Skin care - my current miracle workers

Hello, beautiful!

I had mentioned in a previous blog post that I would talk about my current skin care routine. So here it is!

I have a new skin care routine that works like a miracle. I'm telling you, my skin has changed so much!! And the more I use it the better the results! It's been nearly 3 years since I've seen any improvement in my skin, and now I can finally see a dramatic improvement!

Here's what I'm doing:


MORNING:
1. Patricia Wexler Dual-Action Foaming Cleanser
2. Patricia Wexler Exfoliating Cleanser
3. Olay Refreshing Toner
4. Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer SPF 15
5. Korres Evening Primrose Eye Cream


NIGHT:
1. Victoria's Secret Total Makeup Remover
2. Make Up Forever Sen's Eyes Eye Makeup Remover
3. DDF Blemishs Foaming Cleanser
4. Patricia Wexler Overnight Acne Repair Lotion
5. Philosophy Help Me
6. Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer SPF 15
7. Korres Evening Primrose Eye Cream
8. Philosophy Hope in a Tube



So let's start with the morning routine:

I use my $5 Sephora Face Complexion Brush to apply all my cleansers (Dual-Action, Exfoliating Cleanser, and DDF).

I wet my face brush and apply one pump of Patricia Wexler's Dual Action Foaming Cleanser to the brush head. I then massage it onto my skin in circular motions. There is no rhyme or reason. I just do circles. I usually go in one direction all over an area and then reverse the circle motion the other way. I then re-wet my face brush and re-brush over the same area. Then I repeat the same process another 2 times (one more pump for my other side of my face and one pump for the forehead). Keep in mind sometimes one pump isn't a full pump of product. I can control how much comes out. I probably only use two full pumps over my entire face. Then I rinse my face and pat it dry.

Next, I squeeze out some of the Patricia Wexler Exfoliating Cleanser onto the back of my hand and put it on my face in spots (a smear onto each cheek, a smear on the forehead, a smear on my chin and a small smear on my nose). You don't need a lot of this product. Just squeeze out what you would use on your entire face and distribute it onto your face. Then I take the face brush, wet it again, and massage the product into my face the same way I did with the cleanser. This exfoliating cleanser isn't harsh and you can barely feel the exfoliating pieces, but it's helpful, especially when combined with the face brush. I re-wet/rinse out my face brush after each area of my face. Then I rinse my face and pat it dry.

This next step is something I don't do everyday, but you can if you want (it won't hurt). I use Olay's Refreshing Toner, which I apply with a cotton ball. I normally only apply this on days I'll be outdoors most of the day, or on days I'll be indoors cleaning all day (basically for any situation in which I could start sweating). My face can get very oily, so this toner helps control oil (at least in my opinion it does).

Then I apply my moisturizer (Aveeno Positively Radiant), followed up with my eye cream (Korres Evening Primrose). And my morning skincare routine is complete.

This takes me about 5 minutes to do, so it may seem like a lot of steps but I assure you it doesn't take up a lot of time and after seeing the results I will do this every single morning!



Now let's talk about the nighttime routine:

At nighttime my routine is a little different, and there are more steps.

First, I remove all my makeup. I use two makeup removers - one just for eye makeup and one for everything else. I normally use Victoria's Secret Total Makeup Remover for all over my face and then I use Make Up Forever Sen's Eyes Eye Makeup Remover to remove my mascara, liner, brow powder, etc. I use cotton balls to remove my makeup and q-tips to remove my eyeliner and mascara.

I like to remove my makeup first before using a cleanser because I feel like my cleanser will work better if it's cleaning makeup-free skin (although using the brush cleans out all the makeup - even makeup the makeup remover couldn't get to!).

Then I bring out my Sephora face brush and wet it. I apply a pump of the DDF Blemish Foaming Cleanser to the brush head. I then massage it onto my skin in circular motions. There is no rhyme or reason. I just do circles. I usually go in one direction all over an area and then reverse the circle motion the other way. I then re-wet my face brush and re-brush over the same area. Then I repeat the same process another 2 times (one more pump for my other side of my face and one pump for the forehead). Again, keep in mind sometimes one pump isn't a full pump of product. I can control how much comes out. I probably only use two full pumps over my entire face. Then I rinse my face and pat it dry.

Next, I apply Patricia Wexler Overnight Acne Repair Lotion. I pump out 3 pumps onto the back of my hand and apply it all over my face (except the eye area). I allow this to dry for a minute or so before applying a thin layer of Philosophy's Help Me (which is a retinol treatment to help fine lines, discoloration, and large pores). I allow that to dry before moving on.

Then I apply my moisturizer (Aveeno Positively Radiant), followed up with my eye cream (Korres Evening Primrose). I will also use Philosophy's Hope in a Tube as my lip line cream. I apply it to the smile lines (parentheses around your mouth) and above my lip. That completes my nighttime skincare routine.



So there you have it! Those are my current miracle workers. I don't care how tired I am at night I will always do my skincare routine. The results are too amazing to not put the time into it.


And now: 5 Skincare Lines that Failed Me!

1. Anything Neutrogena! They always make it sound soooo promising. So far, everything I've tried has failed me. I even tried Neutrogena Skin ID - big fail!

2. Murad (their acne line). It semi-worked, but was far too drying to my skin.

3. Olay. I like their toner and their moisturizers (some) - everything else failed for my skin. I also can't stand the smell of their products. A lot of them have a hint of rose or some other floral scent. I'm not into those type of scents at all.

4. Clean & Clear - nope, didn't work for my skin!

5. Philosophy - just the acne line that I didn't like. I really like Philosophy in general. I stuck with their brand for a long time and I still use some of their products. But their acne line didn't help all that much. It was their regular skincare that worked, and I love their bath & body items.



xoxo with love & beauty,

Crystal Valentine B.
- The woman who runs ValentineKisses.com