My Current Skincare Routine (August 2012)

Hello readers! So there are a lot (and I mean A LOT) of beauty tags on Instagram (if you have one, add me: naohms) that's going around and one of them is my current skincare. I am kind of in the process of finding the skincare routine that works perfectly for me, so bare with me if I keep changing it. As a beauty addict and someone who seeks to try to heal my skin free of scars and large pores and breakouts, I am always trying new things. Anyways, here is my current skincare routine:

Daytime Routine

In general, in order to keep your skin as radiant and beautiful as it can be, it is important to also take care of what's inside. My secret ingredient is diet, water and exercise. Avoid eating greasy food and load up on the fruits and vegetables because this gives your skin back the radiance that it loses from pollution, air and the sun. Also, staying hydrated gives back moisture to your skin so it keeps your heart pumping and keeps your body washing out the toxins in your body. Same thing with exercise. The more you sweat, the more toxins your release from your body.

For my daytime routine, I try to make it as quick and straightforward as possible. I don't really put a treatment on my skin besides moisturize my face and make sure my face is well balanced.

First, I use my Philosophy Purity Cleanser. This is such a gentle cleanser that removes pretty much everything! I would use this at night as well, but I prefer to use it in the morning because it leaves a squeaky clean feeling without being overly dry. I also like how this cleanser restores the balance of my skin and doesn't take out too much moisture.

Then, I tone my face with the Witch Hazel Astringent which removes anything else that the Purity doesn't leave out. After, I massage on my Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer. I love this moisturizer because it really improved my skin. I used to be VERY OILY (probably more oily than most) and used to blot my face numerous times. But after I started using this moisturizer, I probably can last the day without blotting or just blotting once or twice. This has an SPF as well. I don't normally need SPF because I'm always indoors due to work, but it's good enough for me. I am still in the hunt for a good sunscreen for my face, so stay tuned while I find this!

I also pat my Lancome High Resolution Eye Cream under my eyes following the natural shape of the bone around my eyes (so going on a C-shape under the eyes up to the top of my brows). This really helps reduce puffiness under my eyes and really lift this area. I can actually feel it working with the tingling feeling on my eyes when I put it on. Anyways, I am also in a hunt for the best eye cream! I don't really need it bc I don't have dark circles or puffy eyes because I get plenty of sleep and stay hydrated, but it's still good to be proactive and prevent aging fast!

It is also important to give your lips some love because it is skin too! I moisturize my lips with Fresh Sugar lip balm. It smells so good and has SPF which protects your lips from the sun as well.

Nighttime Routine

For my nighttime routine, this is my time to really treat my face like my baby. The skin rebuilds itself the best at night when you are asleep, so giving it a boost with good products definitely can improve your skin as fast as you can.

First, I remove all my face makeup using the Kirkland Daily Facial Cleansing Towelettes. I am not really particular with using a particular makeup wipe, because honestly, it does the job and wipes go by really fast for me. Plus, this is really affordable at Costco! I can also use baby wipes for this because it is gentle. For my eye makeup, I use my favorite eye makeup remover of ALL TIME, MAC Cleanse Off Oil! It is honestly the best that I've used because it literally takes EVERYTHING off!!! I swear by this product because it's so gentle and it keeps my eyes from being tugged on when removing the makeup. All I do is gently massage this to my eyes, wipe off with a baby wipe, and BAM! eye makeup gone.

For washing my face, I use my Clarisonic Mia brush with Fresh Soy Face Cleanser. This takes my all my makeup off and the Clarisonic definitely helps exfoliate my face, relieving my pores from clogged dirt and oil. The cleanser doesn't have the most attractive smell, but it's tolerable if you're getting something that's really gentle on your skin while it cleanses. It also doesn't leave my face overly dry, which is something that I like especially during the wintertime when I need more moisture than usual.

Once a week, I will use a scrub to exfoliate my face to remove dirt and oil that the Clarisonic doesn't clear out on the daily. I normally use LUSH Ocean Salt or Fresh Soy Face Exfoliant (not photographed) which are both great! I use both to make sure that any blackheads or whiteheads are loosened out of my pores. I also use Ocean Salt to exfoliate my whole body (usually before shaving).

Also, once a week or every two weeks, I will use a mask on my face to help minimize my pores. I use my Mint Julep mask or my LUSH Mask of Magnaminty. Both pretty much do the same thing. They minimize pores and alleviate any active breakouts on my face. It removes any more extra debris and dead skin on my face that my normal routine wouldn't. They both have the cool minty feeling on the face which feels pretty soothing. At the end, the Mask of Magnaminty also can act as a scrub when I rinse it off with warm water because of the chunks of aduki beads that is part of the ingredients.

I tone with the Witch Hazel astringent and then pat the Lancome High Resolution Eye Cream around my eyes (just like my day routine).

Then, once the product sets, I will pat a layer of Lancome Visionnaire Serum all over my face. Honestly, I LOVE THIS STUFF! I haven't used it for a while but I can already see my acne scars blurring slowly and my pores getting less and less visible. I can't say much until I do a full review because it would normally take 28 days for new skin to surface and I haven't had this product for very long, but so far so good!

After all the products set, I will moisturize with my Fresh Umbrian Clay Oil Free Lotion. I don't prefer it over the summer very much because it does leave my face very oily in the morning, but in the wintertime, this is perfect! I would probably prefer to use the Clinique moisturizing gel because it's made to balance the oils on my face.

Every night, I will also exfoliate my lips with LUSH Mint Julips (which is just a sugar scrub that you can probably DIY but it just tastes so good! and comes in a handy jar) and put Smith's Strawberry Lip Balm on my lips to keep my lips moisturized overnight. Exfoliating the lips is so important, especially if you put lipstick or lipgloss on a daily basis. It removes any left residue and keeps your lips prepped for new product to put on. Lipsticks and lipglosses glide on more nicely when exfoliated. Another trick is to brush your lips with a toothbrush while you brush your teeth as well.

For spot treatment, I would use the Fresh Umbrian Clay Face Treatment or the Mario Badescu Drying Lotion (not photographed) and just place on spots with active breakouts and leave overnight. The Drying Lotion is definitely very effective because it dries the pimple and makes the pimple smaller. I don't have much to say about this because I haven't had active breakouts in a while.

Hope this helps you all. If you have questions, don't hesitate to ask me here.