Basket Reveal: My Skincare

I talk about K-beauty quite a bit on my blog, but I haven’t really revealed the skincare products I use or my routine. This is mainly because I’m better at reviewing products than knowing what is okay to use with what, I usually run by a trial & error system and that’s kind of harsh on my skin if two products counter each other. Luckily, that’s only happened once and that was because my skin was already a little sensitive from the sun. So if you’re a little curious about my maybe-flawed routine, just click “read more” to check it out!

I actually use different products between my morning and night routines, some of the products may overlap of course but I’m not using different toners day & night. I have approx. 2-4 products that I use in the morning; toner, emulsion, moisturizing serum and sun screen. I don’t always use sun screen, it mainly depends on if there’s a chance that there’s sun that day, or if I’m running late.

I’m currently using The Face Shop’s Rice Ceramide toner, which I believe has been discontinued but I have a few bottles as back up. It’s not a very watery toner, but it’s not super thick either.  It’s consistency kind of reminds me of a serum, and it’s very moisturizing. There’s not much to talk about this, because all the toners I’ve used up til now were just regular toners.

The current emulsion (lotion, essentially) that I’m using is also from The Face Shop, and unfortunately it’s also discontinued from what I know. However, I have like 1-2 more in a drawer somewhere from their warehouse sale last year. It’s a fairly watery formula and I can’t really tell if there’s a scent to it, because I’ve been using it since I started my skincare routine. It’s also another one of those types of products where it doesn’t have any particular benefit or special ingredient to it, it just works….which is fine with me.

This next product I only really use during winter or when my cheeks are particularly dry, I actually ran out of it during the past winter but I thought it’d still be best if I included it. This is The Face Shop’s Calendula Essential Moisture Serum, which is kind of ironic because the serum itself reminds me of the emulsion more than a serum (which I typically find are clear and syrup-like in consistency, but that doesn’t apply to all products). It’s also another discontinued product, so there’s no likelihood of me being able to restock on this.

To end my morning routine, I’ll introduce the sunscreen. I actually switch back and forth between two different types depending on the weather that day, because both sunscreens have opposite finishes. The matte finish sun screen I have is Missha’s All Around Safe Block Sebum Zero Sun {SPF50+/PA+++}, and the glowy finish sun screen is Botanic Twenty’s Daily Sunblock {SPF50+/PA+++}.

For my night-time routine, I use the same toner, and that’s the only overlapping product for my current routine. However, back when my routine was just being used, I had used the same serum day and night. The next night-time product I have is The Face Shop’s Jeju Volcanic Lava Pore Serum, I mainly use it around my nose and cheeks to combat the oilier spots.

After that, I would occasionally use The Ordinary’s Alpha Arbutin 2% HA Serum. This is only used for a few days to quicken the disappearance of my hyper-pigmentation from pimples, I started this back in late December or early January and I’ve been loving it!

The next product is one that I only use when it gets super warm (12°C and up), and it helps to control how oily I get the next morning alongside the Pore Serum from The Face Shop. This product is It’s Skin’s Power 10 VB Effector with Vitamin B6 (the green one), for sebum control. It does lie heavy on the skin a little bit though, especially if you’ve layered something under it as well.

Then comes the product I used to use in the mornings, The Face Shop’s Green Tea Waterful Serum. It’s a good moisturizer, but like the emulsion and toner, it doesn’t necessarily give any outstanding benefits. Now that I’ve tried more products, it’s a good moisturizer but works best when you use an actual cream or etc over it. Using the product alone probably won’t be enough for those with dry/combo skin.

For eye cream, I do a similar thing like I do with my sunblock. I have two different ones that I alternate, one is The Face Shop’s Calendula Moisture Eye Cream and the other is O HUI’s Age Recovery Eye Cream (purple container). I remember reading that using anti-aging products constantly before you need them causes your skin to become used to it, and therefore making it kind of ineffective in the future. However I read something in contrast as well, about how it’s not too early to start because it like lessens the chance or amount of wrinkles you get or something.

Personally though, I’m probably not the one to go to for an affirmative answer for this. However, taking in both possible sides of the story, and having about half a tub of eye cream left from my “30 days of anti-aging products” experiment. I decided to use the regular eye cream daily, and the anti-aging one once a week. Not the best solution I supposed, but it’s not like my mom can use it when she’s trying to get through her own tub…But because the anti-aging one is small, it’s travel friendly! Best be sure that it’s coming with me to Montreal for the weekend!

Finally, for my last skincare step. I use a moisturizer to kind of lock in everything, which kind of seems excessive because I’m on the oilier side of combo skin. However, I’ve seen a decrease in how oily I get when I get up, so I think it works…but only with lighter products. In the past I’ve used The Face Shop’s Chia Seed No Shine Hydrating Cream (a little heavy to be honest) and Belif’s Aqua Bomb (it’s wonderful and I have one unopened tub waiting).

Currently though, I’m trying to get through a tub of The Face Shop’s Calendula Essential Moisture Cream, and Laneige’s Water Bank Moisture Cream. I actually had one to start with, however I got the Laneige cream through a giveaway and wanted to try it ASAP. Then because I had already opened and tested it, I use it as a primer (because it smoothes the skin a little). It;s actually so shocking because the product isn’t really made for combo skin, but I actually like it! Just don’t use more than a little dallop, or it will sit a little heavy on the skin.

Anyways, I hope this blog post isn’t a little too long for you guys! I tend to write rather short posts in the past and I’ve been trying to change that since then, so let me know if you prefer longer posts like these, medium posts or shorter posts! Also let me know about any products you’d like me to try in the future!