My Skincare Routine
Let’s talk about skincare! We all know it’s something that’s super important. We only truly get one shot at taking good care of our skin, and many of us want to take care of our skin to defy the inevitable aging process - which honestly, isn’t a bad thing! I once heard a quote saying “Getting old is a privilege denied to many”, and since then it’s completely changed my outlook on getting older. But regardless, I think we can all agree that if we can combat getting crows feet, laugh lines & wrinkles, we’re more than likely going to at least give it a try. I grew up with a mom who’s a licensed cosmetician, so a good skincare routine was preached to me before I even really started wearing make up, but especially at the time that I did start to wear it. So today, I’m going to share with you guys my morning & evening skincare routine, as well as the products that I use, and why I like to use clean skincare!
Before I start, I’m going to give you a breakdown of what my skin is like. I have very pale skin, and it is extremely oily, particularly in the summer. In the winter, I generally become a little drier, and sometimes I even end up with severe rashes on my eyelids from how dry the weather is. However, my T-zone does stay oily throughout the winter months. I also do experience the occasional outbreak of acne on my face from having such oily skin. One thing I also try and do one day a week (usually a Saturday or Sunday), is not wear any make up at all to give my skin a break from all of the make up that I put on it through the week.
Disclaimer: I’m not a licensed make up artist, cosmetician, esthetician or anything of the sorts. This is just what works for me, and what I know to be true of my skin. If you want to know more about your skin, or are interested in skincare products, talk with a professional about what will work for you.
Morning Routine
Despite what you might think, your skin is definitely dirty when you wake up in the morning. There’s bacteria, dead skin, sweat, and all sorts of other goodies all over your skin. Lots of dirt happens when you sleep! (Fun fact, did you know most of the dust under your bed is dead skin cells? You’re welcome for that). It is just as important to wash your face in the morning, as it is to wash it at night. It’s also a key factor in prepping your skin for the make up you’re about to put on that day (if you wear make up). Even if you don’t wear make up, just wash your dang face.
Routine:
To start, I always cleanse my face using my OLEHENRIKSEN Find Your Balance™ Oil Control Cleanser. I start with taking a handful of water to wet my entire face, neck & chest, squeeze about double the size of a pea’s worth of product into my hands, lather it up and then massage gently into my skin, for about 45 seconds, to a minute. Occasionally, if I need some extra cleansing, I’ll use my Foreo LUNA™ mini to massage the product into my pores a bit more. When I’m done, I’ll wet a face cloth with warm water, and remove the lather from my face, neck & chest, and pat* dry with a towel.
* Tip: Do not rub your face dry, this will irritate your skin! Only gently pat your skin.
After I’ve cleansed my skin, I will follow up this step up with my OLEHENRIKSEN Balancing Force™ Oil Control Toner. Using one of my Freon Collective reusable cotton pads, I’ll pour about the size of quarters worth of product onto the pad, and gently wipe it over the same areas of skin - my face, neck & chest*, to get rid of any extra bits of dirt that weren’t entirely cleaned off by the cleanser.
* Tip: It is important for you to clean your chest & neck as well. Most people forget about these areas in their skincare routines. Your neck & chest are one of the areas that show signs of aging the most, so make sure to take care of that skin as well.
Now it’s time to apply eye cream. Using my ring finger*, I’ll take a very small amount of my OLEHENRIKSEN Banana Bright Eye Crème, and gently place little dots of the cream under my eyes, and along my brow bone. Using the same finger, I’ll gently dab the cream along these areas.
* Tip: Use your ring finger to apply eye cream. The skin under your eyes is very thin and easy to pull on, causing wrinkles over time. Using your ring finger to apply will put less pressure on the skin when applying the product to this area. It’s also important not to rub the product in due to the thinness of the skin under your eyes. That is why I dab along those areas to push the product into my skin.
Lastly, I will apply a moisturizer. Once I’ve put on my eye cream, I’ll then take approximately a dime-size worth of product from my FIRST AID BEAUTY Ultra Repair Cream Intense Hydration, rub it together in my hands, and then gently apply to my face, neck & chest for overall moisturizing*.
