Skincare ShakeUp May 2016

I really look forward to these Skincare Shakeup posts – I love trying out new skincare and wish I had more than one face so I could try out new products more often, but I feel like a month is a good amount of time to get an idea of whether something suits me and agrees with my temperamental rosacea skin. Let’s dive in to my Skincare Shakeup May 2016 edition!

Skincare ShakeUp May 2016

Not shown are some staples that I haven’t changed from last month: the Bioderma Sebium H2O Micellar Solution is still my all-time favourite for a quick cleanse in the morning. I’m still really enjoying using the La Roche-Posay Effaclar Astringent Lotion Micro-Exfoliant* as my mild morning chemical exfoliator. If you want more info on these, take a look at last month’s Skincare ShakeUp post HERE.

So let’s chat about the products shown below: my Skincare ShakeUp May 2016 edition!

I’ll start with my evening routine:

Trilogy Make-Up Be Gone Cleansing Balm* – This is a flipping great cleansing balm. It contains rosehip, mango and coconut oil and so smells like a dream. It’s a solid waxy balm which starts to melt as soon as you rub your hands together and turns into a beautifully soothing and gentle oil. I prefer to take off my eye make up with a tailored remover product as I don’t like balms near my eyes (personal preference) but I have tried this and it makes light work of even stubborn mascaras.

For my second cleanse I’ve been using the Aesop Fabulous Face Cleanser. It is an olive-derived, thick, clear gel with rosemary, aloe leaf and chamomile bud and the smell is UNREAL. It worked really well with my super sensitive skin and left it feeling smooth and soft with no tightness, but I think I’d try the Amazing Face Cleanser next as it’s designed for oilier skin types (although the tangerine in the ingredients makes me a bit nervous, if you’ve tried it let me know in the comments please!) Can we also take a moment to appreciate the Aesop packaging? Good lord. I do love an apothecary-esque bottle but their stuff is just on another level!

My obsession with facial mists continues this month with this beauty: herbfarmacy Rose & Echinacea Toner* (the website shows the old packaging, the one in my photos is their new swanky relaunched packaging!). I recently went to a press day for herbfarmacy to meet the founder, Paul, and was so impressed with their whole ethos. They grow their ingredients, make all of their products on their Herefordshire farm and their focus is very much on what nature can do to help with skin issues (you need to have a look at their balms which can help with any skin concern under the sun!). This refreshing toner has a lovely smell that’s half delicious and half medicinal which I love. It’s not a fine spray but as I use it at night I don’t mind too much. I just spray it over my face, neck and chest and then pat it into the skin.

Next up is the REN Keep Young And Beautiful Firming and Smoothing Serum* which I have briefly spoken about before HERE but have been really loving this month. It smooths, hydrates, softens fine lines and illuminates – all things I definitely need! It’s a gel consistency but sinks it super quick so no tacky skin just before bed which is great.

My last evening step is another lovely product from herbfarmacy and it’s their Rose & Mallow Facial Oil*. This contains marshmallow and Damask Rose and is really nourishing – I wake up in the morning with really soft and glowing skin. I was trying to wean myself off oils for the summer as they can sometimes feel a little heavy when the weather gets hot and sticky but I couldn’t give this up. The pump is quite stiff so you can’t get a small amount out – it’s a full pump or nothing! And again, this stuff smells amazing. Although I know that you should never pick your skincare based on smell alone, it really does help when something is such a pleasure to use!

My morning routine starts with the Bioderma and La Roche-Posay products I mentioned at the start of this post. After that…

You may have seen my Skinbreeze facial review earlier this year and I was given this product afterwards but only just got round to trying it this month. It’s called the Skinbreeze Rejuvenation Serum* and it has a strange syringe-like packaging: you remove the… – I’m just going to say it. It’s a nipple – You remove the nipple from the tip, push the end and apply the clear serum to areas where you require targeted ‘rejuvenation’. For me that’s around my eyes, mouth and on my forehead. As opposed to many similar products that I test out which work on the fine lines and try to firm the skin, this one claims to reduce the intensity of muscle contractions so you’re actually helping to reduce existing lines but also prevent future ones. You can read more about the science behind it HERE. These products aren’t available online which is a shame, but you can get them from any Skinbreeze salon.

I’ve tried a lot of serums but this is the one I come back to when my skin is unhappy or I am going away somewhere and can’t risk my skin flaring up: Avéne Hydrance Optimale Hydrating Serum. It’s lightweight, non-sticky and ridiculously hydrating. It’s faultless.

The other Aesop product I’ve been testing out this month is the Primrose Facial Hydrating Cream and I ended up dropping it from my routine after 2 weeks. It was a really nice moisturiser (and the SMELL my GOD so good) but I just found myself needing more from it. It didn’t keep me hydrated all day which is a shame but again, I think I may have chosen poorly from the range. I imagine that if you had dry skin then this would be a wonderful moisturiser, but looking at the website I think I should have got the Mandarin or Camellia Nut creams instead. In my defence I bought these when I’d just been on a long haul flight and the hotel we stayed in had Aesop products and I fell in love with these products and went out and bought them immediately. So I think they were what my skin needed at the time, but not what it needs now (Sorry, I went a bit Dark Knight there).

When I stopped using the Aesop cream (sob!) I returned to a trusted favourite, the Avene Antirougeurs Redness Relief Moisturising Protecting Emulsion that I was using last month. You can read why I love it so much HERE.

And lastly is another product I’ve reviewed recently: the La Roche-Posay Anthelios XL Cream 50+ SPF*. I did a whole blog post on sunscreens that are appropriate for sensitive skin and this is probably my favourite of the bunch. Quick summary: it’s light enough so my skin doesn’t feel smothered or sticky, it doesn’t leave a white cast, it isn’t shiny and it didn’t annoy my rosacea. The whole Anthelios range is incredible – I have my eye on a gel/cream formula that looks like it’d be great for oilier skin… I’ll keep you updated!

And that’s my Skincare Shakeup May 2016 edition! What have you been loving this month, anything you’d recommend?

Lex

*All products with a * next to them were provided as PR samples. Some of these links may be affiliate. For more information please see my disclaimer tab.