Skincare Diary

After reading Fee's skincare diary over at Makeup Savvy I just knew I wanted to give it a go too.

So here is my Skin Care Diary.

How would you describe your skin type?

Combination - dry.
My T zone is normally quite oily but my cheeks can get quite dry. And even with the oiliness of my T zone I can still get really bad flaky patches around the sides of my nose. I also get a lot of blemishes on my chin/jaw area. I have read they can be caused by stress/problems with my ovaries which would fit as I suffer with PCOS.

What results do you look for from beauty products?

Effective cleansing without being to harsh, moisturising without being to greasy. I also look for things that can be used to calm blemishes and reduce fine lines.

Daily skincare routine...

In the morning I use Simple's Pore Minimising Toning Cleanser (£3.05) on a cotton pad to freshen my skin, then I apply Garnier Pure Active spot roll-on (£7.99) onto any blemishes I have. Once the roll-on has dried I apply Olay's Complete Care Multi-Radiance UV fluid (£3.40) to my face along with Origns GinZing (£20.43) eye cream to my under eye area, as it boasts caffeine to wake you up and reduce puffiness/fine lines.

At night firstly I remove my eye make-up with Simple's nourishing cream remover (£3.56) on cotton pads, then I use either Liz Earle's Hot Cloth Cleanser (£13.25) or Clarins Pure Melt Cleansing Gel (£18.50)depending on how my skin feels, if it needs a good exfoliation then it is Liz Earle, if it needs a bit more moisture then I use Clarins. I then apply the Garnier Pure Active roll-on onto any blemishes and use Clarins Multi-Active Night Cream (£41.00) once the roll-on is dry.

At-home treatments.

I do quite like using face masks at home and have a couple of different ones I use depending on how I feel. All of them are deep cleansing masks. So I rotate between Simple's Deep Cleansing face mask (£3.87), Dirty Works Belle of the Ball (approx £3.50) face mask and Soap & Glorys Fab Pore Facial Peel (£7.15).. they all contain Kaolin to purify the skin and other ingredients designed to cleanse the skin.

I also have Simple's Smoothing Face Scrub (£4.07), which I use if I'm not using Liz Earle's Hot Cloth Cleanser, as that is exfoliating with the muslin cloth.

Salon treatments.

I've only ever had a salon treatment once, and that was using Dermatalogica and it broke my skin out so badly I have been to scared to try again. Other than that I occasionally get my eyebrows threaded, but that's probably a yearly treat more than anything.

My Own Verdict...

My skin is a lot clearer than it used to be and I think that is because I now exfoliate and use masks more often that I used to, when I was younger I preferred cream cleansers and I have learnt since they they just don't cut it for me, so now I only ever use wash off cleansers.

As I'm getting older I'm starting to need slightly more care around my eyes, but unfortunately my age doesn't stop the blemishes. I think I'll always get a blemish or two as my mother still suffers at the age of 53, plus as I suffer PCOS it is a symptom of it unfortunately. So all I can do is learn the best products to use to calm and reduce the redness when I get them.

Maybe one day I will come across the holy of holy grails until then Garnier's Pure Active is quite good as is anything else containing 2% Salicylic Acid such as Soap & Glorys Fab Pore Facial Peel. I've also learnt, the hard way, that anything that cools down or heats up is no good for my skin.. in fact I must avoid it like the plague.