Thursday, January 30, 2014

Skin Rescue Routine

About a month ago, my skin inexplicably started to go crazy, culminating in some of the worst skin I've experienced in recent memory about a couple of weeks ago. I'm not sure if it was a reaction to a foundation or a skin care product, or hormonal, or mainly diet/lifestyle related, but it wasn't pretty. As soon as pimples appeared to be calming down and fading, a whole new crop sprouted. My skin was spotty and angry in a way that was largely foreign to me, with scarring and bumps in various stages of development. I needed urgent skin care intervention. Along with the help of time, here are the products I used every single day to vastly improve and clear up my skin. The results were so encouraging that the same products now comprise my normal evening skin care routine.

l-r: Dove Foaming Make Up Remover, Dove Cleanser & Toner in One, Pixi Glow Tonic, La Roche-Posay Serozinc, Trilogy Very Gentle Moisturising Cream, Sukin Certified Organic Rose Hip Oil

Taking off every scrap and trace of makeup at the end of the day seemed of utmost importance, so I begin with three pumps of Dove Foaming Make Up Remover. This comes out in a cloud of white foam, but applied and worked into the skin, I imagine it's similar in consistency to a cleansing oil that's been emulsified with water. This stings if it gets in the eyes, so it's not ideal to take off eye makeup on the lower lash line, though it's fine for eyeshadow, eyeliner on the upper lash line, and mascara. While the Foaming Make Up Remover takes off mostly everything, to get rid of remnant eye makeup and ensure nothing's left, I double cleanse with Dove Cleanser & Toner in One. That's probably going slightly overboard with the cleansing, but the lather it produces is creamy and rich, and it thoroughly and effectively cleanses my skin without leaving it feeling dry or stripped.

Next, I strictly adhere to Caroline Hirons's recommendation of two toners post-cleansing: one exfoliating and one hydrating. Both products were purchased as a result of her influence (her rave about Pixi Glow Tonic, apparently a cheaper dupe of Biologique Recherche P50 Lotion, here, and rant on La Roche-Posay Serozinc not being available in the UK here). I use two pumps of Pixi Glow Tonic on a Daiso cotton pad all over my face. I like that it seems to calm and balance my skin, while gently exfoliating it and giving it a smoothness and softness. I then follow up with a liberal spritzing of La Roche-Posay Serozinc. I purchased mine from Paris during my holiday last September after succumbing to incredible hype, and originally felt a little underwhelmed. It seemed virtually indistinguishable to my beloved Avene Thermal Spring Water, except with more sodium chloride and zinc sulfate. I'm no chemistry whiz, but from experience this doesn't do much if your skin type is normal and relatively blemish-free. It's designed more to be an astringent toner for oily, problem skin. I find it helps to soothe and hydrate my skin, reduce redness and diminish the appearance of pimples with regular use.

I tried to keep it simple with moisturiser, treatments and serums. I opted for the most "natural" cream in my skin care stash, Trilogy Very Gentle Moisturising Cream. Free of supposed chemical nasties and designed for sensitive skin types, it's not something I'm absolutely in love with, but at least I know it won't break me out or result in an adverse reaction. To boost moisture and add extra nourishment to my cream, I add a few drops of Sukin Rose Hip Oil and mix the cream and rose hip oil together with my palms before smoothing it onto my face. I'm a renewed believer in rose hip oil after using it every night for a couple of weeks straight. Forget other face oils, rose hip oil does the job and does it brilliantly. I'm most impressed at how it genuinely leaves the skin appearing softer, smoother and well-rested the morning after. It seems to target discolouration and scarring and generally improves the texture of the skin. I feel that more than any other product mentioned here, it's been instrumental to bringing my skin back to a much happier state.

32 comments:

  1. My current skincare routine is pretty similar to yours. I know what you mean by having nasty pimples that when you finally get rid of, another group pop up. I guess for me it's that 'teenage acne' stage, as well as hormones and stress :S I quite like the Very gentle moisturiser, I also mix it with rosehip oil and it's pretty basic but does the job well for moisturising. Serozinc sounds really nice - wish it was more widely available!

    Tasha // shiwashiful.

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    1. Yeah, basic but does the job is how I would describe the Trilogy moisturiser. Not my favourite but not patently bad either. I'm trying to think of a new moisturiser (day and night) to purchase after my Trilogy runs out though, I'm thinking potentially Origins? I also use this Palmer's one which is fine, but a little bit pedestrian :p

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  2. Ooo, two toners huh? That's interesting… I may have to give that a try. And I still want to try the pixi glow tonic but haven't been able to justify the price yet :p Glad to hear that you've found a routine that works for you though I'm sad you had to deal with such a bad bout of skin in first place.

