be extremely sensitive I'd probably recommend the Elizabeth Arden remover over the L'Oreal which I find can slightly irritate my eyes at times.

After removing my makeup I like to cleanse my skin. Firstly I use the Antipode's Juliet Gel Cleanser, this can be used to take off makeup but I like to use it after I've already removed most of my makeup just to get any last remaining bits. This makes my skin feel great and does a great job at removing any extra makeup. 

On days where I wear makeup I like to cleanse twice so after using the Antipodes cleanser I move on to the Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser. On days where I haven't wore makeup I only use this cleanser. It feels very soothing on the skin and is great if you have sensitive skin, this was actually recommended to me by my dermatologist.

After cleansing my skin on a night, I apply a small amount of this Tea Tree Blemish Fade Night Lotion. This is such a great product and I have spoken more in depth about it in my review of the Body Shop Tea Tree Range, which can be found here if you want to check that out.

To moisturise I like to use the Burt's Bees Anti-Blemish Moisturiser. This is a really light moisturiser and contains salicylic acid which is great for blemish prone skin. 

Most days I will also use the Cetaphil Moisturising Lotion which is really great for sensitive skin and is also very soothing, another product my dermatologist recommended for me during my acne treatment.

For my eyes I like to use the Garnier UltraLift Eye Cream, I apply a small amount of this under each eye every night and really see a difference in the morning. 

Once a week I like to use the Body Shop Tea Tree Squeaky Clean Scrub, this is great for unclogging pores but does irritate my skin if I use it more than once a week, I also have to scrub very gently otherwise it does feel quite harsh on my skin.

Also once a week I use a face mask, my current go to face mask is this Clay Mask by Una Brennan. This contains salicylic acid making it an anti blemish mask, and draws out impurities to unclog pores. This mask also keeps my skin feeling very smooth.

Not very often, but still occasionally, I use these pore strips to clear blackheads. I'm not entirely convinced that these are very effective, they do work to a small extent but nothing too great. However I did opt for the cheapest I could find so maybe that's why.

If you would like to know any more about any of these products or have any skin care recommendations then leave a comment below.

Love, Charlotte