New Year, New You!
Wishing you all a very happy new year! I hope you had a fabulous start to 2016 and are feeling pumped about what the new year will bring, I know I sure am!
I thought I would kick off this years blog posts with a skincare checklist to inspire those of you who are still lacking in establishing a proper routine, to banish those post party season break outs and get January off to a glowing start. Print it out, tick an item each payday or go all out and do it all at once. I promise you, you won’t regret it- make 2016 your time to shine! Here goes….
- Take your make up off every single night. No excuses. Your skin needs to breathe at night to produce the vitamins and minerals needed for a healthy, radiant glow. Don’t cloud it with day-old make-up and let it do its work with ease. Ditch the make up wipes and quickly melt make up off with a cleansing oil like Una Brennan Superfacialist Vitamin C+ Skin Renew Cleansing Oil, £10.99, Boots.
Top Tip: Cleanse skin as soon as you get home from work. This way you won’t lose interest in sticking to your routine if you get too sleepy last thing before bed.
- Exfoliate twice a week. It is essential for healthy, radiant skin to remove dead skin cells twice per week. This will encourage your face to reproduce skin cells promoting a youthful and smooth complexion while shedding yucky dull, dead skin cells. Without exfoliation your skincare routine becomes insignificant as dead skin cells clog pores and prevent all your lotions and potions from getting where they need to be. Add a few shakes of Bobbi Brown Buffing Grains, £30 into your regular cleanser.
Top Tip: Pick two days in a week to exfoliate and stick to it, this will make it so much easier to remember. I exfoliate on Mondays and Thursdays always!
- Switch to an oil based eye make up remover. These oil based eye make up removers often have a giveaway "split-level" appearance, give them a good shake to blend and soak on to a cotton pad. The oil quickly melts away even the most badass waterproof mascara meaning minimal eye rubbing, less lash breakage and no red eye while the oils work to condition lashes after a hard day of being smothered in mascara promoting long, thick lashes. Pick up L'Oreal Absolute Eye & Lip Makeup Remover, £5.99.
Top Tip: Hold cotton pad soaked in remover over each eye for 10 seconds before moving pad in small circular motions.
- Ditch the Toner. The majority of Toning Lotions are packed full of astringent alcohol and are an unnecessary step in your skincare routine that won’t be doing your skin much good at all. Save your pennies and instead splash face with cold water after cleansing to close pores.
- Use an Eye Cream every single night. We often neglect to moisturise the skin under our eyes and yet being the thinnest layer of skin on the entire body it is the most fragile and as a result the fastest to show fatigue and signs of ageing. Look after under eyes by applying a light, gel like eye cream such as Origins GinZing™ Refreshing Eye Cream, £20.
Top Tip: Be careful not to over saturate the delicate eye area. You only need to apply the amount of a rice grain for both eyes each night. Apply using your ring finger and gently pat along orbital bone NOT directly to the under eye area. Where is the orbital bone? it is the most prominent bone as it peaks above your cheeks and before it begins to sink into your eye socket, give you face a prod you’ll find it.
- Use a face mask twice a month. You can of course use a face mask as often as you like but let’s face it most weeks fly by and understandably life gets in the way and so aim to do a mask every other week. I recommend having a couple of masks in your stash to suit your most frequent skin concerns, for most people this is detoxing and added moisture/radiance. I am always reaching for Soap & Glory The Fab Pore, £10 to banish large pores and relieve congestion and couldn't be without Clarins HydraQuench Cream Mask, £33 for days when my skin is dull and dry.
Top Tip: Kill two birds with one stone by multi-masking, apply a detoxifying mask in oiler/congested areas and a moisturising mask in dryer parts, leave to do its magic while you are cooking dinner or lie back and take a few minutes to yourself, aaah!
- Moisturise! No matter how oily your skin is. I have met so many clients over the years who don’t use moisturiser through fear of breaking out. It is SO crucial that everyone moisturises both morning and night in order to keep skin looking good. In not moisturising you are actually making your skin so much worse and the likelihood of getting that oiliness under control diminishes with each day, in starving your skin of moisture all you are doing is encouraging it to go mental and produce more. I love the Origins GinZing Energy Boosting Moisturiser, £24. It’s lightweight, gel like texture will lightly hydrate skin without feeling greasy. For those of you who crave moisture you’ll love the Bobbi Brown Extra Repair Moisture Cream, £64.50.
Top Tip: Use a oil to moisturise skin at night. It works for everyone to balance excess moisture in oiler areas by tricking skin you are producing enough while nourishing dryer areas. Wake up to perfectly balanced, beautiful skin everyday in 2016! I love Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate, £36.
Make 2016 your year. There is more to life than good skin but it’s a great place to start!
B x