It’s the festive season which means a lot of social events which also means you need your makeup & outfits to be slayed to the gods every time. We all know that no matter how expensive your makeup is, even Fenty Beauty can’t fix texture issues or congested skin! Enter! Your skincare fairy god sister to give you all the tea, tips, advice on how to keep your skin in excellent condition so that it makes the perfect base to your makeup! (Because we all know skincare 1st then makeup right?!)
Before we get into this I just want to put this out there. Sometimes your skin is just stubborn! No matter what you do. Random texture and spots can come out of nowhere, like Monday to Friday you have popping skin, no issues what so ever then the Saturday morning you wake up fully knowing you gotta slay that evening and BOOM! A spot! It’s annoying! Or when aunty ruby comes that time of the month and brings pimples with it! urgh! These type of situations you can’t do anything about it but hopefully, with these tips & tricks, it can reduce these situations from occurring!
I think I can narrow skincare down to this: technique, products & frequency. Because you want to use things properly, use the right products (with right ingredients) and you want to do it often (because it’s NOT a onetime fix everything kinda deal)
Remember to pick products according to your skin type and concern/issue
Cleanse & Double Cleanse
You want to find a good face wash (not your shower gel) to cleanse your face to remove excess dirt, oils, impurities and makeup without stripping it of natural oils. Then you especially want to double cleanse after taking off your makeup (1st cleanse- makeup removal, 2nd cleanse- face wash) to ensure all that gunk is off!
Face wash reviews- Dermalogica Special Cleansing Gel, L’Oréal Clay wash,
Makeup removers- Bioderma Micellar Water, B Micellar Wipes,
Glycolic Acids
I have come away from using face scrubs to exfoliate my face, I only have 2 in my entire skincare collection and that was because I received them for review purposes. My gold standard for smooth skin, reduced pores and no texture issues is Glycolic acids! More on this here. They come in many types of products but I love using them as toners because they are cheaper this way but also very easy to add to any skincare routine! Please note if you start using Glycolic Acids you have to also use SPF during the day and all year round. PLEASE. Glycolic acids make your skin more sensitive to the sun (even in the winter) and without SPF all that work is going to waste! I can’t stress this enough!
My favourites- Pixi Glow Tonic, Superdrug Naturally Bright 5% Glycolic Acid Toner, The Ordinary 7% toning solution.
If you find 5% too strong, you can use a water mist after toning or start at a lower percentage like 2% – Nip Fab Daily Glycolic pads
If you can help it, don’t wear makeup every single day. Sometimes you have event after event after event that you may want to beat your face for so if you can help it, let your skin breathe during the week. Obviously, everything you put on your face has the potential to clog pores especially makeup. This mixed with oils and dirt plus weather can have its toll on your skin. Personally, as much as I love makeup, I actually don’t wear makeup to work so that leaves my skin to breathe at least 5 out of 7 days.
Protection & Moisture
As I mentioned earlier, without SPF protecting your skin, all the investment into skincare and time is a waste! The sun and its rays are the biggest factors in pre mature aging. If you have hyperpigmentation (read more here) the sun will darken this so please do not skip SPF and that goes for my Melanin beauties too. Moisturise your skin day & night to help keep the moisture balance. Tip- forget everything I said previously about your night cream needing to be more richer etc. the MAIN different between your day and night cream should be SPF. So if your fav moisturiser doesn’t have SPF you can use it both day & night, just get a sunscreen to use in addition to it for day time.
My favs- Body Shop Vit C daily moisturiser, B Confident SPF 15 Day Cream, Bee Good Youth Enhancing Moisturiser
Face masks
Think of them as deep conditioners of our skin. Try to use them 2- 3 times weekly tailored to your skin type and need. I also use them whenever I am prepping for a night out
My fav- Youth Mud & Supermud from Glamglow, BodyShop fresh plumping mask, Nip Fab Glycolic Fix Mask
Summary of tips
-never sleep in your makeup! Take all of your makeup off and double cleanse your skin
– Glycolic acids are the gold standard for smooth skin and fewer texture issues
– SPF is your friend, d not SKIP this! Even for dark skin
– if you can go without makeup, then do. Let your skin breathe
– keep hydrated
– choose every skincare product according to your skin type and skin issue
That’s all folks, I hope you found this post helpful! I have more detailed skincare posts on my blog too, I have listed a few of these below! Believe that I have used every single product I have mentioned in this post (yes the obsession is real) so if you do pick any up, let me know how they work for you!
Catch you soon!
Love
Sarah
Merry Christmas
sarah fynn 