Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Current Evening Skin Care Routine

I'm definitely no skin care expert, but the post-shower, pre-bed routine I've been diligently carrying out for the past couple of weeks appears to have paid off. Before, my skin was inexplicably dry, in that foundation didn't apply as smoothly, but rather emphasised flaky areas (particularly around my nose), even when I slathered on the moisturiser and face oils. Now, my skin looks to have gained back some suppleness and clarity, and become smoother in texture. I accept the number of products here may be overkill, but the combination and order seems to have worked for me. I'm also concentrating on using up old stuff I still have lying around, so really, it's win-win.


When I started this blog, I had minimal interest in skin care, dismissing fancy, expensive creams and seemingly hi-tech formulations as mostly hocus pocus and deceitful marketing. I believed that I could get by just fine with cheap supermarket cleansers and generic, no frills moisturisers like Nivea Soft. I barely knew what exfoliation was except something I did occasionally for the fun of it with a coarse, grainy scrub, and I didn't touch toner (what a waste of time and money!). Oh, how far we've come. I blame a large part of it on the influence of Caroline Hirons and my participation in the general blogging community. At the end of the day, I ain't getting any younger, and I'd like to think any measures I'm taking now will be incalculably beneficial in the long run. Prevention is better than cure, right? I do draw the line at elaborate daily facial massages, despite Lisa Eldridge being living proof of the rewards.


I'm the kind of person that doesn't care as much about what I use to take off makeup and cleanse my face as I do with what I put on after. Lately, I've been really lazy and relying on Swisspers Cucumber Facial Cleansing Wipes to get off face makeup and a soaked Daiso cotton puff with Bioderma to dissolve eye makeup. I then usually follow with a foaming cleanser in the shower. If I haven't pre-cleansed with a makeup towelette and/or Bioderma, I'll use Dove Foaming Make Up Remover or my DHC Deep Cleansing Oil, then do a second cleanse with a foaming cleanser.


The whole nighttime routine starts with Clarins Toning Lotion with Camomile on a Daiso cotton puff. This is a gentle, hydrating toner that restores some moisture into my face after relatively harsh cleansing while getting rid of any remnant product. It rebalances the skin and ensures a neutral, blank canvas ready for serums and creams. I also find the mere act of wiping a cotton pad all over my face is in itself exfoliating, even if the contents of the toner aren't.

I then liberally spritz Jurlique Rosewater Balancing Mist all over. And by liberally spritz, I mean a good dousing. Part of the reason for my exuberance is that I want to get rid of it ASAP (and I've been successful, in that there seems to only be about 20% left), since it technically expired a while ago. So long as I'm not breaking out because of it, I figured it shouldn't cause me any harm. It has a high alcohol content (it's the second ingredient), which I'm a bit iffy about. There's also lactic acid in there which always makes me think of it more as an exfoliating toner, though the amount probably isn't enough for it to be effective in that capacity. I find the mist to be fairly drying on its own, so the trick is to not wait until it's completely evaporated off the skin before going in with the next product.

Enter Caudalie Vinosource S.O.S. Thirst Quenching Serum. Once again, a case of mainly trying to use up a product I'm not crazy about. I know my indifference borders on sacrilege for a skin care item that I've not read a bad review about, but it never did much for me. If anything, I was paranoid for a long time it had a tendency to break me out. Having said that, I realised that I don't have many dedicated serums. Caroline Hirons rates serums as the #1 skin care product you should spend money on for those aged 20+, which essentially has granted me permission to treat myself to Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Recovery Complex II or possibly Sunday Riley Good Genes Treatment (lottery win permitting) once the Caudalie runs out. The S.O.S. Thirst Quenching Serum is very thin, watery and lightweight. Applied straight after the two toners (and when the skin is still slightly damp from the second), it does provide immediate suppleness and sense of increased hydration.

