When your skin is not feeling so great your confidence takes a great knock. And i know - Ive suffered plenty an eve when i should have been at some party or a night out with my school friends or biggest mortification ever: a date with the guy in the year above me that i had to cancel cos i was having a bad skin day. I suffered from acne as a teenager and I'll admit that i was painfully aware of it. The worst thing was that while all my friends grew out of it and sported glowing complexions, my skin stayed crappy into my adult life. Now don't get me wrong, It was never that bad but it was certainly enough for me to coat my whole face in a much too thick layer of foundation.
I'm sure you'll understand that when its you, it feels that the whole world is staring at any, even tiny imperfection. It was enough to make me visit the doctors and beg to be prescribed the pill, a cream, a medical face wash...anything that would make it better. And so i tried everything i was given, i ordered the Pro Active System from QVC, Ive sat in the house with some concoction of toothpaste or vodka or cucumber face mask on my face. But while somethings seemed like they might be making a difference only one thing truly did.
Now nearing 24 i can finally say that my skin is clear. Swapping liquid foundation for minerals was all it took to clear my skin up. Simple as that. But i don't take it for granted at all. I remain pretty meticulous about my skincare. I'm NEVER the girl that can roll in from a night out and fall into bed with a face full of make up.
When it comes to skincare, everyone is different with their own concerns and issues, needs and likes. My skin is oily and sensitive with some visible pores and what works wonders for my skin might be your idea of torture - But these are the products that really work for me.
1) LILY LOLO FOUNDATION
Yes I know, not technically skin care, but this is the single product that i attribute to be the 'wonder product' for my skin. I started using this about 8 months ago and the change in the condition of my skin was dramatic. From acne prone skin 8 months ago, within a month of swapping my usual Armani Foundation for Mineral Foundation breakouts are rare occurrence.Before, i found that breakouts were overwhelming. Id despair (and I'm not being dramatic here!) at the state of my skin...yes there would be tears, but now i find that the odd breakout i do get (usually just hormones causing the odd blemish on my chin) is much more dealable because i am aware that this one will not just be replaced with three more by the time it clears up. I will NEVER go back to liquid foundation!
SKINCARE WILL NOW BE SPLIT INTO 2 DIFFERENT CATEGORIES
The 'BEFORE I GOT SKINT' Category
2) THE NEALS YARD SYSTEM
After seeing such dramatic results by simply switching from a liquid to a mineral foundation i realised the extent to which your skin can be negatively effected by unnecessary chemicals. And so I switched all my skincare products to Neals Yard. In case the pic ended up too small to read Neal's Yard have a No Animal testing, No GMO Ingredients, No Parabens, No Nano Particles, No Synthetic Fragrances or Colours, No Silicones, No Mineral Oils, No Phithalates, No EDTA, No Propythlene Glycol, No Cardomer and No Dea Policy.
CLEANSER - PALMAROSA FACIAL WASH- "A soft and gentle facial wash for all skin types that cleanses without removing moisture. " - £11.70 for 100ml bottle
TONER - LAVENDER WATER - "A skin toner for problem skin. Organic lavender oil creates this refreshing toner that removes the last traces of cleansers and refines pores to prepare the skin for moisturising. Lavender is restorative to the skin, helping to reduce redness or blemishes." - £7.80 for a 100ml bottle.
MOISTURISER - VIOLET DAY CREAM- "A pure face cream to help maintain a healthy complexion. Containing organic calendula, apricot and violet." - £14.65 for a 30ml tube.These products are all part of the 'Purify Oily Skin' range and I found that the whole system was great for my skin. It was soft, blemish free and all the products were easy to use, fuss free and most importantly i felt happy knowing that i wasn't polluting my face with harsh chemicals. The only down side to this is that in keeping with the organic nature, the have pretty hefty (but i think reasonable) prices. All in all a great system for me.
The 'AFTER I WAS HIT BY THE CREDIT CRUNCH' Category
When my Neal's Yard products began to run out I found that i just couldn't afford to repurchase (note: if i could have, I definitely would have bought again!) so i began to introduce lower end cheaper skincare products into the routine. After successfully replacing one product at a time and not seeing any negative reactions i am now completely using drug store skincare. While i like the idea of using organic skincare and will probably go back to Neal's yard when i can, if I'm honest i don't see any difference in the condition of my skin and am more than happy with the results i get using these cheaper products.
3)EXFOLIATOR - Neutrogena Visably Clear Spot Stress Control Daily Scrub
4)EYE MAKE UP REMOVER - Oil of Olay Eye Make Up Removing Cream
5)MAKE UP REMOVER - Neutrogena Oil Free Make Up Remover
6)CLEANSER - Clearasil Ultra Depp Pore Treatment Lotion
7)MOISTURISER - Neutrogena Oil Free Moisturiser.
So there you have it, the 7 products that work for me - I hope you find what works for you.
x
I totally know what you mean, hun, by describing your despair at the state of your skin! I still have very oily, acne-prone skin and more than that, I suffer from a lot of redness on my skin, so much more visible as I am very pale. I also feel it got better now, and my guess is that 1)mineral make-up is sooo much better than liquid/cream foundations, 2)a more humid climate in Vancouver and more moisturizing skincare routine have helped a lot. Goodbye tears over bad skin condition :)
ReplyDeleteThis is brilliant, thanks for this Steph :) I was considering Neals Yard for precisely the same reasons, I'm becoming more and more aware of what I'm putting on my skin, and chemicals/abrasives etc just feel wrong to me! I'm still using No7 at the moment, but perhaps when the job situ is better, I'll try Neals Yard! x x x
ReplyDelete@ Rocaille, i know exactly what you mean about being pale. You can get away with so much more in terms of imperfections if youre tanned. Glad youve found a routine that works for you too!
ReplyDelete@ Laura, No probs! I would def recommend NY. Its totally guilt free. What more could you ask for!?
xxx