Skin Care Routine Products

The key to amazing skin complexion is a constant skin care routine. Finding products that work best with your skin can be challenging. However doing your research can help tons and avoid spending loads of money using the trial and error approach. Don't get me wrong there could still be some disappointments even after extensive research. Thankfully I believe I have found a product combination that works best for me. Thus far I have been able to maintain my face mostly clear of acne while maintaining great skin texture. I still have an oily T-zone but it is not as bad as before, and my pores have been slowly decreasing in size (keep an eye out for a Flawless Skin Makeup Products post coming soon). The right skin care along with the right makeup products can make you look flawless in real life. In pictures there are always tools you can use to edit and blur some imperfections which I am guilty of using [Not going to lie], But I have to say that I do really like how my skin is doing using these products.

Let's start with the daily routine. 

Everyday I use my Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser to wash my face in morning and night. This cleanser leaves my face feeling clean without a drying out my skin. Personally I like using face washes that foam or lather up, which this one does not do on it's own so I like to use a Konjac Cleansing sponge with the cleanser. Now with that in place I feel like my face is gets a better clean than with me just using my hands with the cleanser. The sponge is made of Konjac root and has been known to be used in Japanese beauty culture for many years.  This sponge gently exfoliates your skin and is gentile enough to use in the under eye area and neck. After cleansing my Face with Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser and Konjac Sponge I pat dry my face with a microfiber towel to easily soak up the water without having to rub my face. 

I follow up with my Clinique Clarifying Lotion 3 (toner) which is a gentle exfoliating lotion for combination to oily skin. It helps take away flakes and oil that can clog pores making the perfect serface to apply my next product which is a serum. I lightly soak a Cotton round with the toner and sweep that gently on my face. I like using cotton rounds that have a bit of an exfoliant texture to help pick up more dirt and flakes off my face. 

After that I follow up with Loreal Youth Code Texture Perfector Serum Concentrate. I had never used a Serum before this one, and to be honest I have only had this serum for about a two and a half months. I’ve watched so many You Tube videos of different girls sharing and demonstrating their skin care routines and a few them included Serums, so naturally my interest grew around finding a serum to incorporate in my routine. After some research I determined that this one would be a good one to start off with because of the results that I could expect and cost. Let me tell you I DO NOT REGRET this purchase. I feel like it is in the lower middle price range which is comfortable for me and best of all it does what it claims to do. I use one pump of the serum on the back of the hand and I use my finger tips to distribute the product on my forehead cheeks and chin which are my problem areas. Then I message the product into my skin. Serums are usually a light weight fluid that is designed to penetrate your skin easily instead of it sitting on the surface. My skin absorbs the product quickly leaving my skin feeling smooth and leaving no evidence of residue. Over time of use the results are amazing, my pores have reduced in size, my fine lines are less visible and my skin feels moisturized and plump. 
*Note results take time and commitment, they are not overnight results.

***Depending on if I have breakouts I will add this step to the routine. If I have none I skip this step. To treat blemishes I use Clean & Clear persa-gel 10 with 10% benzoyl peroxide. Seriously guys this acne medication is amazing. It seriously gets rid of blemishes so quick and even works great when I use my Moisturizer on top of it. I do like to use a cotton swab to apply the medication directly on the blemish and avoid drying out the surrounding skin.***  

After that I follow up with my Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer SPF 15. What I love about this moisturizer is that it's light on my skin and soaks right in. I am left with no sticky oily feeling on my face and best of all it does not clog my pores. It claims to improve your skin texture leaving it soft and smooth while evening out your skin tone. I believe that it has done just that and because it is safe for people with sensitive skin I experienced no breakouts when I started using this moisturizer, unlike others Ive used in the past. Plus I defiantly feel like my texture as dramatically improved. 
*Note I started using this moisturizer way before I incorporated the L’oréal serum in my skin care routine and noticed the difference in my skin before, it just got better when I added the serum.

After all this my Face is ready for my Daily Makeup Routine, but there are a few more steps to my skin care routine that I want to share with you.

That Brings us to the weekly routine.

At the end of the week I like to give my face a little extra TLC. Thats where my Face Mask, Face Scrub, and Face Brush come in. Usually on Saturday or Sunday morning I will use my Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser with my Olay Professional Pro-X Advanced Cleansing System. (This in my opinion is a dupe/cheaper version of a Clarisonic) This facial cleansing brush has two speeds to deep clean and gently exfoliate your skin. If my skin felt a little tough and scaly by the end of the week after using so many makeup products though out the week, using this Facial Cleansing brush makes your skin feel like new.

Once Ive cleaned up the skin or taken off a few layers as I like to think, I proceed by applying my FORMULA 10.0.6 Pores Be Pure Skin-Clarifying Mask. I usually apply this right to my problem areas like Forehead, Nose, Cheeks, Temples, and Chin. Always avoiding my eye area and the immediate area around my mouth. I usually leave the mask on unitl it drys on my face and I start seeing it collect oil off my face. Usually it takes about 15 -18 minuets. This Particular mask is a skin refining mask that works incredibly on clogged pores. On the Bottle it states that the Strawberry and Rosemary eliminate the impurities and the yarrow clarifies the skin leaving a perfect complexion. The feeling of the mask is quite stinging, however it is supposed to be normal so don't be frightened. Just think of all the crap coming out of your pores. When its time to take off the mask I usually hop in the shower and rinse off the mask with warm water.

While in the Shower the last thing I use is Bioré Pore Unclogging Scrub to give my face a deep clean. I use it because shampoo and conditioner can clog my freshly cleansed pores. So the soft beads in the scrub help clean off any residue left behind by hair products or the mask it self. This mask gives me a FRESH minty tingling sensation which I personally think feels amazing! It leaves me with a sense of extremely clean skin.

So this is my current skin care routine. I know that it ran long, but I had to tell you and I did not want to leave anything out. 

Thank you for sticking till the end,

Alejandra

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