What is Your Perfect Skin Care Routine?

One of the things I'm asked the most about as a Beauty Advisor is skin care. What does the product do? When do I use it? Will it work for me? Do I need to use it? The truth is the perfect skin care routine for you depends entirely on how much effort you want to put in and what results you want from your skin care.

My skin care routine, for example, is ridiculously over the top. However, I'm really happy with how my skin is at the moment and I know it wouldn't be in this condition if I wasn't doing my current routine. Not to blow my own trumpet, I do get a lot of compliments on my skin. I've mentioned before that my skin type is dry/sensitive so when choosing products I always have this in mind.

Let's start with the basics. For all skin care beginners out there, if you want to start simply the main steps you should do are:

1. Cleanse

2. Moisturise

I don't think I need to go into detail about why cleansing is important, similar to why you'd use a body wash in the bath or shower, you need to be using a face wash as well. Get rid of bacteria, clean out pores, get rid of dirt, grime blah blah etc etc. You get it. Personally I like to use exfoliating cleansers from time to time to really scrub off the grime and dead skin. Other forms of cleansers are balms, micellar waters, oils, lotions and cleansing brushes. It's also helpful to have a specific cleanser for the eye area so as not to use anything too harsh that might irritate the eyes.

Clinique Take the Day Off Balm, Lancôme Créme-Mouss Confort, Clarisonic Cleansing Brush, Lancôme Bi-Facil Eye Make Up Remover, Yes To Grapefruit Exfoliating Scrub & Vichy 3 in 1 Micellar Water

What surprises me most at work is how many people don't moisturise. Some people think you only need to use a moisturiser if you have dry skin but really EVERYONE needs to do it. No matter what your skin type your skin needs moisture and hydration. You know how you need to drink water to keep your body hydrated? Well your skin needs to keep hydrated too. And when you drink water it goes to all your vital organs before it goes to your skin, so it's always good to give a little helping hand and use a moisturiser as well. There are many different moisturisers available, it all depends on what you want from it; anti-aging, radiance, correction to name a few. If you're unsure it's helpful to go to a beauty counter and have a consultation with a beauty advisor.

Lancôme Visionnaire Fluid Moisturiser, Visionnaire with SPF20 Moisturiser & Hydra Zen Night Masque

To go one step further you could do:

1. Cleanse

2. Tone

3. Moisturise

I know a few people who don't use toners, again, it depends on whether you think it's necessary for you. Toners restore the ph balance to the skin. You can get toners that do different things; ones with alcohol in that act as exfoliating toners as the alcohol gets rid of dead skin, ones that brighten, soften or hydrate.

Lancôme Tonique Confort & Pixi Glow Tonic

If toners aren't for you then maybe you could try this instead:

1. Cleanse

2. Moisturise

3. Eye Cream

Or if you're really dedicated you could do:

1. Cleanse 

2. Tone

3. Moisturise

4. Eye Cream

The difference between eye creams and regular moisturisers is eye creams are formulated specifically for the delicate skin around the eye. It's preferable to use a dabbing motion to apply eye creams instead of a wiping motion as wiping it drags the skin and can stretch it and lead to wrinkles, yikes.

Kiehl's Creamy Eye Treatment

For skin care fanatics the next routine you could try is:

1. Cleanse

2. Tone

3. Serum

4. Moisturise 

5. Eye Cream

Serums are really beneficial, made from concentrated ingredients they go a lot deeper into the skin and help the moisturiser you use afterwards absorb deeper as well. The ingredients usually help target fine lines and wrinkles; the serum I use is Lancôme's Advanced Génefique which also helps give your skin radiance. There are eye serums available to target the eye area as well.

Lancôme Advanced Génefique Serum

Most people will probably look at that routine and think that's more than enough. But, remember, I told you I was over the top! My routine is:

1. Cleanse

2. Tone

3. Lotion

4. Serum

5. Moisturiser

6. Eye Cream

You're probably looking at "Lotion" and thinking, isn't that similar to a moisturiser? And you'd be right. However the lotion I use is Lancôme's Pearly Lotion from the Energie Die Vie range. It's a water based lotion with oil in that you press into the skin for extra hydration. It has energising ingredients which help wake my skin up in the morning; and it smells amazinggg. I'm not sure if other brands have lotions like this, even so, if you want to be as extra as me I would definitely recommend the Pearly Lotion.

Lancôme Pearly Lotion

So that's everything I do for my day to day skin care routine to keep my skin in tip top condition. However, there are other products I like to use from time to time for a little extra pampering...

Glam Glow Flashmud Brightening Mask

I love using face masks when I'm in the mood for a little pamper session; because you leave them on your skin for a certain amount of time, it gives the ingredients plenty of time to get to work on your skin and make a difference. There are plenty of masks on the market with different benefits. As is the constant message of this post - the product you choose all depends on your skins needs!

Sunday Riley Artemis Oil

I've written a whole blog post about this face oil in particular (read it here) which I'm obsessed with. Again, there are so many face oils on the market so your bound to find one that works for you. I really like adding a couple of drops of this to my moisturiser in the morning for a bit of extra nourishment.

Lancôme Visionnaire Crescendo

Lastly, I use this Lancôme face peel at night. I'm being a bit naughty because technically I shouldn't really use this, it's not really suitable for sensitive skin as the ingredients are quite strong. However I really liked the results so I deal with the tingling. Yes I know, it's probably really bad to put my skin through that but as I said I love how my skin feels when I'm using it. It's an absorbing peel, meaning it absorbs into the skin instead of physically peeling it off; and you only use it for a month and then give your skin a month off. It made my skin feel so much smoother and I really saw a difference in my skin texture. Do remember that if you're using a product like this then you must wear an SPF on your face during the day; as your skin will be extra vulnerable to the suns UV rays. Also you do have to commit to it otherwise you're not going to see the benefits. Other than that, I would really recommend it!

Of course there are plenty of other products you can add into your routine; including products specific for morning or night. This is just my guideline to help anyone who finds it all a bit overwhelming. You can obviously use any products you want as well; they don't have to be the ones I've mentioned. All I will say is you can really notice a difference when you start taking good care of your skin, especially as I'm getting older I need all the help I can get!

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