Lately I have found myself obsessing about my face (vain, I know). I have general concerns about uneven tone, dryness, redness and achieving flawlessness but my particular concerns are as follows:
- A spring chicken I am not. I'm starting to see the first signs of ageing having found myself on the wrong side of 30 some time ago now. The lines appearing around my eyes sadden me. It's really happening - I am getting old :(
- I have deep-set eyes that are a little close together. Let's just say that I do not look to Kate Moss for eye makeup inspiration. Further all this talk about contouring creases is completely irrelevant to me unless I'm doing a Halloween makeup look.
- Dark circles are my nemesis. More so than just the average shadowing caused by the fact that my eyes are deep-set and that I don't sleep enough. My Mother recently commented on a photograph of me that I looked sick around the eyes...
- Extreme cheek and nose dryness has plagued me this Winter. My skin has been very flaky. Appropriate moisturisers are one thing but smooth application of BB creams and foundations are a whole new kettle of fish.
- "Allergy" is my middle name. Red raw dermatitis on my eyelids and lips occasionally flares up. I have a prescription cream of course, but I don't like using it as it causes thinning of the skin. I also suffer from hay fever which gives me the I-cried-all-day look all spring long.
Recently, I have spent many hours watching beauty youtubers and reading consumer reviews about creams & potions, primers, foundations, concealers, BB creams and tinted moisturizers. I'm in search of products which will hopefully become my HG (holy grail) products to plump up my skin and products to create a flawless base. Of course reading reviews only goes so far, as one can only know if a product will work for them by trying it for themselves. I'm very keen to try Clinique's Even Better Eyes Dark Circle Corrector and Mario Badescu's Control Cream.
Do you have any issues which you strive to fix with miracle potions?
Have you seen results upon using a product regularly?
Are you interested to read about bloggers' beauty routines and their HG products (I know I am).
I would see a dermatologist - most of my products are dermatologist-recommended and it's really made a difference.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favourite things to use to plump up the skin in winter is the body shop vitamin e mask. I leave it on overnight and it really makes a difference.
Hi Ammu, I already have prescriton medications for my medical skin conditions. I think my other issues are purely cosmetic. The Body Shop Vitamin E mask seems lovely - will look into it. Product recommendations like this is exactly why I wrote this post :)
DeleteRose Hip oil under the eyes every night makes a difference for me, it keeps the area really moisturised, and also a little between my eyebrows to help with those frown lines that appear on me from squinting or frowning. I also recently started removing my makeup at night with a face washer and it makes my skin feel really clean and polished. These are just a couple of things which work for me :)
ReplyDeleteI love RHO too! I actually have a post coming up about what I've been doing this Winter to battle my dry skin... RHO is the star potion! Have read interesting things about jojoba oil too. Keen to try that also.
DeleteI like your recommendation of using a face washer to clense - I can imagine it also provides gentle exfoliation. A bonus :)
Hahaha. RHO is my HG product. Was going to mention it but you already know about it... haha. I get really flaky, dry skin though (espec in Winter) and my clarisonic has REALLY helped with that. it is expensive so don't know if it's the kind of rec you were looking for (is a tool rather than a potion) but i swear by mine!
DeleteHi Michaela, it's not really the cost that bothers me about the Clarisonic, it's more the time and effort involved using it. I worry that I'd buy it use it twice and then throw it in a corner somewhere and forget about it. I'm lazy.
DeleteAvibon, amazing, buy it from ebay
ReplyDeleteHi Jill thanks for your comment. Hmmm a Retinol cream... will need to do some research :)
Deletejust did a review on my blog of 2 of the best (imo) bb creams on the market. i also have somewhat sensitive skin and am very cautious about trying new stuff on my face. so far i've been impressed with both bb products :)
ReplyDeleteI'm keen to try some of the Asian BB creams. Apparently they are brilliant.
DeleteThe Dr Jart+ you reviewed sound like it might be right up my alley :)
I have been looking for some miracle potions - btw my favorite BB cream is Clinique! I've been wanting to try out some pure oils - will try and report back how it goes!
ReplyDeleteI have just bought Dr Jart + based on Miss Sophie's recommendation. I will try the Clinique next as I love already their moisturisers.
DeleteI too have sensitive skin that appeared about 2 years ago. I find that using less products is best. When I wear sunscreen or makeup it gets aggravated so now I try to limit how often I wear both (and wear hats etc to keep sun off). I went to a dermatologist who prescribed an ongoing round of creams, each one creating a new problem to be "cured" by another ointment. It was mad! I didn't want to go down that path but I do keep one tube for when irritation gets really bad. Otherwise using the simplest moisturisers and not exfoliating seems to be the best solution so far. Exfoliation, whitening creams (like BB's I believe) would just create more problems for me to deal with.
ReplyDeleteIt's about finding the right products for one's self. I have found a few great ones lately, I just need to find the time to do a post :)
DeleteI suggest using a good greek yoghurt mask 2-3 times a week and monitor and adjust from there.
ReplyDeleteI've had problem skin for years (hormonal acne, dry skin caused by topical acne treatments, oily skin by probably cleansing too often).
ReplyDeleteWhat I've found that has lately helped things out a TON is the following:
-washing skin w/gentle soap in the evening to remove makeup, and in the morning w/water only. this has totally helped out the oily/dry combination skin to be less oily and less dry and more even.
-drinking 1-2 pints of fresh, homemade fruit/greens smoothie for breakfast every day, and a salad with one other meal that day--skin has cleared up, plus all the vitamin C/vitamin A/whatever else is in those things is making me a lot more glowy. It's allowed me to cut down on acne meds, which have made the skin even less dry. I think all the water helps the dry skin, too.
-a combo of low-dose b.c. pills and low-dose retin-a topical cream knocked out the rest of the acne.
-a gentle enzyme exfoliant scrub 2-3 times a week removes whatever dry skin is left (mostly caused by using the retin-a cream).
-daily sunscreen! a facialist I saw recommends 50+ SPF w/titanium or zinc oxide as the best ingredient, rather than chemical sunscreens.
Sorry for the long post, but all together these things have really helped out my over-30 skin in the last couple of years. The nice thing about this, other than the prescription meds which people don't need if they're not battling acne, is that the rest of the stuff is just lifestyle changes that are surprisingly effective! (and getting tons of fruit and veg a day is good for other parts of us, not just skin).
Also forgot to add, I use bare escentuals makeup (mineral powder makeup), and a good cream concealer on those (prominent) dark circles of mine. The makeup has additional SPF and is supposedly hypoallergenic, or at least non-irritating.
ReplyDeleteI've found that moisturizing with 1-3 drops of a 100% pure oil (like kukui nut/argan oil/vitamin e) when needed is really effective--just put a very light amount on. But really, after cutting back on washing my face and adding all the fruit and veg into my diet, I haven't needed to moisturize much. The skin is pretty happy, which seems to be good for sensitive skin--make it as happy as possible with as few products as possible....
Thanks for the tips!
DeleteIn the end I fixed my skin by changing a few products around. I might do a post about it sometime. Loosely though my skincare routine involves some of what you have suggested :)