PM Skincare routine…

Tags

Balance Me, Diptyque, Elemis, First Aid Beauty, Kielh's, L'Occitane, night time routine, Omorovicza, Oskia, skincare

This is my current nighttime skincare routine step by step!

STEP I:

– TIE HAIR UP – these might seem like a lot of hair ties and pins, but these go missing like crazy, so it’s always a good idea to keep a “few” in hand. Love these ones from Oysho.

STEP II:

– TAKE MAKEUP OFF – I’m a huge fan of cleansing. I firmly believe that a clean skin is a healthy skin… Therefore I double or triple-cleanse! 

Here is how a triple cleanse sounds like:

I’m starting with some L’Occitane Cleansing Milk on two large cotton pads to take off most of my makeup. Then I wash my face with an oil cleanser, my pick: the L’Occitane Cleansing Oil and to make sure that there’s no makeup residue whatsoever I also use a tiny bit of the First Aid Beauty Face Cleanser combined with the Diptyque Radiance Boosting Powder.

On days where I’m not wearing a full-face of makeup, I skip on the L’Occitane Cleansing Oil and go directly to the First Aid Beauty Face Cleanser + Diptyque Radiance Boosting Powder combination.

STEP III:

– USE A TONER/EXFOLIATING PADS – I spritz some of the Omorovicza Queen of Hungary Mist on a regular cotton pad, then gently, in circular motions I take it all-over my face. Every other day I replace the face mist with one of the First Aid Beauty Facial Radiance Pads. These are amazing for a gentle acid exfoliation and they also tone and brighten your complexion. More on these coming soon!

STEP IV:

– HYDRATION + MOISTURE – USE A FACE SERUM – the one I’m currently using and loving the effect it has on my skin, is this Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery Concentrate, of which I only use a few drops rubbed between the palm of my hands, then I press it into the skin. This is fast absorbing and doesn’t leave any greasy residue… I already wrote a review on it here!

                                         – USE AN EYE CREAM – I’m was testing for quite a while this Balance Me Wonder Eye Cream a lightweight, yet very hydrating eye cream Alina from Debenhams UK kindly enough to sent it over, along with the Kiehl’s Serum. The review is already up!

                                         – USE A MOISTURIZER – my moisturizer of choice has been lately the Elemis Hydra-Nourish Night Cream, an anti-oxidant, rich night cream. But for an extra boost of moisture and hydration I always reach for another First Aid Beauty product, the Ultra Repair Cream – a very, very rich cream that offers intense hydration for dry, parched skin.

                       – USE A LIP BALM – the lip balm I’m still loving at the moment is the Omorovicza Perfecting Lip Balm. I know, I kind of strayed away from my beloved By Terry Baume de Rose, but I felt that the Omorovicza one suited my needs better.

                       – USE A HAND CREAM – don’t forget about your hands! They also need to be moisturized regularly, especially at this time of the year. I still have left some of the Laura Mercier Fresh Fig Hand Cream, that I try to finish up. *Gosh, this smells delicious!* This would be the last hand cream in my stash then I will have to purchase a new one! Any good recommendations?

I would love to know what your PM Skincare Routine consists of, so please kindly share it in the Comments below!

Also keep in mind that this daily routine doesn’t include masks and other treatments I use! These will be featured in a separate post!

See you soon, beautiful!

xx, Annie

 

 

DISCLAIMER here.

Sunscreen. Summer 2014 Round Up

Tags

chemical sunscreen, clinique, Kielh's, La Roche-Posay, physical sunscreen, Shiseido, SPF, sun protection, Sunscreen

Sunscreen is a subject I have been doing research all summer long. That is why it took me so long to write this post and I ended up uploading it so close to the fall season!

The first thing I discovered while doing my research was that it is highly recommended to wear sunscreen no matter the season!

But is it really important to use sunscreen? Is is a sunscreen better than another one? Is a sunscreen my friend using good for my skin too?

I should start by saying that my skin is rather sensitive at the moment, which makes it so easy to burn without the use of a sunscreen, highly irritable if I am not using the right one. So, for me it is really important to have on my face anything that can act like a barrier against any damaging factors!

So after a few hits and misses and a lot of research I found out that the best protection for my skin is the one which comes from sunscreen containing minerals, with a minimum of SPF 30. I also felt good with a SPF 50 sunscreen on, but I have to admit that I was not too keen on how thicker that was and the white, ghostly cast it gave me!

The ones I have been using on rotation this summer were: the Shiseido Urban Environment UV Protection Cream Plus SPF 50, the La Roche-Posay Anthelios Nutritive Oil SPF 30 UVA+UVB, ( these two were previously featured in a post, link here ), the Clinique Derma White City-Block Anti-Pollution SPF/40 PA+++ and through the last weeks of summer the Kiehl’s Ultra Light Daily UV Defense SPF 50 PA+++ UVA. 

Mineral sunscreens are physical sunscreens which act like a barrier against sun rays. They bounce off from your skin the rays, whereas the other type of sunscreens – chemical sunscreens – absorb the sun rays into your skin, transforming them at that level. Both offer protection, what makes them different are: the ingredients and the process that takes place inside your skin! 

This chemical process is difficult to comprehend and a bit boring, if I may say so myself, but I discovered that the mineral sunscreen is a bit more gentle and less irritating for my skin.

I have red many “opinions” where people stated that layering certain makeup on top of your sunscreen can cause such a reaction to the point where your sunscreen will not be effective anymore! That is absolutely not true! Also not true is the fact that if you apply multiple layers of sunscreens with different protective factors, those layers will sum up to give you a higher protection!

No, it depends on the chemical structure of your face; that will determine the type of sunscreen you have to use and the protection factor you need, so that you stay free of any damage! That is why a sunscreen my friend uses and is very pleased with, may or may not work for me at all!

I have also discovered that there are researches to figure out a a way of combining chemical with physical sunscreen, which I think is extremely beneficial for the health of our skin! But until then, feel free to layer a chemical sunscreen in top of a physical sunscreen, in order to achieve a better protection from sun burning!

Bottom line: USE SUNSCREEN! Any sunscreen is good! Better than nothing anyway!

And as a general advice: get to know your skin, then the ingredients that work better for you!

See you soon, beautiful! Stay healthy no matter the season!

xx, Annie