Beauty Gazebo: Skincare Routine

BEWARE!! Extremely long post! I have a recap at the end of the post if you don't want to read the whole thing!

Note: I don't have all the pictures yet, but will add them as soon as I get them!

One of my favorite parts of the day is my skincare routine, both in the morning and evening before I go to bed.

I use a vast number of products that differ everyday, but it's the routine I've found to be best for my skin, as of now. Who knows what it will be like in 6 months... Like everyone else, my skin changes throughout the year, but it's not the typical dry in the winter and oily in the summer change. My skin mainly changes depending on food and water intake, whether I'm in the city or in a cleaner environment, but the most important factor that affects my skin is stress!

Here's what happens: in college, I have exams throughout the month of February and July, and those are the worst for me. Stress levels go up, closed in the library for 12 hours a day, no fresh air, no sun, no time to take as much care as I should of my skin. Everything seems unimportant in comparison to the books and slideshows. Needless to say, my skin and hair become decadent and I'm, frankly, not the nicest person to be around in those times :P My skin, as well as my scalp, become very dry and flaky to the point where I scratch and it's as if it had just snowed on my desk. It's quite disgusting and annoying but there's not much I can do in those times, except exfoliate my face a lot, and use the least amount of products on my scalp. Not the funnest times at all!

Other than that, my skin is generally mixed to oily. My problem areas are: blackheads on chin and nose, and zits on cheeks and chin.

Moving on to the title of this post, rather than doing an extensive review on every single product, I'm going to break it down timeline-like (week-wise):

Click here for the rest of the entry

Day 1

A.M.

I hop in the shower and wash my face with Lush's Fresh Farmacy Cleanser. It lathers well and cleanses my skin so freakin thoroughly that it literally squeaks after I dry it. It has a subtle lavender and chamomile scent that feels very soothing on my skin.

I then proceed to use Lush's Ocean Salt scrub which is a rather harsh scrub with thick salt grains but my skin can bear it, and actually thank me I'd say: it clears all my blackheads from the nose (the chin area is always tougher), and it all together brightens up my skin. It has a lovely lime, fresh, ocean scent and oh, it's mixed in with vodka! What else would you want in your scrub?

After I jump out of the shower I grab a cotton ball and soak it up in Clinique's Clarifying Lotion (the pink one) and rub it all over my face, and it kind of tingles which is a good way to wake me up! Nothing much to add, it smells a lot like alcohol which I'm not a huge fan of, trying to find a non-alcoholic toner...

I then proceed to apply the Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair. I know it says "Night" but in the directions it says apply am and pm before your moisturizer. It's a bit on the expensive side, but I always purchase my high end products at the duty-free in the airports, and I always manage to save quite some money. My mum has been using this ever since I can remember and she has zero wrinkles! none! And she's 50 something years old so I started using it when I came to college and I love it! It feels really tightening and rich! And even though it's a serum, it dries really fast and feels oil-free. Some people aren't fond of the scent, but I'm fine with it.

While the serum dries, I apply my Garnier Roll-on Eye Cream. This stuff is caffeine for the eyes, I swear! I don't ever skip this because it really wakes me up. I don't drink caffeine, so this is my daily dose!

Finally I apply the Clinique's dramatically different moisturizing gel. I've had this bottle for about 6 or 7 months and it's only halfway through! A little goes a long way! Nothing special to add. I like it because it isn't greasy!

P.M.

I remove my make up with either a Yes To Cucumbers Make Up Removing Wipes (on those lazy days) or with the Yes To Carrots Make Up Removing Cleanser.

After that I use the same Clinique Clarifying Lotion and then I scrub my lips using Lush's Bubblegum Lip Scrub and lick it all off, it's delicious!

I then apply the Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair.

However I add the Estée Lauder Perfectionist [CP+] Wrinkle Lifting Serum which is a Corrector for Lines/Wrinkles/Age Spots, and you may be thinking "You're 21... Why would you use that?" Prevention prevention prevention my friends! The earlier I start with these treatments, in my head, the later all of these will appear. It's really really thick, so I only use this when I use the Ocean Salt Scrub. It has sort of a silicone consistency but it smoothes out really nicely on my skin.

I proceed by using the Burt's Bee Radiance Eye Cream with Royal Jelly on my under eye area and tap in on with my ring finger. On the lid I sometimes apply the Garnier Regenerating Eye Cream, it depends on weather or not i feel my eyes are feeling heavy.

After the Estée Lauder Perfectionist Serum has dried, I apply the Burt's Bee Radiance Night Cream with Royal Jelly. It's also really thick but I love it! The first few times I applied it, though, I didn't like it because it left a layer of grease on the skin, but once I started really rubbing it into my skin, it absorbs completely!

