Current skincare routine (first quarter of 2013)
Hi folks! How was your vacation? Hope you made it count. ;) I just stayed at home, built a new lightbox, caught up with my current video game as well as dusty books in my virtual library. Overall I had a great time (well, save for a failed attempt to hang out in Tagaytay aka Traffic Town). I would have loved to go to the beach though, but hey it is summer here all year round. I'll visit one of these months!
Today I want to talk about my updated skincare routine. A few of you girls have been asking me on the forum so I thought I'd write it here even if I didn't change many products from my last skincare post. I pretty much still use everything I wrote about there, except that instead of Shu and Bioderma to remove my makeup I use an underrated drugstore product: Bifesta! It's awesome. I'm using the Moist variant now and true enough it's less drying than the one for oily skin.
Day routine - simple and light, just right for this crazy heat
So what's different in my routine? My daily day moisturizer is now the Kiehl's Ultra Light Daily UV Defense SPF50 PA+++. I've had this for, oh, a year now but I just opened it last month. Long story. Bottomline, it's a great basic daily moisturizer that has the right SPF number to deal with the intense heat. It's light, non-greasy, doesn't break me out. The only downside is that it has a mindboggling shiny finish. :/ I don't get it but a little powder solves that hiccup.
Still a huge fan of the Kiehl's Rare Earth Deep Pore Cleanser and Etude House Wonder Pore Freshner. I have recently repurchased both! I haven't found anything to beat this cleansing duo so I would say they're holy grail material for me.
As for the eyes, I use the Benefit It's Potent! Eye Cream day and night. I like that it's very light yet still moisturizing. I'm lazy most days though so I skip the eye cream and just use whatever serum or moisturizer I have on there.
Night routine - heavier, more treatment-oriented
For evening, I use the Kiehl's Clearly Corrective Dark Spot Solution then top it with the Clinique Moisture Surge Intense. This is a powerful duo - the serum helps clear blemishes while the moisturizer maintains the glow and suppleness of my skin. Intense, indeed! Night time is the best time to use treatments since the sun is not around to complicate things, plus our skin is more receptive since we are at rest.
I read somewhere that it's not wise to use products with active ingredients during the day, under the sun. The heat and other environmental factors stress out the skin so you might not get the benefits you need anyway.
I rotate the Kiehl's serum sometimes though, and skip the moisturizer. I love using the Shu Uemura TSUYA Skin Serum and Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate for reviving dull skin. When I get sick or stressed, my skin shows that internal damage. These serums are like a powerful wake-up, er, slap on my face. Great stuff!
So there you go! I have a few new serums to try but truth be told I'm extremely hesitant. I tried a new one last weekend and now I'm stuck with two very angry pimples. :( Soooooob. And here I was pleased as pie that I have cleared most of my blemishes away!
Ah, the perils of beauty blogging. What's your current skincare routine?
