Hey everyone! To start the year off (my Inglot post was scheduled prematurely, lol), I wanted to do a bit of a basics series. Let me begin with skin. 🙂 This is what my freshly-washed face looks like in the morning. I’ve had pretty good luck with skin and breakouts for the duration of my life—I’ve maybe had 10 really bad pimples in 25 years—aside from allergies, etc.

When I started wearing makeup, I started getting problems. I didn’t use to wash my face; I only washed it when I remembered to. In the shower. So, adding gunk was particularly problematic. I had great luck with shu uemura’s cleansing oils (I used the yellow variant/balancing one), but it’s expensive + not cruelty-free, which is weird to say because I’m not sure if the ff. items are CF, but bear with me!

MAKEUP REMOVERS

I go through a bunch of samples, but these are the major playahs in my routine lately.

Céléteque Anti-Wrinkle Skin-Hydrating Cleansing Oil* — This is a weird product because you apply it to your face and wipe it away with cotton, which isn’t how you typically use cleansing oils. Still, it gets the job done. It leaves an unpleasant residue—I suppose that’s the “hydrating” part—so I almost always follow up with a facial wash.

Bioderma Sensibio H2O — A cult product that I spotted in Singapore “on sale,” but was actually highly marked up. It removes makeup well but it doesn’t do so well with eye makeup, and it stings my eyes a lot. It works for the most part.

Hayan Vital Cleansing Cream* — a cleansing cream that you apply on your face and wipe or wash away. This actually fares well with makeup removal!

COSMETIC COTTON

One of my favorite late discoveries is cosmetic cotton! I detest wipe-off skin care products because I hate the feeling of cotton and cream or oil. It doesn’t feel clean. These, however, don’t act like cotton. I feel like they are more like cleansing cloths or muslin where it’s a gently scratchy and actually does the job of wiping away gunk. These are thinner and less fibrous than regular cotton.

FACIAL WASH

Human Nature Hydrating Creamy Wash — My skin’s not too picky with facial wash, so I thought I’d try this out. It’s a local brand that is sustainable and provides livelihood for local communities. They also strive to be pro-environment and natural. This worked great for me, since I have dry skin, but it was not so good for my sister (who has oily/combo skin) at first. This works really well, however, it smells really awful in a heavily perfumed lola way.

DAY MOISTURIZER

Since I have a dry skin type, I usually moisturize. When I’m not too lazy, heh. Being in a humid country, I don’t like having a lot of stuff on my face, but these are great, light moisturizers for everyday use.

Mustela Bébé Hydra Bébé Crème Visage — This is a baby brand, so the formula is really light but also effective and gentle. I love the smell. I first heard about this from Makeup Morsels and I regret nothing.

Ahava Essential Day Moisturizer* — This stuff is seriously the best. It sinks into your skin in record time and doesn’t leave any weird oily residue that will leave you regretting you put on moisturizer for the rest of the day, even though you know it’s good for you. It is also cruelty-free and paraben free.

BRTC Bright Eye Vitalizer Cream* — One of the things I learned last year is that wrinkles and fine lines come about due to dry skin, so I’ve been using this very light eye cream thing during the day, under my makeup. I noticed a big difference when I began using some heavy-duty stuff at night, but this is good enough for the day time.

MAIN NIGHT ROUTINE

This is my go-to tandem right now. I use these products every other day, because one of them has retinol, which you’re apparently only supposed to use sparingly because it can be quite harsh at the start.

Le Métier de Beauté Peau Vierge Dark Spot Corrector — I got this in one of the beauty boxes from LMdB. (Thanks, Sarie!) This stuff is amazing and is the product that contains the retinol, which repairs wrinkles, etc.

You’re supposed to use it in a small amount every other day, for about two weeks. My skin has been alright, so I haven’t seen the need to up the dosage just yet, except when I had a big, sore pimple that dried up dramatically when I put this on it. I used it again the next day, and then the pimple was GONE in the morning.

Aesop Parsley Seed Antioxidant Serum — I follow up the LMdB corrector with this serum as a moisturizer. It is one of my favorite skin care products and smells like lavender. My face is moisturized, still, when I wake up. 🙂

ALTERNATIVE NIGHT ROUTINE

For days I don’t use the above products, I just use this Nature Republic Snail Solution Set* since it gave me great results. It’s a little tedious a process, so I’m glad I only use it every other day.

INCIDENTALS

Here are the “when I feel like it” or “when I remember to use” products.

Aesop Parsley Seed Cleansing Masque — another favorite product! It is a twice-weekly product, which explains why I have been negligent in using it. It’s a great deep cleanser, though, and I quite like it a lot. I think my resolution for 2014 is to remember to use this, lol.

St. Ives Green Tea Scrub — Seriously one of the best skin products I’ve tried. I do notice a difference once I started exfoliating more frequently. It’s hard to remember not to overdo it since the feeling of exfoliating your face is just so nice, but 1-2 times a week is fine. Overexfoliation may damage your skin since you keep sloughing off the new layers. I want to look for a new scrub, though, since this is not cruelty-free.

Well, that’s my skin care routine, as far as my face goes. I know it’s a lot, but this actually seems a lot simpler than a lot of other routines I’ve seen.

In any case, some simple tips for good skin are to:
— Drink plenty of water.
— Use SPF, if you’re going to be out in the sun.

What does your routine look like?

* PR Sample