Back to School Skin Care Routine

Any beauty enthusiast would agree with me that the search for the perfect skin care routine is a constant battle. Sometimes, what worked out for you before won't work now or your skin "got used" to the product that it doesn't give a wonderful effect anymore. There are a lot of factors that causes this, your skin might be different or your hormones are acting up or your diet. Anyway, the only real solution for this is to constantly try out new skin care products. A few things to keep in mind when trying new stuff out: give a new product two weeks to work before deciding whether you like it or not, often it takes that long for something to work its full effect. Also, try rotating you holy grail products after two to three months of use so you can give your skin a rest for a while.

Today, I will be sharing with you guys the new skin care routine I've been trying out for a couple of weeks or so (basically when school started). A few weeks before I started this particular routine I've been breaking out on my forehead which is probably an allergic reaction to dust (we had a general cleaning of the house). I found that my skin care routine back then wasn't doing much for the problem. Usually when I break out it only takes a week to dry, I knew I had to change my routine after a couple of weeks without any improvement on my break outs.

DAY Time

Pore Refining Soap

I got this from estetica.ph  for PhP. 110 (100g). I decided to divide the bar into 6 since it melts quite quickly. I'm not really sure it does a good job refining my pores, but my pores (especially around the nose) are quite big. What I do love about this is that it has a really mild smell that is just perfect ( I hate super fragrant cleansers) and it doesn't strip my face of essential oils (I hate cleansers that make my skin feel so stretched out, contrary to popular belief: squeeky clean face is NOT good since it actually makes you produce more oil to make up for the lost moisture, then your face ends up too shiny).

Dickinson's Witch Hazel Toner

Next I use a toner. I put this on a cotton pad and apply it in a circular motion all over my face (giving special attention to my forehead) and I love love love this toner: it dried my break outs in under a week. It only cost me PhP. 89 for a bottle of 2 fl.oz. I got this from Healthy Options.

Quick FX Eyelift Cream

This particular eye cream promises A LOT but to be honest, I don't think it delivers. I still use it though because it bothers me not to use eye cream (I've yet to find the perfect day eye cream). It does have a light water based consistency which is perfect when you're wearing make up. Also, it gives a bit of cooling sensation upon application. Other than that, I've yet to see any positive effect when using this, maybe in the long run? It only costs PhP.49, and I think the packaging is hygienic so in the mean time, I'd be using this as day eye cream.

Garnier  Light Complete Multi-Action Whitening Cream Extra UV Protection

As I've said in my Back-to-School haul, I only bought this because I bought its night "version" and I needed a day cream anyway. SPF20 might not be the recommended amount of SPF for daily but other than that, I do not have issues with this product. It has a creamy but easily blendable consistency and it surprisingly has a matte finish (perfect for my oily skin). It sets quite quick so I don't have to wait too long before applying make up. All that at a very affordable amount of just PhP.84.

Nivea Essential Care Lip Balm

I use a lip balm EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. In mornings this is actually the first one I put on when doing my skin care so by the time I start my make up, my lips are hydrated. Not a big fan of this Nivea lip balm though. I've used up quite a lot of tubes of Nivea lip balms before, and to be honest, I was quite disappointed with this. It does hydrate my lips well, so thumbs up for that BUT it has a heavy consistency for a lip balm, I feel like I'm wearing lip gloss (which I am so not a fan of - that's why I stick to lipsticks) and it totally melted and lost its shape. That's bad considering I've just been using it for a week. I prefer the Nivea Medicated lip balm not only because of its consistency but also because it has SPF and didn't melt. Still, I'm making this lip balm work as best as I can.

NIGHT Time

My cleanser, toner and lip balm are the same for my night time routine, there are only a couple of things that I change and a few additional. On days that I wore make up, I use Pond's Cold Cream Cleanser (which I forgot to take a picture of) which I absolutely love since it melts make up so easily. Then wipe the cleanser off using tissue. I then proceed to washing my face with the pore-refining soap and then follow up with the toner, same as I use in the day time.

Garnier Light Complete Multi-Action Whitening Serum Cream Night Restore

I bought this because it is a serum and cream in one. Like its day version, I love this product because it doesn't make my face sticky. You can definitely tell that it's richer than the day cream but it still is as easy to apply. At PhP. 99, I think this is a very good night cream/serum. I'm not too sure about its whitening ability though - so far I haven't noticed any significant changes.

Castor Oil

Castor oil is known to be a great substitute for eye cream. I definitely noticed a significant lightening of the dark circle under my eyes - though it doesn't erase them totally. I was born with dark under eyes and the constant lack of sleep is not helping but I'm glad this castor oil works. I put a bit of the oil on the tips of my ring fingers then gently tap it onto my orbital bone. After, I put a bit again to my ring fingers and run it along my lash line since castor oil is known for making the lashes longer and fuller. The only down side to this is that it's super sticky (since it IS an oil).

iWhite Korea Nose Pack

My other main problem aside from oiliness is the blackheads on my nose. I prefer using a peel off nose pack because I can shape it around my nose the way I want. I extend application on my cheeks since peel off masks does a good job of taking away sebum from your pores (sebum is a big factor in large pores). I let it dry for at least 30 minutes upon application and peel it off gently from the base. Afterwards, I immediately use my aloe vera soothing gel to avoid itchiness. I only use this 2-3 times a week and not on consecutive nights since it can make your skin peel (which does not look good). 

And that is it for my Back-to-School Skin Care Routine. As you can see, my routine is far from perfect, but as I've said above, this is a constant battle. Let me know if you have other suggestions regarding must-try skin care products and I'd love to know which are your holy grail ones.

xoxo