I just wanted to get started with a post about the skincare I use daily. I've tried out so many products that claim to perform miracles, but taking into consideration the active ingredients/product you get for your money, this is what works for me.
Now it's winter my skin isn't as oily, but generally I have combination normal/oily skin that gets congested quite easily. The main thing I want to talk about is EXFOLIATION. It's something I do in some form every day and has had a wicked effect on my skin.
Exfoliation as we knew it as teens involved using foaming cleansers with scrubby beads or ground up seeds. (Yes- Clean & Clear, St. Ives Apricot Scrub, I'm looking at you!!).
This is the WORST THING I EVER DID to my skin. I never had reeeally bad spots, just blackheads. What felt like squeaky clean skin was actually the alcohol in the foaming cleansers stripping the epidermis of oils it needed, leaving it shiny and dry, making it produce more oil. Not helping spotty manky teen skin at all! The granular scrubs are highly abrasive- especially when you're rubbing them in like there's no tomorrow to obliterate the blackheads- and damaged my skin, leaving it thin, sensitive and prone to redness.
Exfoliation is key to preventing spots and giving you glowing skin- it lifts away dead skin cells, preventing the pores from blocking and revealing the glowing new skin cells below. It also evens the skin tone- reducing the appearance of the scars and discolouration from any previous spots. But trust me, there are much more efficient and gentler ways than those I've just mentioned!!
The cleanser I've been using for a couple of years is Liz Earle's Cleanse & Polish. This will be no suprise to some of you- it's a British brand that's done the rounds on beauty blogs and is every blogger's saviour cleanser.
What is it:
It's a non-foaming, cream cleanser.You slather it on day and night to a dry face and it breaks down any make-up and grime (even mascara). Then you use the muslin cloth that comes with it to gently buff it all off- at the same time gently polishing away dead skin cells. A little tip is to use your muslin cloth folded up so it retains the warmth of the water to open your pores. I also do a double cleanse- first to remove everything then to deep cleanse with the cloth. Because it's creamy, this has only a positive effect on the skin. It smells very herbal and leaves your skin feeling clean but supple and hydrated afterwards- kind of springy.
Ingredients:
I'm a big fan of using natural ingredients where possible. If you look at the back of the bottle, you can see that there are several active plant-based ingredients. The closer an ingredient to the beginning of the list, the higher the concentration within the product. This cleanser has high concentrations of cocoa butter, beeswax and hops extract. The first two are natural moisturisers, something which in the past I would have avoided like the plague. I thought moisturising = oily, but now know your skin needs moisture to function optimally and balance it's oiliness.
I think I had this opinion because many of the cheaper 'moisturising' products I had tried contained mineral oil and they broke my skin out with spots. Mineral oil is a waste material from the production of gasolene, it's very cheap for companies to obtain and sell to you at a good mark-up, by stamping the word 'moisturising' all over the bottle. It's a heavy oil that the skin finds diffucult to absorb, because it isn't a natural oil. This means that it forms a film over the skin and clogs the pores, causing spots and stopping your skin from 'breathing'.
You will notice the absence of mineral oil in this cleanser, instead being replaced by natural moisturisers. It contains plant-sourced Glycerin which is actually a humectant, attracting moisure from the atmosphere to aid hydration.
The hops extract is a really mild astringent and toner so helps to purify and balance the skin without stripping it of it's natural oils.
The Verdict:
Soo this cleanser works by a) the whole exfoliation bit that's involved, sloughing off the dead skin, and b) not stripping the skin- naturally toning and moisturising to help the skin retain its balance. I think this product is fine for oily skins- I've been trying to counteract my oiliness with natural oils and I really think this cleanser has helped to balance that out. The gentle daily exfoliation is keeping my skin clear, more even-toned and bright, instead of the pale dead skin I used to have. I think it would be good for normal/dry skins, polishing away the crappy dull skin and moisturising the layer underneath. However, for very dry skins I would recommend the use of a more oil-based or balm cleanser with a muslin cloth for even more hydration.
It costs £14.25 for the starter kit which is the 100ml bottle and 2 muslin cloths. As long as you look after your cloths, washing them and drying them flat, you shouldn't need to purchase them every time. A bottle this size lasts me about 3 months, I haven't replaced my muslin cloths since last Christmas and they still work great. The bottle on it's own is £12.75. This is a reasonable price for a top quality cleanser, compared to some of the pricey high-end brands that use less natural and active ingredients. It's definitely worth every penny, too.
The only downside is that with the pump bottle, you can't tell when you're going to run out. It works out slightly cheaper to get the 200ml tube so I'd recommend going for that once you get into it. There also small sample sizes available if you want to have a try!
Sidenote- I'm hoping to try this baby out after Christmas.. I'll let you know how I get on :)
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| Image from http://uk.lizearle.com |
My next post will be about what I use to do a proper exfoliation.. no scrubbing involved!!
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