My Skincare Routine...I Guess
Been wanting to prioritize skincare for myself again and after a lot of researching watching a lot of YouTube videos and skimming a few articles, I have came up with this routine. Not universal but I feel this properly suits my needs so customize yours as you see fit.
Here is my personalized routine!
Takes about 1 1/2 hours of your morning and 45ish minutes at night (skip the masks). It's okay to skip a step or two so there's no need to religiously follow every step every day. Main ones you should do are: cleanser, serum and moisturizer. You don't have to agree but it's not a bad idea to do this full routine every now and then for that luxurious self care.
*None are affiliate links, I just like recommending stuff.
1. Double Cleanse 1/2: Oil Cleanser
Use this once a day in your night routine, if morning go straight to your water based cleanser. If you want to get a little spendy, you could be like me and invest in this Ma:nyo Pure Cleaning Oil. It's my first oil cleanser so I can't speak for anything else. It's to help breakdown makeup or sunscreen or whatever was resting on your face throughout the day. This one feels so lovely as it has argan oil it has such a lovely aroma.
PROTIP: Lately, I have been using this oil cleanser in morning AND night because I just loooove the aroma and the silky feeling.
2. Double Cleanse 2/2: Water Based Cleanser
Any cleanser will do. Whatever suits your needs, I tried out this Anua Heartleaf Pore Cleansing Foam which is now my regular cleanser. Use a pea sized amount. A little goes a long way.
In an effort to stop switching rooms, I now have Glamglow Supercleanse Cream to Foam Cleanser in my shower only. After a heavy exercise, I go straight to oil cleanser and then hop in the shower and use this cleanser. I am scatterbrained so I prefer to keep 2 cleansers in 2 bathrooms just in case.
3. Facial Steam
Nothing too fancy just get a warm/hot towel and put on your face for 5-10 minutes. I don't have one of those facial steamers yet that has the cool essential oil function but contemplating on pulling that trigger. I was dumb enough to buy a stupid face shaped towel but honestly any face sized towel will suffice. The point of steaming is to open up your pores for the next step. I honestly dwindled how often I do this step.
PROTIP: I did end up buying a facial steamer and only use for 10 minutes every Monday. Any more and it will cause damage to your skin's moisture barrier.
4. Mask (alternating between Clay and Gel days)
I grew up love Queen Helene's line of products especially their masks but their prices soared! For only a few bucks more than QH products I ended up getting this 4 Pack of Freeman Facial Mask Variety Bundle for $14.99. Might be better deals out there idk but I love these masks. OH! but you have to do alternate days. For example use the Peel Off Gel Mask on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and Clay Masks on Tuesday and Thursday. Something like that or extend on the weekends to stretch out rest days. Keep in mind it is more irritating to your face to overuse Clay over Gel.
This may be hard to buy! I've tried restocking but it always seems to be unavailable. So if you ever see the listing back up, don't hesitate to snatch it up.
4.5 Feet Care
I feel I should squeeze in feet care in here as well. Soak feet in shallow warm water. Then add lotion or any serums to feet if necessary. Do this while you're waiting for the mask is to dry. Often times, I wash dishes during this time.
5. Toner
So most of my life I was taught to dab toner on a cotton ball and wipe my face but I learned of a Korean skincare method that you dab a few drops on your clean hands and rub on your face proceeding to layer 5 times. So that's what I'm doing. I don't always do it 5 times though. Usually 2-5 repetitions depending how I feel.
I currently use Thayer's Witch Hazel in Lavender. Rose is my favorite but I already finished that product. Immediately after finishing this product I already bought Anua Heartleaf 77% Soothing Toner purely because I was picking apart Aylen Park's Youtube Shorts for tips on her skincare videos. Many of these steps are inspired from her vids.
PROTIP: I don't use Thayer's any more. Dr. Brant's has a lovely tea tree aroma but when when runs out, my main toner is Heartleaf.
6. Sheet Mask (alternating including eye patches every other day)
Every other day (M, W, F) I use these Gen Skin Hydrating Marine Algae Eye Patches but don't bend over backwards to buy this. I only used this because it was in an old BoxyCharm subscription box. There's so much in there so I don't know what I'll use when I run out but I'll cross the road when I get to it and update.
UPDATE! I finished the container and I now use:
It is slightly thinner but I do like it. Will experiment with other products when I am done with this one.
Maybe everyday (weekdays at least) I will do a sheet face mask. Use whatever but I ended up buying this 24 Pack of Dermal Face Masks for a little over $16. Yeah don't pay that much for masks. Best to buy BULK to get the best bang for your buck. Dimsile, for example, sells 200 masks for $65.99 on Amazon which is 33 cents a mask! That's a steal!