    ♥Cassie
    thriftthick.blogspot.com

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  3. My skin's been awful lately too- I think sleeping at 2am on a regular basis and diet are the main factors. Rosehip oil and gentle exfoliating are the best things I've done to combat scarring and further breakouts. Your routine is great- not over the top (maybe it would be to a normal person but we're all beyond that stage) and tried-and-true.

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    1. Sleeping at 2am on a regular basis and (poor) diet = my life summarised. Shooooo bad.

      What gentle exfoliating are you doing?

      Rosehip oil is amaze. Kind of wish I hadn't gone so overboard with my other face oils but they are hard to resist. Think I'll have to start using my Caudalie Divine Oil on my body/hair if I want any hope of finishing it up within next 5 years.

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  4. Oh I hope your skin condition will get better and better! I hate it when my skin is acting up, mostly happens in warmer months like summer, I don't understand why, but in winter ( where most people actually have problems with skin ) my skin is usually at its best as long as I moisturize it properly,, a friend of mine is a huge fan of the la roche posay serozinc,maybe I should give it a try later :)

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  5. I'd love to the Pixi Glow tonic. I've seen it featured in so many blogs and it really seems to help. Great post x

    http://holaflo.blogspot.com.ar/

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  6. Great routine. I wish I could get my hands on the Pixi Glow Tonic although I have the Clarins Exfoliating Toner that I love. My skin was wrecking havoc on holiday but with the help of a couple of face masks the first two days back it seems to have settled down now. :)

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    1. Awww, those must be two super effective face masks! Which ones? :) Sukin Purifying Facial Masque really helped me too.

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  7. Heeeey, I have that Sukin rose hip oil! I got it as a gift - looking forward to trying it now!

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  8. Ohh :< It's horrible when something like that happens!
    I've heard a lot of raves about that tonic from la roche-posay...sadly it's not available here (strange, since we can find many of their products at any pharmacy)
    Anyway, good luck with that :<
    Take care, have a nice day*

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  9. Hi there - skin explosions - nothing more upsetting on a daily personal level, is there?
    My first reaction to your regime is that you might like to try a different type of cleanser (foamers tend to be v drying on the skin and that can encourage breakouts too).
    My fav. is a good old-fashion style Cold Cream - I use Ponds in the tub with the green lid. Slap it on, massage, remove with tissues then into the shower and use a clean white face cloth to remove cleanser completely with the aid of steamy shower, hot water. Wipe once with the flannel dry then soap up flannel give it a quick wash to remove what is already on the flannel (so you are making a small hot towel) and press that onto your face to steam/wipe off all remaining cleanser, make up etc. Nothing cleans the skin like this method. Then you can follow with your routine but one good toner should be plenty after the super clean you will get from the cold cream/hot flannel approach. I am a huge fan of Rose Hip Oil too - so soothing and nourishing, but imperative that it goes onto very clean, warm skin. My other all time soother fav. is Lucas Pau Pau Ointment. This can be used as eye cream, moisturiser when feeling all dried out/weather exposed but again it must go onto to perfectly clean and warm skin.
    PS Exfoliate twice/week in the mornings - then you get the added glow of increased circulation to boost your meet the day look.

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    1. Hey, thanks so much for this comment! Really appreciate your insights and suggestions.

      I know the cleansing part of my routine isn't ideal ... it would probably induce major heart palpitations in Caroline Hirons who is completely anti-foam cleansers. I do have cream cleansers like the Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish and I have balm cleansers like the Emma Hardie Moringa Cleansing Balm but my main problem is just laziness and the desire for convenience more than anything. That's why I stick with the makeup remover and the Dove cleanser because I can use one straight before hopping into the shower and the other in the shower, without the need for any preliminary makeup removal (like Bioderma on a cotton pad to remove eye makeup) or a flannel/washcloth. I have heard good comments about Ponds Cold Cream to remove makeup and I'm sure the method you suggested would be very good for the skin and extremely effective at removing makeup. For me, immediately following up with toner plus the moisturiser/rose hip oil after cleansing is meant to atone for my sins in using somewhat stripping/drying foaming cleansers :p In the end, my current lineup is working okay but I'm definitely aware there's room for improvement!

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  10. Lovely products - the Dove Foaming Make Up Remover sounds like a really good product & one that I will be checking out.
    I love the Pixi Glow Tonic & am almost out of my bottle. Hoping they get stock in soon. I can't live without it for too long
    http://www.letstalkbeauty.co.uk/

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  11. What a good lineup of skin saviors. I haven't tried any of these but I am most curious about the rose hip oil. I seem to keep hearing about this oil to help with scarring and overall skin balance. I'll have to see where to get some and if branding even matters.

