Monday 26 October 2015

My Skincare Staples

So this week we are talking all about skincare. It is such a important part of my beauty routine and is probably one of the areas where I invest the most of my money in. If the skin underneath is bad, ANY foundation, no matter how expensive will not perform to its best. Every single day I cleanse, tone, moisturise twice a day and exfoliate at least 3 times a week and I never, I repeat, NEVER, sleep with my makeup on.

I think my regimented routine stems from having acne when I was younger and struggling with it for so many years; it was only the end of last year after trying so many antibiotics, lotions and potions that I finally was transferred to a dermatologist from my GP who then prescribed me took a 5 month course of Roaccutane, this was how I cured my skin completely, I haven’t had a massive spot since. It was life changing. 

So, if anyone has ever met me – they know I am mad about skincare. I LOVE trying out anything new, or any that has anything that has rave reviews. I remember flying out to Hong Kong and walking their beauty store SaSa – not being able to read about 90% of what is on the packaging (because it was all in Chinese) but if I saw the word “AHA” or “BHA” or “#1 bestseller” it would automatically go in my basket, I am a sucker for packaging. I must of spent a good £300 just on skincare that trip, don’t even get me started on how excited I was when I went to Paris for the first time, haha. Crazy I know, but I am a skincare fanatic! So after trying out so many different products, let me show you some of my absolute favorites.



This probably sounds crazy, using a nappy rash cream on your face - but its something I swear by. After trying so many things for spots, this is one of the cheapest but most effective way of clearing away any breakout clusters. It’s not the best for any deep, under the skin spots (For those I recommend the Origins Super Spot Remover) but its also great for if you just popped a spot, I pop a thick white layer overnight, and by the time I wake up the skin is all healed up and so much clearer. It is also amazing for any burns, sunburn, cuts, rashes – it is a good staple to have around the house.







This is something I use nearly every day when I wash my face in the morning. It’s such a good way to exfoliate your skin without leaving it feel stripped or aggravated. I hardly ever use any physical exfoliants that have the rough beads in it as I feel its too harsh on my skin and I hate trying to wash it all off my face. This Gel is made out of 98% water, it has a easy pump bottle, I do about two pumps on my hand and massage it all over DRY skin (do not wet your skin before you apply this because it will not work as well), when you start rubbing the skin the gel starts to thicken and ball up, the more pressure you put when rubbing the more you can see the balls darken, which means its rubbing away all your loose dead skin cells. Then simply splash it off and you left with the smoothest skin ever! It doesn’t dry out your skin at all. I have tried similar items like this but from other brands and they are not as effective as the Cure Gel, the only bad thing is that it is quite hard to get a hold of, I stocked up the last time I was in Asia but you can find it online here.
 



This is my hands down favourite nighttime cream, I alternate between this, the Origins Night-a-Mins cream, and the Origins Intense overnight mask, depending on how I feel my skin is doing. The other two creams add intense hydration, and I wake up with fresh plump skin, however this cream from Clinique is amazing. IT exfoliates your skin overnight and when you wake up you can really see the difference in the clarity of your skin. It is lightweight but still very moisturizing, doesn’t feel to heavy or shiny. It comes close to being the perfect product for me.






After hearing rave reviews about this product, I made a trip up London to get this specific product, it did not disappoint. The formula is so creamy and glides onto the skin so evenly, the true beauty of this product is when it dries down, you can actually see all of the oil being drawn out of the pores in your skin, it’s quite disgustingly satisfying. Also it is an easy mask to wash off your skin, some clay masks I have used is a b**** to take off!






I have struggled for the longest time to find a daytime moisturizer. I have combination oily skin so I am looking for something that controls oil, moisturizes but is not too shiny so my makeup can go ontop as smooth as possible.

I have recommended this product when I was last in Paris but it was sold out. I was browsing around my local boots a while ago and saw their whole Effaclar range was 30% off, I hunted down this item and saw one left and immediately put it in my basket. This base has all that I was looking for, wrapped up in one tiny squeezy metal tube, it even says on the packaging that it is a great base for makeup! Its great for blackheads and whiteheads too, so its taking care of your skin and preventing breakouts and giving you a perfectly smooth matte finish whilst you wear it under your makeup – win, win.





This was one of those products I received a small sachet sample when browsing around their counter in Liberty’s, the sales assistant swore by it and said it was amazing. The first time I tried it was a bit strange as it is a really runny consistacy, I followed the instructions and applied it all over my skin, it then says to add water and massage it in to activate the Vitamin C – it then turns into a thicker texture which was great as you leave it sitting on your skin from 1-5 minutes and rinse off, and your left with incredibly smooth baby butt skin.




If I could recommend anyone who wants just one thing to amp up their skincare routine, it would be to introduce a form of AHA into their toning routine. It is the one thing you can instantly see results from, your makeup will glide on a lot smoother by getting rid of all that flaky skin. I always suggest to start off at a lower strength and work your way up. Nip and Fab do great Glycolic Fix pre-soaked pads, they even just brought out a night time extra strength that i have yet to try, but sounds brilliant. Also Pixi have just launched their Glow pads to go along their best selling Glow Tonic, both are amazing and still quite affordable. A few sweeps all over freshly cleansed skin, and follow with a moisturiser if needed,  2/3 times a week for that amazing glow skin from within.





These are just a few of my favourited from my skincare collection, please comment down below to let me know any of your favourites or anything I should try out next!

- Thuy x


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