EVENING SKINCARE ROUTINE FOR SENSITIVE SKIN

Shall we continue straight onto evening skin care? I think you’ll remember a few familiar faces, and by faces I mean products, from my morning skincare routine. But fear not, there are some new...faces... too.

If I’ve been wearing makeup I like to cleanse with the Clinique Take the Day Off Cleansing Balm (if I'm not wearing makeup sometimes I just use my morning cleanser). I love this stuff. It’s so gentle and it removes makeup so well. It doesn’t try to be fancy with any added fragrance. It just does the job. Awesomely. If I think my skin could use some manual exfoliation I remove it with a wet flannel. I try to be really careful about how much I exfoliate as over exfoliating can irritate my sensitive skin. The cleanser also washes off very nicely with warm water.

If I have any eye makeup left over a little Bioderma works a treat. I won’t bang on about this because this certainly isn’t a new product to anyone.

After cleansing I alternate each night between two products. The first is Retin-A Micro. This is prescription retinol product. I know it might be annoying for me to mention something that's prescription, but it is definitely worth looking into if you’re having trouble with acne or pigmentation left behind from acne. It is really strong though. When I first got it I gave up on it for a long time because I would apply it straight to my skin after cleansing and my skin would peel horribly for a week. I decided it wasn’t worth looking like a leper. But I tried again with a different method. I started using a pea size, if not less, and mixing it with a big blob of moisturizer (I like the Eucerin Replenishing Face Cream for this because it has a very spreadable texture) before applying it to my face. It took me a while to work up to being able to use it every other night without peeling. Your skin really has to adjust to this guy. It’s the only harsh product I use on my face, but I need some kind of chemical exfoliant and this is the only thing that has worked for me at all.

That was a bit of a tangent. If I’m not using Retin-A Micro, I use the Pai Rosehip Bioregenerate Oil. It adds an extra bit of moisturization, making my skin feel nice and plump. I always thought it seemed a bit silly when people said the word plump, but this oil made me understand that feeling. It also helps with the pigmentation and scaring I have left from spots. By the way, it has a bit of a funny herbal, grassy smell. But I’d take that over an artificial fragrance any day.

If I’m using the Pai oil, I throw on a bit of the Avene Antirougeurs Fort cream that I talked about it my morning routine. And no matter what I’ve put on the jowls I like to finish it up by slathering on a bit of moist, moist moisturizer. Once again it’s La Roche Posay Toleriane Riche.

I final note: after a lot of frustration the one thing that I’ve learned is that skincare isn’t about finding an exact set routine that works. What your skin needs will vary from day to day. Some days I skip a chemical exfoliant and some days I use the flannel twice in one day. The best thing you can do for your skin is recognize what it really needs – and that’s kind of what the battle’s all about.