Hello beauty babes!

I hope you are all well and are having a great start to the week.  This post is just going to be a little list of my current skincare regime.  My go tos and my favourite things to use on my skin.  My skin is having a little mental breakdown at the minute and I blame it on having a cold and not being very well recently.  All the more reason to remind myself of how important a good skincare regime is.

A lot of people can be discouraged by having a skincare regime because some things are too expensive but something you need to remember is there is always a cheaper, purse friendly option of something so there really is something to suit everyones budget.  I can’t stress the importance of going in and having a consultation at your favourite counter or getting some samples to make sure that what you are spending your hard earned cash on is worth it.  A lot of counters actually will set aside time and book you in for an appointment for a facial, etc so definitely do your research before heading to Debenhams, House of Fraser, Boots, etc to treat yo self.

So my morning regime and night time regime are fairly similar, there are just some things I don’t use in the mornings eg. make up remover because… obvy I have no make up on.

Now, my skin falls under the dehydrated/normal category with a chance of breakouts at any given moment so what works for me, may certainly not work for you.  As I said, definitely carve out an hour of your week to go to a counter or skin specialist to figure out what it is you would like your skin products to do for you.  For years I thought I was oily until I went to someone and they were like ‘No dear, you dry.’  On the whole, I am pretty lucky with my skin and I do think a lot of it comes down to genetics, my mum has amazing skin and so does my granny.  I really don’t think it’s down to the glass of wine I am currently chugging.

Anyway, firstly at night I always remove my eye makeup.  You don’t neccessarily need an eye makeup remover specifically for the eyes however, your eye area is so delicate that face products could be too heavy for the eyes and lead to problems in the future.  I use an eye makeup remover because due to working with make up and wearing a fair bit I need something a little more heavy duty than your average 2 in 1 style product to remove everything.  At the minute I am using Lancome Bi-ficil Eye Make Up Remover (£21.50) as it removes even the darkest of smokey eyes on one pad.  I really love the Nivea Daily Essentials Double Effect Eye Make Up Remover (£3.89) also – I find this is a great dupe for the Lancome one.  Perfect for those on a budget!  I find I need to use a lot more product with Nivea and so do go through it very quickly whereas my Lancome one lasts AGES!

Now that my eye makeup is off and my eyes look like pee holes in the snow, I have to remove the rest of my makeup.  Up there with peeling off eyelashes this is one of the more satisfying parts of my day!  I use my all time favourite Estee Lauder Take It Away Make Up Remover Lotion (£23.50) as it leaves my skin feeling squeaky clean!  As I have dry skin I try to avoid water on my face at all costs but for those of you that love the fresh feeling of using water of course I am going to recommend Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish (£16).  My mum swears by this stuff!  If I am wearing a lot of makeup that day, like more than normal I tend to use the Garnier Miscellar Cleanser Water (£3.29ish) roughly all over my face and then go in with the Estee Lauder.  Unneccessary step? Maybe.  Again, you could just use the Miscellar Water just on it’s own and it still gets the job done for a fraction of the price.

Now that your skin is squeaky clean… you’re ready for the actually skincare products now.  Le sigh.  So many products.  So, for cleanser I love love love my The Body Shop Aloe Vera Cream Cleanser (£7.50).  It leaves me skin feeling seriously silky and smooth and there is genuinely always an offer on when I go in so I am stocked up for life with this!  They have a whole range of skincare items that suits a variety of skin types and I used to use the entire Aloe Vera range – it was perfect for me when I was in school!  When I am feeling like I want to treat myself (errday) I always revert back to my Kiehl’s Centella Skin-Calming Facial Cleanser (£28).  It’s so lightweight and leaves my skin feeling so soft that I want to run around and get people to stroke my face.  It contains Aloe, much like The Body Shop cleanser so is amazing for sensitive skins.  I feel that Kiehl’s moisturises my face more than the Aloe Vera cleanser but for the price of The Body Shop you can’t complain!

