At the beginning of the week I shared my morning skincare routine, so it felt only right to detail my P.M routine as this is often the most beneficial for the skin as thoroughly cleansing is vital.
As you will be able to see I like to keep my routine simple as I find my skin type doesn't react well to an overload of products. My main step at night is to remove all the grime of the day and to let my skin breathe.
Step 1. Cleanse
For me a cream cleanser to thoroughly remove makeup is a must. To be honest with a good thick flannel (I love the Tesco Finest range) I believe most cream cleansers do the job, however for me the Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser (£14/100ml Boots) is just right for my combination skin and contains quality ingredients - works wonders with all skin types. My main aim here is to remove 95% of makeup and the excess cleanser from my face with the flannel. I also find a flannel keeps its heat compared to a muslin cloth and helps to open up the pores for a deeper cleanse.
Step 2. Cleanse, again
As I feel cleansing helps my skin so much I will always double cleanse (well I try to - I'm often lazy!) when I've had a day of wearing makeup. Double cleansing makes sure every last bit of makeup is gone and I really see the benefits through a brighter and blemish-free complexion. Much like my morning routine I use Sunday Riley Ceramic Slip Cleanser (£35/125ml Cult Beauty) as clearly I can't get enough of the stuff! But really this is the bees knees is you have moderately oily skin that you want to balance out and cleanse without stripping the skin. This leaves my skin feeling perfectly soft and super clean, which is exactly what you want before bed.
Step 3. Exfoliate
As you've most likely noticed I totally skip using a moisturiser at night (sometimes I will use a serum if you skin is feeling dehydrated) because I feel most creams clog up my pores and can cause pesky blemishes. Instead I'm all about exfoliating the skin without using an abrasive scrub which is why I'm a huge fan of chemically exfoliators that contains Glycolic acid. These new to the market pre-soaked Pixi Glow Tonic To-Go pads (£16/60 pads QVC) are the travel friendly sister to Pixi Glow Tonic (applies like a standard liquid toner) and aims to stimulate cell turn over, exfoliate and do all kinds of wonderful things for the skin basically! Results with these pads and the original Glow Tonic do take a month or so, but you can expect brighter and clearer looking skin. The main reason I love Pixi's glow tonic is it helps cell turnover around my chin area, removing congestion and bumpy skin, plus it also makes sure little blackheads don't crop up on my forehead or randomly on my cheeks - the woes of oily skin! Both the new Glow Tonic To-Go pads and the original Glow Tonic really do work wonders on most skin types but I feel anyone with blemish-prone, congested skin will reap the most rewards with this formula. Side note - Chemical exfoliators do make the skin more sensitive to the sun so a good SPF is a must when using this product in summer!
Step 4. Apply eye cream
The last step of my night time skincare routine is something I feel pretty indifferent about. You see my under eye area doesn't like any kind of moisturising cream and without a week of using most eye creams the skin in that area develops teeny tiny annoying spots that I so desperately want to squeeze! However I've found eye gels to be light and don't cause this problem... but then I think do I even need to be using a nightly eye cream/gel and is it even doing anything anyway?! That being said and because I really don't know I still try to use an eye gel most nights with the Benefit Puff Off Eye Gel (£22.50 ASOS) (not peel off like I wrote in the above image, argghh!) which does feel soothing and on the whole is a nice product. Will it keep the wrinkles at bay.... who knows!
Step 5: Sleep
Sleep is 100% skincare right? Okay, so it may not be applying a product to the skin but sleep does wonders so I thought I'd finish off on that note. And while I'm at it, throwing in non-product related advice - Water! Water is another amazing thing for the skin. It's easy to get out of the habit of drinking water but within a week of sticking to your daily recommended amount you will notice a change in your skin for the better... it really is amazing!
Hope you've enjoyed this two-part post and I've highlighted a few amazing skincare products to you.
Fee xo.