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    1. Branding did confuse me - but having used both Trilogy and Sukin, I don't think there's any significant differences to warrant buying the more expensive option. After all, you'd think the raw ingredient is still the same (and the extraction process).

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  12. I'm seriously dying to try out the Pixi Glow Tonic. I've just heard so much about it but I can't get my hands on it!
    xx
    Celina | The Celution | Bloglovin’

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  13. The Pixi Glow Tonic sounds really good! Would you say it's anything like the Clarins exfoliating toner? I really want to try it our but getting a cheaper alternative would be ideal!

    www.madeleineslittleblog.blogspot.co.uk

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    1. I haven't tried the Clarins but definitely want to! The Clarins does contain alcohol though, which the Pixi doesn't. They're both exfoliating toners recommended by Caroline Hirons so I'm guessing the effect would be similar :)

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  14. My skin is going through the same thing as you right now, so it was really nice of you to share your routine and some of the products you used.

    www.lacy-rose.com

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  15. Same with me my skin has breaking out so much! At first I thought it was me trying out the Origins charcoal mask but I just realized school JUST started and I'm stressing so much already haha. I love teh Glow Tonic as well! Recently purchased it when it was in stock in US! Love your packaging better than mine tho! I wish I could get that La Posay spray in US :(

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  16. I'm still yet to try rose hip oil - must get onto that!

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  17. Sorry to hear about your skin breakout, when you try out a new product there's always that fear it won't react well with your skin. Have you changed up your makeup routine recently? Glad to hear it's clearing up though with some TLC.

    Ah, I remember that good ol' Dove cleanser. Works a treat but I think I prefer the Liz Earle one. Pity the Dove one is discontinued though because it would have been a good drugstore backup. I have a Trilogy moisturiser too that I've actually been using every night since I've gotten it, not a favourite but it does an OK job. Mixing rosehip oil in the moisturiser is a great idea which I think I may start doing! I've been ignoring my rosehip oil recently since my Hada Labo lotion/serum does a good job at moisturising my skin and keeping it plump, but I would like to do some work on any scarring. x

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    1. Whhhaaa the Dove isn't discontinued! You mean the Cleanser and Toner in One?! My mother and I live off it, and have for years, it's like a total skin care staple in this household :p Say it ain't so.

      To be honest I'm kind of aware the cleansing part of this routine probably isn't ideal, given I've heard it's kinder to the skin and potentially more effective to use cream/balm cleansers rather than anything that lathers/foams, but it's more convenience and time than anything. I use C&P maybe once a week, twice if I'm really feeling invested in my skin care, but I do the whole long-winded routine with the included flannel. It leaves the skin feeling so pampered but I just can't be bothered to do it every single night - plus I'd run out so quickly and be devo :p

      I haven't changed my makeup routine so the cause of the breakout was really puzzling. At first it was just a few random spots but then it escalated and didn't relent. It really was not a good time skin-wise for me!

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  18. Oooo...I've never seen Dove skincare here in Singapore before but your description of how it lathers and feels sounds really nice and that pixi glow tonic has been something I've seen and heard about quite a bit, sounds like a refresher!

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  19. Couple of weeks back I also had a major skin breakout and I had to change my routine all over. I did a post on the products I bought and that worked for my combination skin. La Roche Posay Targeted Breakout Corrector was an ultimate life saver for me to calm those pesky spots.

    Shang J. | The Feminine Crusade

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  20. I don't think we get any of these products here in Canada! I'm going to look into that rosehip oil now though. It sounds fabulous and I'm also dying of curiosity over the Pixi Tonic!

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  21. When I heard that Pixi finally released Glow Tonic in the US I immediately ordered 2 bottles. I've been using it for several weeks now and I've yet to notice a difference in my skin :( Maybe I need more time?
    I like your skincare routine - it covers all the essentials of good skincare and it's not overbearing for the skin.

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    1. Possibly, do you use it every single night? How much do you use? Is your skin is pretty good condition already? I only really notice a difference if my skin's a bit dull/dry and I use 2 pumps on a Daiso cotton puff every single night without fail over the course of several weeks. When I first used it, I was similarly underwhelmed so I can understand your sentiments. I guess skin care is just so personal that one product can work super well for someone but do absolutely nothing for another.

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  22. I have quite a lot of scarring so I definitely need to buy some of that rosehip oil! :) xx

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  23. There must be something in the air/weather because my skin was acting up really bad during end of 2013/early jan too. Antipodes Manuka Honey mask came to my rescue, I adore that stuff! You've reminded me about the goodness of rosehip oil, got to get back into that!

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    1. I bought that recently, tried it a couple of times and I do like it! It's very soothing, calming and moisturising. My absolute favourite mask for breakouts is the Sukin Purifying Facial Masque. It's absolutely amazing and the results are instant from when you wash it off.

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