Lately, I’ve been getting a lot of compliments on my skin. I wish I could say it was all in my good gene’s but I ain’t even gonna lie to you all like that. At first, there were a few comments here and there, but now it seems almost everywhere I go that I spend some time talking with someone questions about my skincare pop up. I’ll admit it’s got me feeling pretty damn good about myself because I’d been taking time to make sure that the ingredients in my skincare products are just what my skin needs and not based on what social media is telling me what’s popular at the time. A while back I wrote this extra long blog post featuring all the skincare items I had in my arsenal that I was periodically using. I had way too much. Looking back that was way too much, and it got to a point where items were going bad because I wasn’t using them quick enough. With me trying to be all budget friendly this just wasn’t the best way to handle my skincare, and in hindsight, it was completely naive of me to think that I needed to have that much skincare. I’ll admit I purchased a lot of those items at the recommendation of other influencers without really assessing what my skin needed, and so. As a result, I reduced the number of products in my routine significantly.
I’ve kept my skincare routine pretty basic. I wash my face both morning and night, use a serum, moisturizer, occasionally an Essence, and I always use eye cream. For the most part, my moisturizer, serum, and essence don’t change, but my moisturizer changes based on the type of day I’ve had and my skins current needs.
In the morning I keep it simple by either using my Peter Thomas Roth Anti-Aging Cleanser or my SkinCeuticals LHA Cleanser. What I love about the Skinceuticals cleanser is that it’s made to combat increased oil production. This is important because I find that my skin can be excessively oily and this is the only product that can successfully manage production.
When it comes to Serums and Essence’s I have a few favorites from the Caudalie VinoPerfect Collection which is geared towards Radiance and Brightening. I’m pretty sure that this is why I’ve been getting all the compliments. I’ve found that the VinoPerfect Radiance Serum works best for my skin during the colder months as I noticed more oil production when I was using it during, the warmer months. The VinoPerfect Glycolic Brightening Essence is my budget-friendly answer to SKII. I only use this in the mornings. In the evenings I love to use the Caudalie Overnight Glycolic Cream. You’ll notice that these products have a lot of Glycolic in them. I learned about Glycolic acid when I had horrible breakouts and scars back in 2007 by using the MAC studio fix foundation. My dermatologist at the time had her own cleanser with Glycolic Acid that cleared those scars right up!
Another Serum that I use is a custom serum from Kiehls Apothecary Preparations. This was such an amazing experience. During the session, I was asked questions geared towards my skincare needs and concerns. Afterward, they were able to take that information and create for me a customized serum. While I love the serum, the ingredients are only made to last six months, and the service is only available at certain stores. It is also very pricey which is understandable as it’s a custom preparation. However, you should be able to find other serums that meet your needs at a more reasonable price.
I only use one moisturizer which is the Caudalie Vinosource Mattifying Moisturizer. It is the TRUTH when it comes to moisturizing and mattifying. As soon as I saw how well this product worked, I got rid of everything else.
I’ve been experimenting with different types of eye creams lately and just recently started trying the Nyakio Quinoa De-Puffing eye cream as I wanted an eye cream that would go hard in the paint when I had to work both my jobs the day before, and I wanted it to look like I got a little bit of sleep. I also wanted something a bit more natural, and the quinoa ingredient caught my eye. I’ve tried several other products from the Nyakio line which you can read more about here, and all but one gave pretty good results. Before using the Nyakio, my go-to eye cream was the It Cosmetics Bye Bye under eye cream that brightens and depuffs.
I do like to throw in a few other products during the week like a sheet mask, a traditional mask, my favorite being the Peter Thomas Roth Pumpkin Enzyme Mask or the Peter Thomas Roth Camu Camu Power C x 30 Vitamin C Brightening Cleansing Powder (can you tell that I like Peter Thomas Roth?) which I found at TJMaxx. It’s very similar to the Tatcha Rice Enzyme Powder in that it makes a paste and exfoliates your face.
So that’s it, and if you read my last skincare round-up post, you know why I feel like I’m only using the bare minimum here for my skin. While there are a few other products I’d like to try, I think I’m going to stick with a routine that my skin loves for now. How’s that old saying go? If it ain’t broke don’t fix it?
