Spending a lot of time worrying about a) my skin, b) breaking my nails, and c) my wedding perfume at the moment. The wedding is eleven days away now (seriously, where the hell has the year since we got engaged gone?), and I thought I'd share some of my routines with you. Nails and perfume will come later, but for today, I'm focusing on skincare.
All I want on the day is clear, soft, glowing skin, no spots, no irritated reddened patches, and no rashes. So, alongside some cast-iron tried and trusted favourites that can't be beaten, and that I know give results without irritation, I've taken a few actives out of my routine, and swapped them for gentler formulations. Above you can see my AM and PM routine, which I'll take you through product by product:
Aromatherapy Associates Soothing Cleansing Balm: My skin can get a little irritated when there are too many essential oils in my routine, but this is an absolute delight to use, not too scented, it has excellent slip, and I do indeed find it very soothing. I use this as my PM cleanser, as a tiny pea-sized dollop from the tube (and how much do I love that it has a tube dispenser? A LOT, is the answer) allows me to both get rid of even the most heavy-duty makeup, and give myself a good facial massage at the same time. My skin is left calm and glowing after I use this, with no redness. Result!
Elemental Herbology Delicate Cleanse: I use this gently rose-scented cleansing milk in the mornings, alongside one of my beloved Washi Cloths. It's gentle, and not too bracing, which is just what you want in the mornings. Unlike many cream-cleansers, I don't find this drying in the least, and when I want a less-oily cleanse these days, this is the cleanser I increasingly reach for.
Clarins Gentle Exfoliator: I am of the age where I do need some actives in my routine, but at the moment, I am a bit scared of over-stimulating my skin, which can lead to increased redness, and scaly patches when I've overdone something in my routine. The Clarins Gentle Exfoliator contains glycolic acid, an ingredient I love, but find extremely easy to overdose on, particularly when using it in products containing a higher amount of the acid. Lactic, and malic acids actually suit my skin better, but this watery fluid has "buffered" the glycolic with other ingredients such as glycerin, which means you still get a light exfoliation effect, but without any drying. I find it suits my crazy-sensitive skin very well, and is non-irritating. I use this every morning, and then immediately follow it with a spray of
Balance Me Skin Bright Hydrating Face Mist: Chock-full of hyaluronic acid, this gently-scented spray soothes away any tingles left behind by the exfoliating toner, and gives my skin an immediate hydration boost. It's nice to use during the day too, and makes an excellent setting spray for makeup, owing to the, quite frankly, excellent spray nozzle which sprays s l o w l y over a wide area, meaning it's not a rude awakening to spray yourself in the face! I use this both AM and PM.
Darphin Camomile Oil: I'm very rarely without a bottle of this. For my reddened and easily sensitised skin, it is a super-healing miracle in a bottle. I use it as a serum both night and day, no matter what other products I'm wearing, and I find it healing, soothing, and also moisturising. This is a great choice of oil for anyone with troubled skin, and I recommend it to people left, right and centre. This is my third bottle, and I find a bottle lasts for at least a year (I tend to only use it once a day in summer), so, whilst initially spendy, on a cost per wear basis, it's cheap as chips. I have a backup too, from Decleor, as I tend to flip-flop between the two brands for my essential oil requirements.
Kate Somerville Goat Milk Cream: This turns up in every skincare routine I do. Why? It works. This is my fourth jar, and I am madder than a wet hen that Kate Somerville has been withdrawn from the UK. Once this jar goes though, I've sworn to try something else, any suggestions? I have my eye on the "Gentle" range from Clarins at the moment, but I'm open to ideas!
And because wedding preparation isn't limited to merely the bride, here's some products I've
Here we have Facial Radiance Pads from First Aid Beauty, which are great acidic pads (mixture of gycolic and lactic, with lemon and licorice too) perfect for his slightly troubled yet less sensitive skin than mine, which is helping to both even out his skintone and deal with his (occasional) breakouts gently, and Melvita Argan Oil, as his moisturiser after peeling, which again is perfect for his less sensitive skin, and also comes in a nice big bottle which favours his rather heavy-handed application style!
Hopefully we'll both be glowing on the big day!
The Fine Print: Mixture of purchases and samples.
This post:Wedding Preparation - My Current Skincare Regime originated at: Get Lippie on 6th February 2013 at 6am GMT. All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post at Get Lippie, then this content has been stolen by a scraper
Really enjoyed reading this post. Everything sounds wonderful xx
ReplyDeleteHow exciting! I remember how I pampered my skin with three months of facials prior to the big day. Your regimen looks great!
ReplyDeleteWill be interested in why you replace the KS Goat Milk with, I shall cry when my current pot comes to an end.
ReplyDeleteI have a similar routine though can ramp up the actives with P50, as I'm less sensitive.
If you do try the Clarins Gentle range I'd love to hear your thoughts. I've been eyeing this too, but not brave enough to buy without the say-so of someone who knows best! :)
ReplyDelete