Onto a face oil. I've been reaching for the Sanctuary Spa Therapist's Secret Facial Oil because it's one of the less heavy and greasy options I have. The oil feels relatively light and refined on the skin and absorbs well. I can't really tell apart the ingredients that go into different face oils, but I like the sound of the rose oils and extracts in this. I usually use about 4 drops all over my face, staying clear of the eye area. Any migration of this or any oil around the eyes is guaranteed unwanted irritation.

Finally, a dedicated nighttime moisturiser. This step after the layer of face oil is probably optional and perhaps entirely superfluous, but I do it anyway. The blurb on the box/jar of Grown Alchemist Regenerating Night Cream Neuro-Peptide & Violet Leaf tries valiantly to convince me the product is worth its $85 price tag, but luckily I only paid $12 for this. It's not too oily or thick despite being quite emollient and you need only a small amount for the entire face (though I apply a fairly generous dollop regardless).

Sometimes I'll skip the Clarins and go straight for the Jurlique (usually after I've already exfoliated in the shower), or use Iluka Hydrating Toner Mist instead. I'll also mix it up with the face oil, preferring Antipodes Divine Face Oil or NUXE Huile Prodigieuse. But the order and the essence of the products remains the same. I wake up the following morning to visibly rested, smoother, softer, and more evenly textured skin. The dry patches have for the most part been banished and active breakouts kept to a minimum.

26 comments:

  1. Ahh! This whole routine looks so luxe and lovely. I want to trade in my entire routine for yours!
    xx

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    1. Haha, it can be such a chore sometimes though! Especially since it's literally at the end of the day. I have to fight a huge temptation to just squirt a bit of Nivea Soft into my palms, drip 4-5 drops of some random face oil, mix it all together and slap it on. Then zzzzzzzz.

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  2. Sounds like a lovely routine, I'm eyeing up the Sanctuary oil, looks and sounds so good.

    alice x | beautybyalicee | Bloglovin' | YouTube

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    1. The Sanctuary oil is pretty good! Performs very similarly to basically every other face oil I have. It has a nice scent as well :)

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  3. I'm kind of meh about the Caudalie SOS serum as well -- something I never thought I'd say about a Caudalie product! It's not bad, it's just not as game-changing as the brightening serum was.

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    1. Never tried the brightening serum but now I'm intrigued! I've come around to the SOS. That's what you get when I essentially force a product onto my skin :p

      As for Caudalie, overall it's a solid, sophisticated brand but I don't think I've been enraptured by anything they make. I think their Beauty Elixir is somewhat overrated, Divine Oil is great but not super unique anymore with other dry oils on the market, hand cream is good but not exceptional, lip balm is so-so, moisturising sorbet is fairly good, micellar water is excellent but not as effective as removing eye makeup as Bioderma, grape water is lovely and hydrating but not dissimilar to my Avene Thermal Spring Water.

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    2. Totally agree with the rest of your feedback on those products -- I really don't think those are representative of the brand, despite being so incredibly popular. While Beauty Elixir really is overrated (I essentially use mine as a SERIOUSLY expensive room fragrance/air freshener), the brightening serum and the beauty fluid from the same line have incredible textures and formulas that are price-worthy. I haven't tried too many of their more expensive lines (looking at you, Premier Cru), but I don't think my skin's at that level yet.

      Whoa, sorry for the Caudalie novel LOL

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  4. Sounds like a great routine! I general avoid foaming cleansers though.

    Erin | Erin and Katherine Talk Beauty

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    1. They can be quite stripping and unkind to the skin but sometimes I just have to rely on them to get everything off efficiently! I try to avoid foaming cleansers in the morning and I should stick with cleansing oils/balms in the evening I know :p

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  5. Sometimes the oddest combination of middling products turns into a decent skincare routine if you remain consistent with it. Not sure what kind of alcohol is in that Jurlique but there's a type that's actually hydrating and not stripping. And that Caudalie serum actually made me break out despite a lot of people with skin type similar to mine raving about it. I gave it to someone else who thought it also wasn't a big deal. I like their body products so much better than facial care.