* Tip: If you can, wait about 10 minutes before applying your make up for the day. This will allow time for your skin to absorb the moisturizer, and your foundation will sit more nicely on your skin if you allow it that time. I usually fill that time with brushing my teeth & doing my hair for the day.
Unless I have somewhere to go, or something to do after work, the first thing I like to do when I get home is remove my make up, and freshen up my skin. I don’t know about anyone else, but after a few hours of wearing make up, the moment I walk through the door, I instantly want it off my face. However, even if I don’t have make up on that day, I still follow the same steps below, just without the make up removal. It’s still important to wash your face, even if you haven’t worn a drop of make up all day!
Routine:
To start, I remove my eye make up using Marcelle Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover Lotion on a reusable cotton pad, gently wiping off my eye make up, and eyebrow product.
After I’ve removed my eye make up, I’ll use the other side, or another area of the same reusable cotton pad, and pump some Marcelle Micellar Water for Oily Skin onto the pad, and gently run the cotton pad over my face & neck to remove my facial make up.
Once I’ve removed all of my eye & facial make up, I do the same cleansing step as I do in the morning, using my OLEHENRIKSEN Find Your Balance™ Oil Control Cleanser.
This is where I change up my routine the most from the morning - on Monday, Wednesday & Friday, I’ll use my OLEHENRIKSEN Cold Plunge Pore Mask to give my skin a little treatment that it needs. I apply this mask in an even layer over my face, letting it sit for 15 minutes. Once 15 minutes has passed, I then use cool water to lather it into my skin, and follow it up by immediately rinsing the product off using a damp face cloth, gently on my skin, and I’m left with my skin feeling fresh & cool.
On Tuesday & Thursday I’ll use my OLEHENRIKSEN Pore-Balance™ Facial Sauna Scrub to exfoliate my skin on my face, neck & chest, getting rid of any build up in my pores, and extra bacteria that may be stuck in there. Using a little larger than a pea-size of product, I’ll massage the scrub between my fingers to get it spread out, and then gently* massage it into the skin on my face, neck & chest. Once I’m done, then I’ll use a damp face cloth to remove the excess product.
* Tip: A lot of people think with exfoliants that you need aggressively rub the product into the skin, but you don’t. Rubbing harshly will cause skin irritation, so just gently massage the product over your face. It should feel good, not painful.
When I’ve finished with my mask or exfoliant, I follow the remaining steps from my morning routine, using my OLEHENRIKSEN Balancing Force™ Oil Control Toner, OLEHENRIKSEN Banana Bright Eye Crème & FIRST AID BEAUTY Ultra Repair Cream Intense Hydration*.
* Tip: When applying moisturizer, both in the morning & evening, don’t drag your hands down over your face. Instead, do everything in an upward motion. Pulling down on the skin on your face will lead to looser skin on your face as you age.
Products:
Marcelle Micellar Water for Oily Skin (Link for all skin types here)
My Recommended Skincare Brands
I’ve recently learned a lot about all of the chemicals that are in make up & skincare products and how they are just not good for us. So, I’m definitely making some changes with what products gets applied to my skin. Some great Clean at Sephora brands (that are also cruelty-free!) are:
Note: I absolutely swear by OLEHENRIKSEN & FIRST AID BEAUTY products given that they work so well with my skin & offer a wide variety of products to help everyone tackle their skin problems. But my favourite thing is that all of their products are apart of the Clean at Sephora collection, meaning that these products are formulated with the use of chemicals including Sulfates SLS and SLES, parabens, formaldehydes, formaldehyde-releasing agents, phthalates, mineral oil, retinyl palmitate, oxybenzone, coal tar, hydroquinone, triclosan, triclocarban, and all products with the Clean at Sephora stamp of approval contain less than 1% of synthetic fragrances. For more info on Sephora’s Clean at Sephora products, click here.
PHEW! That was another lengthy one. If you’re still here reading, then thank you! I really, really hope this blog post opened you up to learning more about clean skincare & make up, and encourages you to research more about what’s going on your skin. Remember, your skin absorbs everything, so be kind to your skin & know what you’re putting on it. See you next week! Xo.
* Note: Some links above are commissionable affiliate links.