I then apply Lush's Grease Lightening on any zits or spots or threats of either I may have.

After that, I apply Neutrogena's Immediate Repair Lip Balm very generously.

And FINALLY I lock everything in with 5 or 6 spritzs of Lush's Eau-Roma Water Toner just to create a barrier so that none of the good nutrients of the immense quantity of products I applied, go out.

And then I sleep!

Day 2

A.M.

Same routine but instead of using Lush's Fresh Farmacy, I use Clinique's Facial Cleanser Bar Soap (the soap comes in a liquid form in a pump tube as well but I prefer to use the bar soap because it lasts longer) with a toweled glove. It lathers really well too. The only negative side is the smell: it smells extremely musky in a pharmaceutical way. I'm really not a fan of it but I'm trying to use the product up. The liquid form's scent is much better but for some reason, I feel the bar soap cleans my skin better, so I'll take the smell.

I proceed with the Clinique Clarifying Lotion and Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair.

Then I apply one or two pumps of the Yes To Tomatoes Facial Hydrating Cream. It doesn't smell like tomatoes, don't worry. It smells amazing: kind of floral. It feels really soft on my skin too.

Next is the Garnier Roll-on Eye Cream and I'm ready for the day.

P.M.

I remove my make-up and then wash my face with Mineral Flowers Facial Wash which contains water of rose and geranium and mud, and it is paraben-free. It doesn't lather too much, which is a good thing: means it doesn't have a lot of Sodium Laureth Sulfate, but it gets my skin clean. I use a toweled glove.

I then use the Clean&Clear oil-free daily exfoliant for blackheads. This is a very gentle exfoliator, it has the finest grains, almost like beachy sand, and it has a few bigger blue grains. I concentrate the product on my chin and nose, where I get most blackheads. Because it's a gentle exfoliator, I can get away with using it practically every day (every other day if my skin is feeling too sensitive). At the beginning, the scent was really off putting but then it grew on me: it smells kind of citrus-y with a hint of hospital-y, fresh, clean feel. I now love it!

Next I use the Clinique Clarifying Lotion and Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair.

Then I apply one of my new loves: Lush's Saving Face. It's a serum bar that you melt between your fingers by rubbing it and apply it on the problem areas. I like to rub the bar directly to my face and I rub it all over! But be gentle because if you overdo it you may end up looking like a grease ball. I rub it in really well so that it absorbs to my skin.

Then I apply the Clinique's Moisture Surge all over, which feels really extremely refreshing and clean. It absorbs amazingly into the skin too.

Followed by the Clinique's dramatically different moisturizing gel on my forehead and cheeks, Burt's Bee Radiance Eye Cream, Neutrogena Lip Balm, Lush's Grease Lightening, and, finally, lock everything in with Lush's Eau-Roma toner.

Bed-time!

So for the recap:

Day 3

A.M.

Lush's Fresh Farmacy --> Clinique Clarifying Lotion --> Estée Lauder Serum --> Yes To Tomatoes Facial Hydrating Cream --> Garnier Roll-on Eye Cream

P.M.

Yes To Carrots Make Up Removing Cleanser --> Clean&Clear Oil-Free Daily Exfoliant for Blackheads --> Clinique Clarifying Lotion --> Estée Lauder Serum --> Lush's Saving Face Serum --> Burt's Bee Radiance Night Cream --> Clinique dramatically different moisturizing gel --> Burt's Bee Radiance Eye Cream --> Neutrogena Lip Balm --> Lush's Grease Lightening --> Lush's Eau-Roma toner

Day 4

A.M.

Clinique Facial Bar Soap --> Lush's Ocean Salt --> Clinique's Clarifying Lotion --> Estée Lauder Serum --> Garnier Roll-on Eye Cream --> Clinique's dramatically different moisturizing gel

P.M.

Mineral Flowers Facial Wash --> Clinique's Clarifying Lotion --> Estée Lauder Serum --> Estée Lauder Perfectionist Serum --> Clinique's Moisture Surge --> Burt's Bee Radiance Eye Cream --> Neutrogena Lip Balm --> Lush's Grease Lightening --> Lush's Eau-Roma toner

And then I repeat the routine, switching up whenever I use the Ocean Salt, which I use every 4 days (otherwise my skin will be raw). As you can see it changes pretty much everyday. And I use a bagillion products but I'm trying to use most of them up, so that I can someday have 5 products at most, if my skin will allow it! I will keep you updated on the routine!

Total number of products I use? 22...