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    1. So true - I believe that the key to effective skin care is definitely in the routine!

      I have no idea about the alcohol (wasn't even aware there are 'types'), but I heard the company justifies the high content because it helps to preserve/stabilise the botanical extracts or something like that? That's what I remember reading. I'm not overly fussed, but I'd prefer toners sans alcohol, the good kind or not.

      I'm pretty sure that paired with other products, or after using certain things to cleanse, the SOS did break me out. And not just once, but on multiple occasions. I feel like that mildly peanut allergic kid who is deliberately fed trace peanuts in an attempt to immunise themselves from being overly sensitive to allergens. That's me and my deliberate forcing of SOS onto my skin, lol.

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  6. I just picked up the Caudalie SOS Thirst-Quenching Serum recently but I haven't used it enough to see a difference, I think. If only we could all afford the Sunday Riley!

    http://missjulziez.blogspot.com.au

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    1. Hope that you get along with it! I've heard lots of people rave about it.

      And yes, Sunday Riley's prices are crayyyy.

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  7. I was keen on trying the Jurlique toner, but now that I know there's a high alcohol content, maybe I'll skip it. Though, I do really want to try the Clarins toner.

    blush and simplicity

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    1. You may still like it despite that! But there are loads of toners without alcohol that probably perform similarly :) I love the scent of the Jurlique though.

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  8. Ooh Sunday Riley, very luxe I love the look of their skincare but so far have only purchased a blush (typical, really)

    I have this niggling fear that the Jurlique spray breaks me out and so I've stopped using it on myself, though husband adores it and asks to use it all the time. Maybe I should try again and see if that is the culprit...I hate testing when I think I might break out, darn it

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    1. I'm very tempted by Good Genes but it's like $150 or something. Errrrr. I also was interested in their face oils for about one night until I came to my senses and realised I have a trillion face oils that I still need to use up and probably won't for the next several years.

      Awww, that sucks about the Jurlique potentially breaking you out. I do think it's kinda harsh and stripping potentially. I only really use it after I've already toned with something fairly hydrating and then immediately follow with a soothing, watery/hydrating serum.

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  9. Wasn't a big skincare buff till I got involved in the community! I'm glad though, my skin is so much better now. The Jurlique mist sounds amazing.

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    1. You get sucked in quite quickly! I seem to fall for every kind of hype there is :p But at least good skin care pays off :)

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  10. Replies
    1. I'm glad I finally found a way to use it that seems to work well for me!

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  11. Lovely products! I really want to try the Rosewater mist, it sounds great x

    http://abeautyromancee.blogspot.co.uk
    http://abeautyromancee.blogspot.co.uk

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  12. I used to think that nivea was the thing too :P that and harsh cleansing ( I was crazy, totally out of my mind)
    I'm quite curious about the clarins toning lotion :o
    Take care*

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  13. It's funny, I felt that way about the Caudalie serum too, I was a bit disappointed because I had read really good things about it. Maybe it just didn't work for my skin type! I really want to try the Jurlique Mist. You should definitely try the Estee Lauder ANR, I love the face one and the eye one!

    Emma x

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  14. For some strange reason I have 1 bottle of the Jurlique face mist and another bottle that's brand new still in its box but i have zero recollection of having ever purchased either of them...
    I really should make more of an effort to get through them but I have to agree with Emma's comment! I think it breaks me out too and thats why I stopped using it. Sigh...maybe i'll try it again.
    I'm actually super happy with my skincare routine/skin lately, should probably do an updated post sooooon.

    Chloé⎪ status.chlo (previously à la foliee)

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  15. Peaches and clean is my favourite cleanser, I'm on my fourth bottle at the moment! A few people say it's really harsh on their skin, but mine is super sensitive and it's always made mine feel so clean and lovelyLatest Fashion Trends

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