It is exactly 2 months into winter today! (Although we have had only a couple of cold weeks...) In this blog I am sharing my daily skincare regime this winter. I am very happy with this regime and I was able to stick to it (well, by and large) for almost 2 months* now - which I consider to be quite a significant achievement.
*with the exception of Swisse Cranberry Antioxidant Oil which has only joined the family 5 weeks ago
Dermalogica Precleanse (makeup remover - PM only)
A lightweight oil for complete makeup and sunscreen removal. Features a blend of fatty acids, apricot kernel oil and rice bran oil, it is reasonably water soluble. Best to use on dry skin. I always follow up with a gel cleanser.
Dermalogica Special Cleansing Gel
I started my affairs with this cleanser before I met my husband, and the affair hasn't ended yet. Only very few items of mine have achieved that status - it goes to show how much I really like it. This is one of the few cleansers that I found enough to feel completely cleansed, yet not completely stripping every last trace of natural oil away.
**Warning** If you run when you see "sodium laureth sulfate" and "paraben", run now.
AM alternative - on cold mornings I use Dermalogica Ultracalming Cleanser instead.
Dermalogica Multi-active Toner
Refreshing spray on toner - prep my skin for serum and moisturiser. I never wait for it to completely dry before using my serum - serum works way better on moist skin than dry skin. I have saved a lot of money on cotton pads since I discovered spray-on toners.
Shu Uemura Tsuya Skin Youthful Radiance Generator (serum)
This is the bad boy. There is nothing (objectively) so good about it and yet for some unknown reason my daughter (oops, I mean, my skin) loves it. Its active ingredient is "rhamnose", which is a rather inexpensive sugar derived from plants. There was some buzz about this ingredient five years ago, but it never really took-off to the extent that it was promised to be. I got a travel size sample of this serum when I bought some Shu Uemura makeup a year ago - I used it without reading what's in it (a good blind test, perhaps) and my skin instantly felt in love with it - the smoothness, the softness and the glow! It also has a pearlescence colour which enhances the skin glow, cosmetically. I bought a full size in a heart beat (well, sampling does work). I saw a lot of improvement in the first 3-4 weeks, and then its effectiveness seems to plateau - I would have expected this to be the case. If my skin keeps increasing its glow one day it will be (literally) luminous, and it would be scary.
Swisse Cranberry Antioxidant Facial Oil (PM only)
Such a surprise pharmacy found! It is cheap and effective - my skin felt smooth even after just a few uses. See my full review here.
Because the active ingredients are predominantly antioxidants, I only use this product in the evening.
Dermalogica Skin Smoothing Cream (moisturiser)
As we age, our skin produces less oil and becomes less oily. For the first time ever, I feel that my skin is craving some extra nourishment and cannot rely on oil-free moisturiser anymore! Does this mean my skin-age is finally catching up with my real age? I hope not! This moisturiser is not greasy and easily absorbed. It is only a tad thicker than my all-time favourite Dermalogica Active Moist (oil-free).
Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Serum
My eye area is prone to milia (white bumps under skin). I have to be very careful not to use anything too thick or too oily around my eyes. This serum replaces my regular eye cream completely in summer. The texture is a thin lotion and very easily absorbed. Even in winter mornings, this is all I use for my eye area. Each time after I used it I can feel my skin tightened immediately. Very happy with it and this is my second bottle!
Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Cream (PM only)
A true fan of this eye cream. I distinctly remember on a day in 2014, I looked myself into the mirror while inside a lift (as you do. Everyone does that, right?). A wave of shock hit me when I saw a few fine lines leading from the inner corners of my eyes to the horrible eye bags underneath my eyes. They were so bad (both the lines and the bags!) that I swear I saw my skin sagging downwards right in front of my eyes (needless to say, that lift ride felt like forever). In retrospect, it could have been the terrible lighting in the lift, but it did not stop my mission of searching for the best eye cream around the $100 mark. And here it is and I am still very happy with this found after 2 years.