We all secretly binge skincare routines on Youtube.
There is nothing to be ashamed of. Some routines are easily manageable, but other are just a little impractical for the everyday person. The skin care routines I've watched range from 5 to 25 minutes and that’s the sped up version. I enjoy learning about new products, however, and prefer a practical skin care routine that is quick and simple. In other words, the more time I can spend in my bed the better.
Before I share my routine, let me describe my skin.
I have super, sensitive combination skin. Oily in the t-zone and dry on my cheeks. I don’t typically breakout a lot just the once of month casualty of mother nature and the occasional stress bumps.
It’s important that I mention that I have eczema. From my understanding my eczema flares up when I am in contact with something that I am allergic to such as certain foods and fragrances. When it’s triggered it causes extremely itchy rashes to appear. It’s completely treatable by changing my diet and using prescribed medication and skin products.
Fortunately through trial and errors, I have cleared up my eczema. However, it left some battle scars. These dark spots led me to a dermatologist, who recommended some products that will help remove the dark spots overtime. Hence why you will see a lot of a brightening products in this routine.
Now let’s get into my routine.
Night Routine
When I get home from work, I head straight to my bathroom for a Neutrogena Makeup Removing Towelette. This takes off my makeup, but makes my face oily. To combat the oil, I use a NYX Stripped Off Micellar Cleansing Water. Depending on how much makeup I wore that day, the micellar water get the hidden makeup out of my pores that may have been missed by the makeup wipes.
I take showers at night. While in the shower I wash my face using a Aveeno Positively Radiant Brightening Cleanser or Aveeno Positively Radiant 60 Second In-Shower Facial. For days that I’ve gone to the gym or have been outside I use my face brush (similar to a Clarisonic, but cheaper) to get a deeper cleanse. Once out of the shower I use a moisturizer. I go back and forth between Aveeno Daily Moisturizer and Neutrogena Oil-Free Moisture Sensitive Skin Ultra-Gentle Facial Moisturizer. They provide the same results, SPF coverage and a smooth finish. I use them for my morning and night routine.
Morning Routine
First thing in the morning I use an Aveeno Daily Cleansing Pad. It’s basically washing my face, but less work. It removes anything that may have built up on my face while asleep. I follow this up with Neutrogena Alcohol Free Toner. It stings a little bit, but I let the toner do it’s magic before using one of the moisturizers from my night routine.
My mood and the weather is my deciding factor on makeup.
It’s pretty straight forward: foundation, mascara, and matte lipstick. Nothing more unless I have plans after work. However there are two products that are a must when I wear makeup: e.l.f. Hydrating Primer and e.l.f. Matte Magic Mist and Set.
Weekend Add Ons
Biore Deep Cleansing Charcoal Pore Strips are a staple in my weekend routine. I do this on Sunday night after my shower. I look at it as starting the week with clean pores. It only takes about 15 minutes, honestly watch an episode of Bob’s Burgers and it’s ready to pull off.
Remember when Florida decided to participate in winter? That had a huge effect on my skin. It caused my skin to peel and feel extremely dry. To deal with this unexpected winter skin, I bought a Yes to Cucumber Soothing Calming Sheet Mask. My face felt like heaven after this treatment and I’ve decided that this will be added into my skin biweekly.
The final thing that I do over the weekend is clean my makeup brushes. You may be thinking this has nothing to do with skin care, but that is false. Consistently using dirty makeup brushes can lead to breakouts. I learned this the hard way.
I use Dawn Dish Detergent and warm water to clean my brushes. Throughout the week, I spray my brushes with e.l.f. Daily Brush Cleaner.
My skin is not perfect, but these products have helped me manage my skin and deal with breakouts.
