Daily Facial Skin Routine

It's so chilly today! I don't like this weather!  You can't plan what you are going to wear tomorrow the night before because one day it is warm and sunny, the next it is quite cold and cloudy.  I wasn't feeling in a dressing up mood today so I just wore an old Reading Festival t-shirt and jeans into uni.  I usually don't like Tuesdays at uni because it is the day for physics lectures, but today I surprised myself with being really engaged and actually understood a lot of what was being talked about.  Maybe I am getting the hang of being a good student after all this time!

Today I am going to write about the products I put on my face everyday.  The other day when I was going through some photos on Facebook after a night out, I suddenly wondered what my first Facebook photo was. I am going to hope that no one ever sees this photo of me, because it really was terrible.  It was back when I had long brown hair, and didn't know how to dress properly, and didn't know how to apply make-up to suit me.  It also make me realise how much weight I had lost since I came to uni.  It's not a drastic amount, but I can tell the difference.
Then one thing caught my attention, my skin has really improved over the last few years.  In photos from years ago you can actually see spots on my skin and it makes me cringe.  My skin being much clearer now has probably got something to do with age, but I think it is also to do with my skin routine.  I know this because if I get out of routine my bad skin starts to come back.

So these are the products I use everyday:

Each morning I wash my face with Soap and Glory Face Soap and Clarity.  I discovered this product not too long ago and am already loving it!  It smells so fresh and clean - and it tastes of soap - yes, I have accidentally eaten it a few times.  It's got pink bits in the gel which help to clean the face.  When mixed with water and rubbed onto the face, this product lathers up.  I then leave it on my face while doing something else like brushing my teeth.  After rinsing the lather off, I pat my face dry.

Most days I like to use a second face wash so after the Soap and Glory Face Soap, I use Clinique Anti-Blemish Solutions Cleansing Foam.  I have been using this for years and it's great.  You can also get it in a gel which I prefer, but the foam is good too.  It is what it says, it is a light foam that you massage onto your wet face.  It has a very clean smell to it and it leaves my skin feeling very fresh, clean and dirt free.  I like to use this after the Soap and Glory product due to the pink bits in it which I feel cleans my face very well and leaves it feeling smooth.

After patting my face dry I use Clinique Anti-Blemish Solutions Clarifying Lotion.  This is another product I have been using for years and I think it is wonderful!!  This is a very strong smelling lotion that you put onto some cotton wool and sweep all over the face.  You can see any dirt and left over make-up coming off on the cotton wool.  It leaves my face feeling so clean and oil free.

Due to the Clinique Clarifying Lotion being so strong, my skin can become dry very quickly if I don't moisturise.  So I always moisturise my face before applying make-up.  My favourite moisturisers are Clinique Anti-Blemish Solutions Clearing Moisturiser and especially Clinique Moisture Surge Intense Skin Fortifying Hydrator.  However I don't actually own either product at the moment due to being a poor student it would be very pricey along with all the other products I use.  So I just stick to Johnson's Baby Lotion which does't do a bad job and it's a lot cheaper and it isn't oily.

The foundation that I use also helps to improve my skin.  I used to use liquid foundation which seemed to give me bad skin, I seemed to try loads of foundations.  I did use the Clinique Anti-Blemish Solutions Liquid Make-Up for a long time, which I loved but in the end it just ended up making my skin worse.  So I now use Lily Lolo Mineral Foundation.  The shade I use is Blondie as I have really pale skin.  My skin has gotten so much better since I started using this foundation!  It doesn't dry my skin out, or look cakey or powdery, it makes my skin look nice and smooth and does cover up blemishes.  I also sometimes use the Lily Lolo Mineral Concealer underneath the foundation which gives a good coverage.

So that is my day time routine.  Then at night I always start my taking off my make-up with Johnson's Nourishing Facial Cleansing Wipes.  I have to be careful with the make-up removers I use because some can really irritate my eyes and I feel that some do not remove my foundation so efficiently.  But the Johnson's wipes remove my make-up extremely well.  They feel a little bit oily, but they don't actually make the skin feel oily, just refreshed.

I then wash my face either with the Soap and Glory Face Soap and Clarity, or if my face is feeling extremely oily or dirty then I use Boots Botanics Enlivening Body Polish.  I like to use this Botanics product on my face at least once a week.  It isn't actually meant for the face and you can get Botanics products that are specifically meant for the face.  This body polish has very rough bits in so you have to be careful, but as long as you are gentle massaging it into the face then it's fine.  After the body polish I always use the Clinique Anti-Blemish Solutions Cleansing foam.

I then either use the Clinique Anti-Blemish Solutions Clarifying Lotion or T-Zone Shine Control Cleansing Wipes.  I use these wipes to give my skin a break from the harsh clarifying lotion as the wipes are a lot more gentle, but they still cleanse my skin well.

Then sometimes I moisturise my skin at night with the Johnson's Baby Lotion if I feel it might be getting dry.

So that is my skin routine!  I really do love how great my skin now looks compared to a few years ago!

Last week I held a give away for two pairs of earrings, and the winner is Alana so thank you to her and everyone who entered and also to everyone who reads my blog!

The items that I was giving away are as following:
1 pair of ladybird earrings:

1 pair of flower earrings (colour of your choice - black, white, baby pink, bright pink, blue, lilac, yellow, green or red):

Ahhh now to decide what to do with the rest of my day!  I could do some studying.  But then I could just bum about and watch 24 - My addiction.  I do plan to go to the gym later.  I haven't been since before Christmas and keep on putting it off so I have decided today is the day to get back into shape!!