this was a long awaited and much anticipated blog post and lucky enough, I’m sitting in the airport gate, waiting for our delayed flight to Miami to actually board. better time than ever, right?
so my skincare journey, I’ve documented it here before but there have been some changes in the past year that my whole routine ended up changing including a lot of my products and dietary habits. in the winter, I noticed a shift. my skin was constantly breaking out. my usual skin-clearing regimen of unblemish just wasn’t cutting it anymore. one zit would clear and three more would pop up. my skin just looked awful. no amount of makeup was covering what was happening on my face. so I started tracking my habits: I was being uber-lazy about washing my face every night, I was eating fast food ALL the time, drinking my can of coke each day… you get the point.
(left – january 10th // right – may 19th)
so I started making a few changes…
first, washing my face consistently at night and really getting the makeup off. have you ever used a makeup wipe and think you got everything and then when you’re putting your toner on, you still have a ton of makeup on your cotton round? like I thought I got that all off but NOPE still there! so prepping my face for washing at night changed. first off, I actually did it, but… I now start with a makeup wipe and then some miscellar water on a cotton round to remove my eye makeup and then another to wipe the rest of my face. once thats done, I start the washing. I alternate my washing between using the Clarisonic and this face wash or this cleansing balm. I’ve been loving this – a super small amount goes a long way here so this jar will last you a LONG time! I apply the balm, let it sit for a sec, wet my fingertips and massage it in. then I run a washcloth under warm water and wipe it off my face. I blot dry and then use this toner. after that, I apply this serum with retinol. it helps clear some marks from past blemishes as well as fine lines. after that, I follow with this moisturizer. I’m loving how much it moisturizes my skin without making it oily bc lets be honest, I have enough oil on my face! and voila, done!
miscellar water | cleansing balm | jade roller | serum | moisturizer
some extras I do once/twice a week:
derm rolling
I’ve seen derm rollers that cost hundreds of dollars, but this one does the trick for SO much less! you can read about the benefits of derm rolling here. I start with a clean face and apply a serum (like this one) and get to rolling! it really helps get that product down into your skin and not just sitting on the surface of your face and barely doing a thing! I finish up with this lotion to help with redness. to answer the one question I get all the time about derm rolling, NO – it does not hurt! when I’m done, I let the roller soak in alcohol for a few and then air dry overnight before putting it away. I’ll derm roll once a week, usually on sunday nights!
jade rolling
I just jumped on the jade roller trend with this affordable one and it feels SO good! again, I start with a clean face and apply a serum and then I roll away. be sure you’re rolling up and throw your roller in the freezer for a few minutes before you start for a refreshing rolling sesh! it seriously feels SO good! I do this at least twice a week!
masks
I love alternating this clarifying mask and this hydrating mask. even though I have oily skin, I still have to hydrate it – especially after traveling or being in the sun a lot! I tend to do masks on Wednesday and Saturday nights… even the hubs likes to jump in on these – he’s so cute!
exfoliate
I exfoliate about once/twice a week as well, never on a set night, but never on the same night that I derm roll bc thats just way too much for your skin to handle! I love this skin resurfacing lotion – its kinda gross bc your dead skin literally balls up on your face, but your skin feels so smooth and fresh afterwards! I also use this ol’ faithful that has been in my medicine cabinet since middle school!
onto the next morning…
I do most of my washing in the evening so my morning routine is a little easier!
I alternate between this or this face wash in the shower and when I hop out, it goes down like this:
eye cream – its bomb and if you’ve been following me for awhile and haven’t purchased it yet, you are depriving yourself for sure, some toner on a cotton round, this moisturizer on my neck – my neck isn’t super oily like my face so I use a different product on it, this serum on my face to pretreat any blemishes that attempt to come out swinging, then finish out with this moisturizer! it works well without giving me the greasies!
easy peasy, right?!!
toner | face wash | eye cream | moisturizer | peel pads | moisturizer | acne cream
one last note!
do not take this as a ‘you need to do this’ or any sort of stance, but removing dairy from my diet has for sure helped to clear my skin! I don’t know the science behind it, I’ve done zero research, I’ve just heard from many dairy-free gals that its a benefit and it sure is! I went vegan a few months ago and with that went the dairy and I’ve seen significant changes in my skin since then – even during the dreaded hormonal breakouts that aren’t so dreaded anymore bc they rarely happen anymore! so no soapbox here, just a suggestion and if you agree, holla at ya girl!
oh yeah, when I do get the seldom blemish…
I know you’re probably sitting there like
“GAL, there is NO WAY you don’t breakout at all anymore! what do you use???”
you’re right, I do get the random zit and mostly when I’ve been too lazy and decided to fall asleep in my makeup! (it still happens occasionally, no one is perfect!) these two products have proven to shrink and erase those randoms pretty much overnight!
so that’s it, the much-awaited skincare post!
I hope you found it worth the wait and if you did, do me a solid and give it a share, or a pin, or something!
and if you’re not already, be sure to follow me on instagram, facebook and pinterest! xo
shop the whole post:
Let’s Get Social