Thursday 23 January 2014

Taking It All Off

There are just some days where removing your makeup at the end of a long day is the best feeling in the world. In my teenage years and early twenties I was all about the makeup wipes and I very rarely bothered to take my makeup off at night. Now I'm a bit older, a bit wiser (sadly that doesn't apply to important life situations!) and I couldn't even tell you the last time I slept in my makeup. I am religious about it now, even after a night out I have to cleanse my face. No more sleeping in false eye lashes for me!

Skincare is very personal, I am not a skincare expert by any means (actual beauty school drop out here) but these are the products I love to remove my makeup with and that work for me. I have typical combination skin, oily by the end of the day and I am prone to the odd breakout more often than not!

Clarins Pure Melt Cleansing Gel and Muslin Cloth - Cleansing balms and muslin cloths were a revelation to me and are what got me off makeup wipes in the first place. They are so easy to use, apply the cleanser of your choice all over, then wet your muslin cloth with warm water and wipe over your whole face. I normally will repeat this twice as I wear makeup everyday. This is my favourite method of removing my makeup as its so quick and you don't need to use a separate makeup remover first, everything just comes off in one go, face makeup, mascara, the lot!

The Clarins Pure Melt Cleansing Gel is one of my favourites as it feels so luxurious on your skin, I also love Liz Earle's Cleanse and Polish and Tesco's Pro Formula Radiance Hot Cloth Cleanser. All of these I use with a muslin cloth. 

Clarins Instant Eye Makeup Remover and Bioderma - If I'm not using a hot cloth cleanser and want to use my Clarisonic, I like to remove my makeup first with a cleanser. This stops your Clarisonic brush getting really dirty and ensures your face is properly clean.

Clarins Instant Eye Makeup Remover is the best I have found for removing waterproof mascara. For my face makeup, I love using micellar waters as they are quick and easy (can you see a trend?!) I just squirt some on a cotton pad and rub over my face, cant get much more simple than that. I am currently back to using Bioderma as my lovely Sister bought me back two bottles from Paris but L'oreal's Skin Perfection Micellar Water is just as good.

The Clarisonic Plus - My best friends bought me a Clarisonic for my birthday last year. The most simple way for me to describe a Clarisonic, is that its like a giant electric toothbrush for your face. I have always wanted to try one but I was a bit scared to spend that amount of money, so it was amazing to get it as a present. 
I have been using the Clarisonic now for about 3 months and if I'm honest I still don't feel ready to give it a full review. I can say that I love how clean it makes your skin feel and I do enjoy using it, but I don't feel I have noticed a dramatic difference in my skin yet. It feels a lot smoother and softer but in regards to breakouts I haven't noticed this having any effect yet. Having said that I don't use my Clarisonic every day, so maybe it will take longer for me to see a visible difference in my skin.

You can use any cleanser you like with a Clarisonic, although more watery cleansers work better. I am currently using one of the cleansers that came with my Clarisonic and Neal's Yard Rose Facial Wash. 

After cleansing I like to use a toner, I have two toners which both do different jobs. The Clarins Gentle Exfoliator Brightening Toner is a chemical exofilator, sounds scary but its not! I much prefer chemical exfoliators to traditional gritty scrubs as the chemical ones are stronger and you notice a real difference in your skin. I just spray some on a cotton pad and wipe (top tip - pour your toners into a spray bottle as you use so much less product!). If my skin is feeling drier I will use my Neal's Yard Rehydrating Rose Toner, which I love. This just leaves your skin feeling refreshed and clean.

Lastly I moisturise and since discovering beauty oils I haven't looked back. I love using a beauty oil as your skin feels so nourished and hydrated, I also notice that my skin looks so much better in the morning after using these. 
As I have combination skin, I only use beauty oils at night. I apply 2-3 drops all over my face and leave to sink in. I will be honest I don't moisturise my face again in the morning, I find I don't really need to as the oil is hydrating enough and I'm kind of picky about moisturisers. The only one I have found that I really love is the Kate Somerville Goat Milk which I have now used up and as its only available in America I'm just going to have to stick with my beauty oils.

I'm currently using the Josie Maran Argan Oil Light. I wasn't keen on it at first, as its a more greasy oil but I have been using it for a few weeks now and I'm enjoying it. You can buy Josie Maran in the UK from Net A Porter. 
My all time favourite beauty oil is Tarte's Maracuja Oil but I have done a post on my favourite beauty oils which you can read here.


Now I'm off to cleanse my face!

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