Thursday, June 26, 2014

Current Skincare

I will start this with a spoiler- I know very very little about skincare. I like reading about it and I love testing out new products but my actual knowledge about this subject is rather limited. So please keep that in mind.

I have mentioned before that my skin is normal/combination and blemish prone. A month ago the humidity hit Dubai and my skin went extra bad- normal became flaky dry and T-zone became proper oily. So I have switched up a few products for the summer months and it seems to help. My make up sits good and the blemishes are slowly disappearing. Something is working and I intend to keep most of this routine up.

So here goes my daily evening skincare routine.


1. Dermalogica PreCleanse oil to remove my make up. I had never ever used a oil based skincare product before and was worried it will give me breakouts but non of that nonsenses happened. Instead I fell in love with it. It melts away the impurities and the makeup so easily. It smells lovely. I give my face a little massage working the oil into dry skin and then wetting my hands I work it in more. I wash it off with lukewarm water.

 2. I follow with Vichy Normaderm Deep Cleansing Gel. This range is for combination/oily skin which is acne and shine prone. It has a little bit of Salicylic Acid which works well for my skin and it still feels gentle enough for use daily. Its nothing special but I have enjoyed using it.

About twice a week I use Dermalogica Skin Resurfacing Cleanser instead of the Vichy one. Now this one I love and felt an almost immediate change in my skin. This is an exfoliating cleanser with one of my favorite skincare components- Lactic acid. Lactic acid helps to accelerate cell turnover and really keeps my skin smoother and bump free. Its a highly active formula so I dont use it more than 2 times a week. I think this product made the biggest change in my skin. Its all kinds of fantastic.

I keep Neutrogena Visibly Clear Pore & Shine in my shower. I love the citrus scent and the gentle exfoliating bits in it. I use it once in a while. Its good value for money and feels great on the skin.

 3. If I wore waterproof mascara I will generally do a quick wipe down with Loreal Paris Make-up Remover Eyes & Lips Waterproof. I have used this for about 10 years and its in my books the best value for money when it comes to waterproof make-up removers.

4. The Clinique Clarifying Lotion 3 for combination/oily skin is a brand new addition. I admit I should have done a bit more research before I picked this one up as one of the main ingredients is alcohol and you can really smell it. The strong smell is not pleasant and I think the formula is a bit too harsh for me. I just wanted to reduce the shine and figured maybe this one helps but now I'm not sure. I cant use this daily so have been switching between this and Herbaline Essentials Cucumber & Rose Water Skin Tonic. Herbaline one is mild, lovely and fresh. It has spring water and rose water and other organic ingredients and I like it a lot but I dont think it does anything in the matter of helping reduce the shine.


5. I have been trying to pin down the next "best ever" serum and moisturizer. Until I make my decision and part with the pile of money it will inevitably cost I have the trusty Bodyshop Vitamine E Overnight Serum-in-oil and night cream to finish up. I especially like the serum-in-oil. It really plumps up my skin. I have my eyes on Khiels Midnight Recovery Concentrate or one of the Claudaile serums? Have you tried these?
For eyes I have been loving the Dermalogica Ultrasmoothing Eye Serum.

I would really appreciate recommendations for serum and toner if you have combination skin like I do. Is there something that your swear by? I'm a bit lost in the world of skin care.

8 comments:

  1. Hi Laura! About your serum, it really depends on your skin needs. Is it for moisturizing, for mattifying, for anti-ageing prevention..?
    Caudalie Vinoperfect is great if you're dealing with hyper-pigmentation and acne scars, but it's not a good moisturizer. At all.
    I don't know about the Kielh's one, but me too, I really want to try it! However, I'm not sure it will work well with my (very) oily skin...
    But what I really want to try is the new serum from Caudalie (tis one:http://en.caudalie.com/products-best-sellers/collections/polyphenol-c15/anti-wrinkle-defense-serum.html) which is apparently a brightening, anti-age preventive one.
    Of course, it's not available in the UAE for the moment...
    Sorry, I didn't really answer your question, lol! Me too, I'm in the hunt for the perfect serum! :)

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    1. Hi Bonnie :)
      Cant there be one that does all of the above mentioned things please? Like a superman of serums..ha ha. I know thats too much to ask. I think im going for hydrating or/and anti aging maybe. The shine I can handle with a good primer and powder.

      Besides the Khiels one I have Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair on my radar. Have you ever tried that? The Caudalie sounds amazing.
      I know there is no one answer to it anyway I just thought it would be good to get some ideas :) x

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    2. Ah ah, of course, we all want the magical product! Usually, I'm using a moisturizing serum, than I switch with a clarifying one, then an anti-ageing... I'm not convinced by the skincare product "all-in-one", I'm sure it's more efficient if it's very specific. But perhaps I'm wrong, I don't know...;)
      No, I didn't try the Estée Lauder one, but I'm not sure of the ingredients, that's why (I'm trying to choose something natural, or at least without alcohol, mineral oils and silicones, I prefer!)... But apparently, a lot of people rave about it.

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  2. Hei Laura, combination skin can sometimes be veeery nasty. Anyways, I've used Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair for years untill one day, my hormones decided to go nuts on me and I had to stop using it. Its a great product though! To fix the combination skin that had lost its mind, I had, once again Dermalogica products that saved the day. Its not really serum per se, but it makes wonders if you're fighting with impurities - Dermalogica Overnight Clearing Gel. For a daytime use, try Trilogy Rosehip Oil Antioxidant +. I think its great - works amazingly good with Dermalogica Active Moist facecream. As for the toner - Biotherm Biosource Micellar Water is my latest find - alcohol free, gentle and does its job amazingly well! I could go on and on, but hope you find some insp. :) And yes, I use a lot of Dermalogica - it rather amazing :)

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  3. Some great products here Laura! I've added a few to my list. A combo that has definitely made a difference to my skin is double toning (I do this before moisturising) I'm using the Pixi Glow Tonic swept all over the face first, followed by a spritz of La Roche Posay Serozinc (I'm on my 5th bottle!) Your skin sounds similar to mine, I think you'd like it!

    Lis x

    www.elisabethrilatt.com

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    1. Hi Lis,where do you you find Serozinc in the UAE?I cant seem to get it anywhere?? Jana x

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    2. Hi Jana!

      Lis lives in the UK so that's probably where she got it from. I haven't seen it in Dubai either. Unfortunately cause I would love to try it! x

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  4. I cant use the Clinique clarifying lotion. It stripped my skin so much that my skin started producing extra oil to compensate. It contains some nasty ingredients, so I give it a miss now. I use Pixi glow tonic as a toner (AM and PM). It is a very gentle acid toner so you can use it daily. I use some Alpha H at twice a week at night for a more heavy duty toner/night exfoliating acid. Worth looking into. I also use some Sarah Chapman products (overnight facial oil is amazing on my combination oily skin! This has made a difference to my daytime routine. Hope this helps a bit xx

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