PROTIP: Research best deals! Divide price by # of masks to get your unit price. Go for lowest as possible! Aim for a unit price of 50 cents or less per mask. The lesser the better.
Eye masks goes on first and then place the face mask on yourself. Both go on for 20 minutes. Don't forget to squeeze the face mask packet for excess serum to either rub on the mask or glide it on your chest (a heavily underrated area for skincare for me personally). You can also save the serum for later just use it within 24 hours of opening the package.
7. (Used to be Toner but I now rescind it! Do not use Toner after a sheet mask!)
8. Eye cream
This also came from an old BoxyCharm subscription I love the product even though I don't think I will be able to afford it when I run out. Algenist Triple Algae Eye Renewal Balm. I don't see it listed individually but it's the small brown bottle in the link. I use it twice a day morning and night.
UPDATE: I FUCKING LOVE THIS CREAM!!! My eyes look so much livelier. I honestly think I will save up money and splurge on getting this again!
9. Serum
I used to use a lot of serums but I was mortified to learn that less is more. Maybe don't over use serums which I totally did so I stopped using so many and settled for this Torriden Low Molecular Hyaluronic Acid Serum. I use 2-3 drops on my face and rub it is. It's pricey so I might lessen the drops to stretch out the usage of product. Wait maybe 5 minutes for face to absorb. Or you can use the same serum from your face mask like I previously referenced. Always wait 5 minutes max for the serum to absorb.
PRO TIP! What I've been doing lately is when I do my daily face sheet mask, I reserve the package (that has excess serum) for my night time facial routine come serum time. Caution: You must use the serum within 24 hours of opening your package or else it goes rancid.
10. Moisturizer
I suppose any moisturizer will do but I use Ahava Day Moisturizer mine came in a tube so this was the closest to match. I wouldn't recommend buying it unless you got extra moolah for it. This was also from an old BoxyCharm subscription. I used to pay like $30 or something per month to get 4 or 5 products and upon looking up retail/Amazon prices individually, BoxyCharm was totally worth the price but this was before the Ipsy merge and I heard it gone downhill since then so I can't say how it is now. Food for thought. Wait another 5 minutes to absorb.
UPDATE: Sadly, I finally finished the tube and I couldn't find this product at a reasonable price. So now I use this moisturizer:
From a subscription box. As sad as I am about Ahava's end, I am very much in love with this moisturizer too! It is very light and gel like practically the same color as this container and has a light lovely scent! I looooove this one. I also tried to stock up on this too but I also can't find it on Amazon. So sad! I'll cherish and get the most of this product while I can.
I also impulsively bought this product:
I am just so obsessed with Korean products I guess? Like I said, impulse buy. I fly through moisturizer so I'll get to this one in no time.
11. Facial Oil
Due to reading some articles and reading a lot of YouTube comments on various videos, I currently use Glow Vitamin C + Rosehip Oil. I thought I got it on Amazon but couldn't find it in my history and didn't even show up in search. Maybe it was also Boxycharm? idk but that's not important. Any will do but a lot of people swear by Rosehip oil so just get any brand of that.
UPDATE: I sometimes use this oil:
It honestly feels like luxurious! I thought I lost my Glow oil so I was quick to bust this one out (was originally as a stock) and now I am in love (again). I did end up finding my Glow serum so now I am sad I have to wait probably another couple of months until I can use this squalene oil again.
12. Gua Sha
Last but not least! The last step in my facial routine is doing Gua Sha exercises but I see there's various versions but remember to note when using Gua Sha stones like this that it is meant in one motion and NEVER going back and forth. It's for lymphatic drainage of your face if you do it consistently. You won't get dramatic results in 30 days (despite the clickbait you often see). You literally have to keep a consistent schedule for months, yeats or something. Maybe that's dramatic but you get the point. Make sure to always wash the stone with soap after every use to avoid breaking out your face. Ask me how I know!
Always end each gua sha session by drinking 8-16 oz water for further benefits of the lymphatic drainage.
You'll see people recommend high quality gua sha stones but I personally wouldn't put too much weight into it as long as the tool you use is smooth. I mean, you can even use your own fingers to do these massages. So I personally wouldn't invest in loads of money on advertised "high quality gua sha stones". ***In light in certain events I take back my sentiment. I've now shattered 3 gua sha stones 😱😱😱 So either be on carpeted floors or go for steel/other shatterproof materials. Choice is up to you.