Toner – do you need it or don’t you?  Up to you.  When I worked for Estee Lauder a common complaint was that toner stung the skin or made the skin feel tight or uncomfortable.  For me, I am a little obsessed with toners because I am gross and like to look at the cotton pads to see just how much dirt is coming off.  It’s disgusting.  We all do it.  Toners are great because they buff off dead skin cells so that our serums and moisturisers go onto a newer layer of skin allowing your products to work more effectively.  Again, keep yourself right and go have a chat to figure out what’s best for you.  I have only tried maybe 3 or 4 toners in my life but at the minute I am using Kiehls Ultra Facial Toner (£17).  I can’t say much about it other than the fact that it leaves my skin feeling really hydrated and supple.  It’s a non alcohol formula which works great on my skin as I am so sensitive!

I have two night time serums – no one judge me ok – I use the Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair (£52) and the Kiehls (Sorry I am obsessed…) Midnight Recovery Concentrate (£38).  I’m not a loser, I can use one without the other I just don’t want to.  Advanced Night Repair is like liquid gold on the face.  It helps with every single key sign of aging and acts like a moisture magnet so that when you apply your moisturiser it sucks it all in so it works harder, better, faster and stronger.  It is the number one for absolutely everyone, no matter the skin type!  Midnight Recovery Concentrate on the other hand is like taking a little trip to a spa in the comfort of your own home with the beautiful natural scent and make your skin look seriously radiant.  A few drops of this honestly will give you younger looking skin by morning – I stole that.  They say that.

For moisturiser I used to use Estee Lauder’s Re Nutriv Ultimate Diamond Transformative Energy Creme (£265).  The reason I no longer use it is honestly just the price.  I ‘d rather pay my rent.  Now, if I could afford it I would buy two!  The cream itself it B-E-A-U-tiful!  I’m not going to go into why it’s on the more expensive side but basically the Re Nutriv range contains 24 Carat gold…

It feels absolutely effing fantastic on my skin, it has never looked fresher, more awake and been more hydrated.  The moisturiser itself lasts absolutely ages because you need so little of it to push into the skin.  A 50ml jar lasted me around 4 and a half months!  So if you are looking something extremely lavish and amazing then look no further than this!  I am struggling to find a moisturiser that I love at the minute but I do really like Clinique Moisture Surge Intense Fortifying Hydrator (£34).  It does exactly what it says on the tin so if you are after a moisturiser that will seriously hydrate then that’s the one!  Based on the rest of my regime then I’ll probably go out and try a Kiehls moisturiser!

Eye cream is something that I don’t mind paying a little extra on because it’s always the problem area people talk about when they get older that they wish they had focused on when they were younger.  I use the Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Serum  (£47) because I love what the face serum does so I want the same results for my eyes.  Plus, the beauty of this is because it’s a serum  much like the face, you can put another eye cream over the top.  You don’t have to, but sometimes I do!  The eye serum hydrates immediately and feels seriously cooling on the eyes.  I keep mine in the fridge and it feels unreal!  When I put an eye cream over top I use the Mario Badescu Hyaluronic Eye Cream (£15).  As it is enriched with Hyaluronic Acid and has an Aloe Vera base it will intensely hydrate and revitalise tired eyes.  I always use the excess on my lips for extra hydration before bed!

That’s it for my night time regime, the only other thing I use on my skin is the Skinkissed Vitamin C Serum (£39.95) during the day before my Clinique moisturiser.  I have already written a post about this serum so I won’t go into much detail but you can read the post here – https://cosmeticsjunkiee.wordpress.com/2017/09/08/skinkissed-la-meor-vitamin-c-serum/

SO I really think that this might be enough skincare chat for one day…

I hope you enjoy this little insight into what I use on my face on the daily!  If anyone has any recommendations of skincare products that they like or think there is something I should try then please comment and let me know! I love trying new products!

Thanks for reading!

Amy xo