Morning Skincare Routine – September 2015

I don’t think I’ve ever written a morning skincare routine post before, or if I have, then it was quite a while ago.  I tend to instead focus on the evening routine, since that’s where all the hardcore hydrators and hard-working acids come in, whereas the morning routine is more focused on getting any evening routine residue removed, and getting skin ready prepped and ready for make-up.

How I cleanse in the morning very much depends on what went on in the previous night’s routine.  If I wore an overnight mask or several layers of heavy products, then I will cleanse with Pixi Glow Mud Cleanser (link) which I’ll then gently buff off with a Konjac Sponge.  However, if skin feels relatively clean and no heavy products remain, I’ll just use the Konjac Sponge (link).  There are few lovelier ways to wake up skin than with a Konjac Sponge drenched in cold water, so I’d give it a go if you haven’t already – it’s also noteworthy that the sponges are gentle enough to use on the eye area too.  I then finish with a sweep of the DHC Resveratrol Lotion (link), which loosens any tightness from the water.

Next up, it’s treatment time! I’ve started to incorporate more heavy duty products into my morning routine, having realised it’s a bit of a missed opportunity to involve more skincare elements without them clashing with evening products.  I’m currently working my way through a bottle of ZO Skin Health Ossential Daily Power Defense (link), a skin-loving cocktail of enzymes, antioxidants and time-release retinol designed to help with signs of pigmentation and aid skin elasticity.  It sounds hardcore, but it’s very gentle and sits well under make-up.  As my skin can appear dehydrated, I like to use a good oil in the morning, but obviously it can’t be anything too greasy.  The newest launch from Merumaya, the Everything Everywhere Beauty Oil (link). I have complete faith in Merumaya products as they’re always extremely effective and great for spot-prone skin as the brand creator has suffered from acne herself, so she knows what should and shouldn’t go into a product.  Consequently I always happily slather on anything new from the brand without fear of a breakout – I’ll be reviewing the oil in more detail soon.

I’m still well into the DHC Resveratrol Cream (link) as it’s such a lovely, thick, hydrating product that suits my skin amazingly well.  It’s very rich, so I use this sparingly in the morning underneath my SPF, which is currently the ZO Skin Health Oclipse Sunscreen + Primer SPF30 (link).  This is a tinted primer that’s perfect under make-up, but as you only use a couple of pumps (in the awesome bottle with a twist-up lid – love it!) I’m not sure how effective it can be as an SPF. Finally, lips are taken care of with the fragrance-free version of the amazing Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream (link).  If you were to buy this and use it just as a lipbalm, it would last you for years! However, it’s a well-made product from a respected brand, so presumably they know what they’re doing! This is the routine I follow when I have plenty of time, but obviously for short-of-time days I’ll likely go for Konjac cleanse, DHC moisturiser and SPF as a bare minimum.

*PR Samples