I have been waiting to write this post until I was 100% happy with my skin. That day has finally come! So I’m about to bring you on a journey of how I went from having flawless skin, to acne, back to beautiful skin, and how you can improve your skin too! Disclaimer: As I’m sure you intelligent people know, just because this worked for me does not mean it will for you. Trial and error, baby. Trial and error.
Back in the day I had perfect skin. Of course, there was the occasional pimple, but I went into college not really understanding that I needed to take a proactive approach to skin care. I would wash my face every night in the shower with whichever face wash happened to be on sale at CVS and call it a day. I’d wash my pillow cases occasionally and that was the extent of it. No makeup removal and no attention paid to the contents of my cosmetics.
At the start of sophomore year I was plagued with pimples and whiteheads and I didn’t know how to deal with it. I let months go by with the same routine in place, just hoping that somehow, someway, my skin would magically cure itself. I blamed stress and the dining hall food and didn’t really take a good look at my routine. Instead of assessing just what I might be doing wrong, I went looking for a quick fix. I started washing my face in the morning too (the fact that it took me so long to figure that one out is quite embarrassing) and tried a benzoyl peroxide cream which just served to dry out my skin and create awful pealing.
I was frustrated and at my wits end and decided that since what I was doing clearly wasn’t working, I would need to overhaul my skin care regime. I changed my cleansers and makeup and took so many trips to the mall, buying and returning products, that my head spun. To save you that whole saga, here are what products and routines have finally saved my skin!
Although it’s far more costly than what I started with, it’s worth it. I never really bought into natural products but I am a full fledged convert after seeing how chemical filled products destroyed my skin while natural products revitalized it.
Morning:
First I use Herbalism, an all natural, vegan cleanser from Lush. It’s specially designed for oily skin that is blemish-prone and is the perfect way to start out the day.
My mother always taught me that it’s incredibly important to protect your skin from the sun so I use Boots No7 Beautiful Skin Oil Free Skin Protector with SPF 25. It’s non-comedogenic, which means that it won’t clog up your skin. Next I put on Boots Botanic Organic Hydrating Day Cream to moisturize and create a base for my skin for the day. Both of these can be purchased at Target.
For makeup (not including lips and eyes), I keep it really simple. I use the Dark Yellow Color Supplement from Lush (also vegan) instead of a traditional foundation, and it allows my skin to breath and provides a great finish. Aside from that, I use a random cream blush from the drugstore.
Evening:
I remove my makeup at night with the 9 to 5 Cleansing Lotion from Lush which I LOVE. It gets everything off and has wonderful ingredients you should totally check out.
Once again, I use Herbalism but this time I use the Olay ProX Face Brush, which I got at Target. It’s basically the poor man’s Clarisonic, but it works for me!
About 2-3 times a week I use the Mask of Magnaminty from Lush and it’s a major winner in my book. My skin feels SO soft after I use it!
So that’s it! Keeping to this regime has given me my skin back and has taught me that natural products do deserve to be paid attention to. One store I was not at all satisfied with was bareMinerals. I tried multiple products and didn’t like a single one. Clearly, I love Lush and would shout from the rooftops that everyone should go there!
Hopefully this helps you to improve your own skincare routine. If you have any questions, be sure to leave a comment!
How do you take care of your skin?
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