Next StoryPrevious Story 09.12.13

Winter skin care

Pictures by James Chardon

LET’S PAMPER! I’ve always been a big a big sucker for good beauty products, whether it comes to make-up or skin care. My moto has always been make-up won’t make your skin feel better. It will simply hide your little flaws but underneath it all your skin needs care and nourishment. For a long time I neglected my skin care and invested all my budget into make-up products as I felt like it was so much more fun. I could go to bed with make-up on and everything would be just fine. Now I realize the importance of a healthy cleansing and moisturizing routine and how it can change drastically the health of my skin. When I was 14 I dealt with a little acne until I began to see a dermatologist who prescribed me the right products. Since then my skin became quite sensitive, delicate and always in need of heavy hydratation. Yet I am definitely not the girl who never gets a spot! They usually appear after long trips, unheathy food choices, longer nights of intensive work and definitely alcohol (not that I am a heavy drinker, but with all the events, dinners and travel let’s say that it can be quite unhealthy). I think that no matter which skin care products you’ll use, beauty will always come from the inside. So we’re of course talking about your inner glow people but also about your lifestyle and the food you’re eating. Processed foods are definitely an enemy for me. I’ve noticed that drinking sodas, or eating snickers bars isn’t only bad for my general energy levels and body weight but also for my skin. Since I’ve understood that, I banned these products entirely from my diet. And have never felt more happy! It’s been 1 year since I didn’t have one of those industrial chocolate bars and 2 years and half since I haven’t been in a proper fast food (Mc Donalds, Burger King, Quick, you name it). I still find ways to indulge though, I just always try to seek for healthier options and if possible organic dishes (vegan food is just my holy grail, if you want to know the way to my heart : bring me a big bowl of sweet patatoe and tofu) even though it’s very hard when you travel and spend most of your life in aerports, train stations, school, work and so on. But no matter what, you can always make healthy decisions and change for the best your habits.

Now I split my budget 50/50 for make-up and skin care, if not 30/70 to be totally honest. It really depends of the seasons since the products usually last for quite a while. With time I’ve perfected my routine and I am quite happy with it now. One of the key things I’ve noticed is that my skin’s needs change almost constantly, there are days where it just needs nourishment, days were it needs something soothing, days where it just wants to feel extra clean and purified. I’ve used for a long time the Clinique 3 step and really liked it. It was super simple and easy. Yet it doesn’t seem to work for me anymore and what really does the job is changing products every other day. So let’s put it that way : I don’t have a proper routine but I have some favourite products that I like to mix up whenether I feel like my skin needs something special. And yet I follow the same “steps” everyday, it’s just the products that will change. So I have 3 cleansers, 2 scrubs, 3 creams, 3 toners, 2 eye creams a couple of oils and serums and a couple of face masks and I am fully set for the whole winter season. I know… It’s a LOT. But pampering and cleansing after a long day is such a relaxing and enjoyable moment, I like to appreciate it at 100% and use products that I enjoy and take time to choose through recommendation or by trying samples. Since I have very short nights, I really need some extra attention so that my eyes don’t look puffy or features seem tired. Now my routine consists of 3 proper steps and it takes me approximatively 15minutes to finish everything. 

I’ll start with the preparation of the skin with a thermal water just to soften everything up, I like to use Avène, then I’ll use a cleansing balm (I never use foaming cleansers, they are the least natural ones and don’t work for my skin), my favourite is by Eve Lom (even though it has mineral oil in it, it just works for me) that I’ll use with a face cloth and some tepid water. Then comes the second cleasing step, now we’re going to deep cleanse. I have different cleansers, currently I use a clarifying one from Ren, one for radiance by Guerlain and a gentle one by Kiehl’s. Once I’m done I’ll have another spray of Avène’s thermal water to calm my skin after the deep cleansing and take off all the chlore from the tap water off my face. That’s when the fun begins. Now you have the option either to exfoliate (I am madly in love with Fresh’s sugar face scrub which you’ll leave on as a face mask after exfoliating, the one from Dr Brandt is also great) or to use a treatment mask. If you’re done then the toning begins. I use everytime two toners. One which contains acid and one hydratating spray (I love the one from Dr Hauschka and Ren!). After that I’ll apply my eye cream and all the serums/oils I need. I really enjoy Estée Lauder’s advanced night repair (I think it’s supposed to be for more mature skins but it works like magic on mine), the Josie Maran argan oil if I really need some deep hydratation or if I need something extra I’ll just have Kiehl’s Midnight serum and nothing else. I finish of with some cream! The ultra facial cream from Kiehl’s is so great, especially during these cold days. I also like Ren’s creams and Kenzoki. If you have any spot problem I totally suggest you to check out Eve Lom’s Dynaspot as well as Aesop’s Chamomille mask followed by some of their control gel.

There you go guys! Hope this all helped you out. Nice pampering :)


TRY MY FAVOURITES

FashionView Comments
Search anything and hit enter
Suggestions