Skincare Routine...

I've promised this post for SOOOO long now and I'm happy to say that the last 6 weeks' endurance and patience have paid off somewhat! :D Me and my skin have never been the best of friends to be honest but I don't think I helped matters but being indecisive about the products I use. For the last 6 weeks I've stuck to 1 / 2 ranges and kept to a routine and it's cleared my blemishes a bit so I'll share what I've learnt with you. This is what's worked for my skin (Combination / Oily)...

Morning Routine
I'm fairly lazy when it comes to anytime before 10am so bare minimum here. Whilst in the shower I'll use Neutrogena Spot Stress Control Daily Scrub every other day, on other days I'll use Clinique Facial Soap for Oily Skin. It's not good to scrub everyday - it'll just spread your spots round around your face!! (Learnt that from a Clinique consultant!!)

I'll follow it up with Clinique Clarifying Lotion 3 and a pea-size amount of Clinique Dramatically Different Gel. Skin feels lovely and fresh and ready for make up.

I take out with me Neutrogena Visbly Clear Hydrating Spot Treatment which is a light moisturiser - it's more gel-like in consistency than other light moisturiser. I've found that walking around in the British weather dries out the skin really quicker and I'm re-applying this pretty much as soon as I get to college!! But it's good to have.

Evening Routine
As soon as I get in and am staying in, I'll take off my makeup. A tip I've learnt from my mother dearest, why clogg up your pores unnecessarily!! I'm using Neutrogena Visbly Clear Face and Eye Makeup Remover - it's not like any other Makeup Remover I've used. Very light and no oiliness whatsoever. My parents bought me the Lancome Galetis Douceur from HK by mistake...it's good but I hate the smell. It's just too much...so I'll use this first as it is better at taking off my foundation - especially Revlon Colorstay!! If there's any residue left, I'll use a quick swipe of Lancome Eau Micellaire Douceur (which is what they were MEANT to get!!) which is a water-based cleanser and is safe is use round the eyes. It's so quick and easy to use. I transfer it to a little bottle when I'm away!

To get stubborn eye make up off, I'll use my little bottle of Clinique Take the Day Off Eye Make up Remover or Johnson's Baby Oil which does the job just as well.

[Just a note about TTDO - I have the Cream Cleanser which I don't really like. It's still about 2/3 full so if people want to swap..let me know!]

Before bed, I'll use Clinique Liquid Soap, Clarifying Lotion 3 and DD Gel as in the morning. 2-3 times a week I'll use Clinique Superdefense Triple Action Moisturiser for extra kick of moisture.

For my blemishes I use 2 products...one from the pharmacy and the other from HK.

For red throbbing blemishes, I'll use Benzoyl Peroxide which is available from Chemists in differing concentrations. I used 6.67% because my skin was really bad but I'll be using 2.5% from now on.

Once the blemishes die down and it's left to scarring, I use Sewame Spots-removing and trace-free essence. It has a gel-like consistency and fragrance free. Scars are still around at the moment but my spots only stopped being disguisting a couple of days ago!! I also have Clinique Even Better Tone Skin Corrector which I will try in February and stick with it for 6 weeks!! But wanna get it completely under control first!!

So there you have it..my routine!! It's not as stripped down as I thought actually!! Ah well, it's better than it was before though!! Go figure....

Mini-Haul and a Nice Little Discovery

So I had my last exam of 2008 today and despite being completely broke, I still made time and room in my pocket for a couple of things I picked up at Cheshire Oaks

If you live up in the North West, it's DEFINITELY worth checking out Cheshire Oaks. You'd be surprised at what you could pick up at The Cosmetics Company and also at the Revlon store!!

From the Cosmetics Company I picked up the Clinique Superdefence Triple Action Moisturiser for Combination / Oily Skin. I was looking out for a slightly richer moisturiser to use at night. My Dramatically Different Gel is great but felt that in these winter months I should use something a bit richer. Trying out a sustained new skin-care routine...I'll give you an update in a couple of weeks' time!!

Despite only picking up one thing, I love going in there. They have a lot of Clinique (skin care and cosmetics), Bobbi Brown, Estee Lauder, Prescriptives and MAC stuff. Especially stuff that might have suffered the dreaded mini triangle curse on the MAC website. I found a couple of nice Beauty Powders that I might consider investing in. I also spied some FAFI palettes and other bits and pieces I've not seen in a while. Same goes for Bobbi Brown...it can be a bit hit and miss in there though. But it's worth having a nosey! Can't wait for the post-xmas sales...it'll be a regular haunt on the way home from college!! :D

Revlon...why didn't I consider going here when I decided to try the ColourStay Foundation. It was about 40% cheaper than Boots. I picked another one up in True Beige. It is an AWESOME foundation...usually use it for Nights out or if I'm out all day. It truly stays. If I use it with the Lancome Matt Base, I hardly need to use Blot Powder. Bought the Colourstay Eyeliner and see if that stays as well!! Picked up Bare it All that Lollipop26 talked about there as well for under £2!! Amazing.

Was watching Michelle Phan on Youtube the other day and wanted to see if I could get a colour corrector. Wish I could get a wheel of cream concealers..do MAC do something similar? But anyways, I bought a cheapo one from Natural Collection so I'll see how I get on with that!

Does anyone else have a fabulous hidden haunt??