THE BASICS

There are so many crazy and wrong myths about skincare. People, the industry, salespersons, magazines,… telling you to buy this cream, that item, that thingy and this super-expensive eye-cream but as a result your skin never seems to get any better. From my experience, this is due to several – crucial – misunderstandings about skincare:

•    No ONE item will change your skin dramatically.
•    The wrong products WILL ruin your skin – and it has nothing to do with the price.
•    A good routine WILL help your skin and there is no way around it.
•    “Natural” or “Sensitive”, “hypoallergenic”, “dermatologically tested” mean NOTHING.
•    What does work for your friend, might not work for you. You have to accept that.
•    If you stop with your routine, things WILL get back to how they have been before (there are some obvious exceptions from this rule though)

Part of why I started this blog is because I experienced the frustration of going through (a load of) products that made my skin worse than it initially was. Going to the drug-store picking up something that promised me good results – ending up with stranger skin. Going to the department-store buying a more expensive item that made it SO much more worse. Buying more stuff – being told “oh, but you HAVE to try THE 3-Step-Program, this is the best” (oh yes, Clinique Bar Soap Cleanser and Alcohol-Toner, I am looking at you!) by an orange painted woman, who looks at LEAST 10 years older, than she is. I went through this, I feel your pain, when you find yourself in the bathroom and want to rip your skin and that € 40 algae-“wonder-mask” you just bought off your face (oh the burning…).

So let’s face it: we have to EDUCATE OURSELVES! (and I am here to help you)

THE VERY BASIC ROUTINE: 

AM:

Cleanse (non irritating)

Moisturize (for your skin-TYPE)

Sunscreen (SPF 30+)

PM:

Cleanse 1 (non irritating & oil based)

Cleanse 2 (non irritating)

Moisturize (for your skin-Type)

Of course this is the VERY (veryvery) minimum routine you can always come back to, when you are:

• having pretty bad skin at the moment and want to find out what works for you – this is a good starting point as long as the things you use are simple and absolutely non-irritating
• having a current reaction to something you used, or your skin is very sensitive at the moment
• having such good skin that you don’t need anything else (even though I would still recommend using the one or other helper to prevent/repair special or future needs)
• you are REALLY lazy/busy/partied to much

THE ADVANCED ROUTINE:

AM:

Cleanse (non irritating)

Tone/Exfoliate (OPTIONAL)

Serum (always a good idea – for your special skin-CONDITION)

Moisturize  (for your skin-TYPE)

Sunscreen (SPF 30+)

PM:

Cleanse 1 (non irritating & oil based)

Cleanse 2 (non irritating)

Tone (OPTIONAL)

Exfoliate (AHA/BHA – no nutshells or anything that kills fishes and your skin….)

Serum (always a good idea – for your special skin-CONDITION)

Moisturize  (for your skin-TYPE)

This is it. We will look more closely into the categories in the upcoming posts, so stay tuned, have fun, enjoy, leave comments, thanks for sharing & spreading the love and most importantly: be happy, love yourself, love your skin!

N.

* all products mentioned in this post have been purchased by myself!