Skincare Shake Up August 17 Edition

Some of you may have noticed that there was no Skincare Shake Up post last month. I ended up extending my holiday in France at the last minute and by the time I got back into London I had missed the beginning of the month change over. I didn’t want to try out products for less than a month because I like to give things a proper test, so I just started my new skincare routine when I got home and tried it out for half of July and all of August instead. And here is that routine in full…

As always I’ll split this Skincare Shake Up into my morning and evening routines and list everything in order of use. If you have any questions just let me know, I’m always happy to chat skincare!

EVENING ROUTINE

If you don’t know how I feel about the SuperFacialist Vitamin C+ Brighten Skin Renew Cleansing Oil, then where the hell have you been?! This has featured in quite a few Skincare Shake Ups now and I’m still not done recommending it. Let’s summarise: it removes all make up (including stubborn waterproof mascara) in no time at all, doesn’t irritate my skin, and leaves it feeling clean but not tight or greasy. It’s wonderful.

I hadn’t heard of the Kalme brand before but I was sent a few bits and pieces to try out. The products are designed with hyper-sensitive and rosacea skin in mind so I was very excited to try them. The Kalme Cream Cleanser* is a fairly standard cleanser, with a thick cream (obviously!) formula. It didn’t aggravate my skin and left it feeling very soothed. I don’t think it does anything too different to other cream cleansers I’ve tried, but if you’re looking for a well-priced gentle cleanser that can be used with or without water (that’s also vegan and cruelty free) then this does what it says on the tin.

I love the Jurlique brand and the Rosewater Balancing Mist* may be one of my favourite products from them. I’ve been spraying this on my skin after cleansing and it is such a treat in this horrible sticky weather. It cools my skin and the smell is really calming. It’s a fine mist so it can be used over make up during the day as well, so it’d be a great product to have on your desk at work.

The ARK website (and brand concept) is enormously helpful to those who are a bit confused as to where to start when it comes to skincare, because you can either take a look at products recommended by age or by skin concern. They recommend that you pick your cleanser and moisturiser based on the age bracket, and any additional products based on the specific skin issues you want to target. With that in mind, I’ve been testing out the ARK Skin Perfector Anti-Redness Serum* which is a wonderfully light and easily absorbed product that has helped to soothe itchy or sore skin when my rosacea has been playing up, all while helping to keep my skin hydrated.

The other product I’ve been trying from Kalme is their Night Repair Cream*, which I am very impressed with. It’s a gel-cream that feels lightweight and doesn’t leave the skin sticky or greasy, but still has similar skin benefits to a more intense emollient cream. My skin feels calm and comfortable almost immediately after application. This is definitely one of my favourite new Skincare Shake Up discoveries!

I wear a lot of matte lipsticks and my lips take a battering, so when the Dermalogica Nightly Lip Treatment* showed up on my desk I was thrilled. It’s designed to not only intensely moisturise the lips but also to improve the appearance of fine lines around the mouth which I am starting to notice (don’t smoke, kids!). You use the lovely cool metal blob tip to massage the product into the skin and I have definitely noticed a change in the appearance of my lines, as well as the hydration levels of my lips. However, it is nearly £50 which I think is steep for what it is. Perhaps in a few years when the lines around my lips really bother me I will think that it’s worth the price, but right now it’s a nice to have but not a must have.

EDIT: When I took the photos I completely forgot to add in my facial oil as it was still in my travel bag, and that means that I forgot to include it when I was writing this yesterday! Brain, sieve. The last step in my evening skin routine was the Pixi Rose Oil Blend*. I had not tried any Pixi skincare before but I had heard very good things about the whole range. I’ve spoken about facial oils on the blog before and recommend them to pretty much everyone (don’t be scared off them if you have oily skin, they’re great for us oily folk too!) And this one is really lovely: it contains rosehip oil (which is great for rosacea), sweet almond oil (for hydration) as well as other lovely oils that you can read about HERE. I have been putting 2-3 drops on the tips of my fingers and pressing it into the skin. It sinks in very easily and doesn’t leave my skin feeling slippery or sticky, and I wake up to soft and glowy skin. Plus it smells very calming and relaxing which is great for last thing at night!

MORNING ROUTINE

Another repeat Skincare Shake Up offender! And as you can see, my bottle of the La Roche Posay Effaclar Astringent Lotion Micro-Exfoliant is almost empty, which is pretty incredible for someone with as much skincare as me! You’ve all heard me talk about this before but it’s great for keeping my skin clear, unclogging pores, removing dead skin cells, and generally just brightening everything up. I’ve been using this every other day as I’ve been trying out another product with chemical exfoliant properties as well…

This is my second bottle of  The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5 serum and I’m still in love with it. Not only is it a great product to help with hydration and keeping my skin happy, but it’s also disturbingly cheap. The products from the Ordinary are very exciting so I’d recommend setting aside some time to go through their site and build a (ridiculously affordable) wishlist… starting with this.

Going from very cheap to pricey, we have my second favourite product of this month’s Skincare Shake Up: the DCL Skin Brightening Complexion Treatment*. It’s a pearly gel that targets hyper-pigmentation (both by fading existing dark spots and also preventing the formation of new patches) while illuminating and smoothing the skin. You can read more about the science behind this wonderful product HERE but I have definitely noticed a change in the texture of my skin, the small pigmentation spots around my eyes and on my chin are fading and it has not irritated my sensitive skin at all. DCL is a luxury skincare brand so it won’t be for everyone, but I like to offer Skincare Shake Up recommendations for everyone, regardless of budget.

The second product I’ve been trying from ARK is the Age Defend Replenishing Moisturiser*, which is the one recommended to those of us in our 30s. It comes in a pot with a flat top that you push and the product emerges from the top (as someone with long nails this pleases me greatly, down with skincare you have to put your fingers in!). It has a very strong smell which made me slightly concerned that it would irritate my skin, thankfully there was no flare up from using this but it didn’t give me the calm and soothed feeling I look for in a moisturiser so I think I’m going to pass this onto someone who has an oilier skin type, as my dry patches need a little more care I think.

These cute Nügg Soothing face mask pods* have been on the blog before but I took some away with me on my recent holiday and they are just wonderful. There’s too much product in one pod for one application (or even two in my opinion!) so I taped down the foil lid so that I could reuse. These are perfect for taking away with you, are so hydrating, and leave my skin feeling incredible. They are one of my favourite mask discoveries in a long time. There are a few different masks to target a range of skin issues but I love the camomile or the cucumber ones the most – there’s a multipack of both HERE.

And there we have it, another (slightly waffling) Skincare Shake Up – I wonder if I’ll ever manage to do one under 1000 words…! I hope there are some things here that have caught your eye or inspired you. If you have any questions about products or skincare routines, let me know in the comments below or come natter to me on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.

Lex

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