The Skin Care Routine I Swear By
If you’re in the market for a whole skin care routine makeover, or even just looking for a couple of new products to add to your regimen, here’s the step-by-step I like to use – and I can pretty much rely on it to keep my face chill (apart from the expected monthly breakouts).
It is, admittedly, fairly intense with a lot of products, so it might not be for everyone – so if you’re a one-product-a-day kind of gal (or guy), pretty please do right by your skin and make it a moisturiser with SPF.
Since I was a kid, my mum (who, just fyi, doesn’t look her age – go Mum) drilled these two absolutely invaluable rules into me:
Always wear sunscreen.
Always wear sunnies.
Sun protection is the ultimate, number-one, must-do, do-not-forget good-skin tip, and it’s not hard to do. I’ve been using SPF moisturiser since I was about 13. When people guess my age, they usually come in somewhere between five to seven years younger than I actually am, and I make no guarantees, but I’m just sayin’, that’s where I’m at.
And yes, there is a point in starting now, even if you’ve been ignoring the sunscreen message for the past 15 years. Just grab some and start.
There are so many different sunscreens made specially for you face out there, and I have two favourites, personally – but any suncare with SPF 30 or above is going to be your friend. (Hint: Look for the words non-comedogenic on the packaging — means it won’t block your pores.)
1. Clear Skincare Sunscreen SPF 30+, $30 — I use this Every. Damn. Day. Even if I’m in an office 9-5, this still goes on my face every morning.
2. Mecca To Save Face Superscreen, $40 — This so super-moisturisy and smells like a holiday and, frankly, Mecca does beauty very well so it’s a no brainer.
SPF is the last thing I apply in the mornings – but if you do nothing else for your skin, please do sunscreen.
If you have a bit of time to invest in your face, this is how I take care of mine…
MORNING routine
I wash my face with water. Just warm (not hot!) water in the morning, unless I’ve gone to bed with makeup on (which I hardly ever do, but look, it happens sometimes, and if you say you don’t occasionally have too many espresso martinis and do it you, you’re probably fibbing).
I put on two or three drops of copper peptide serum, which is super healing and — with regular use — reduces the appearance of scarring, fine lines and wrinkles and sun damage, and helps calm breakouts and redness.
I also recently added a high-potency vitamin C serum in there once every two or three days to help with pigmentation and overall skin brightness. TBH, my skin got a little sensitive/breaky-outy, so I pulled it back to once a week.
I follow up with another serum, pure hyaluronic acid (aka a big drink of water for your skin) for boosted hydration and glow.
Then it’s moisturiser – did I mention my skin tends towards dryness? That’s why I have layer after layer of thirst-quenchers for my face – followed by the all-essential SPF.
2. Night-time routinE
Yep, there are different steps for night time. I cleanse, follow it with a niacinamide (aka vitamin B3) serum, and spread on a thin layer of the hyaloronic serum and moisturiser from the morning. No SPF. The sun won’t get you at night.
3. treatments I swear by
I only started investing in treatments in recent years because, frankly, it costs quite a bit of money and seemed for the longest time like a complete indulgence. But now that I’ve decided that it’s not a total luxury, it’s an important part of me feeling good and confident and makes up part of my self-care routine etc, I have been regularly getting peels, LED treatments and Dermapen (plus the occasional regular old feel-good facial) — and my skin is legitimately looking better than it did ago when I started about two years ago.
Which makes me feel better.
And if that’s not worth it, well, I don’t know what is.