it’s not hoarding if it’s skincare.

Okay so I know what you’re thinking, favorite skin care products “at the moment” what does that even mean, don’t you stick to what you like and what works for you and never change it? But, just like everything else, skin care is constantly evolving. Being a licensed aesthetician, I’m lucky to be a part of an industry that provides tons of information on products and be in a job that lets me try tons of different skin care products—for discounted prices or for FREE! So since I’m a major product junkie, I currently have been doing a skincare routine daily/nightly that I’m obsessing over. I split up the products as to what I do at night time and my daytime routine, and give you a short breakdown as to why I use the products I use. I have dry skin that can be very reactive, so anything that has a ton of ingredients that can cause activity to the face, I usually steer clear of because my face will turn beat red and burn. I also feel like I try new products so often that it’s sometimes hard to stick to a set routine when adding new things to the mix. So with that being said, here are my top picks:

1.  Bare Minerals Pure Plush Gentle Deep Cleansing Foam Cleanser
2. Bare Minerals Skin Longevity Vital Power Infusion Serum
3. Neocutis Lumiere Bio Restorative Eye Cream
4. Neocutis Bio Restorative Cream
5. Image Skincare Prevention Plus Daily Matte Moisturizer SPF 32
6. Radha Beauty Rosehip Seed Oil
7. Image Skincare Vital C Enzyme Masque
8. Image Skincare MD Restoring Youth Cream
9. Image Skincare MD Restoring Overnight Retinol Masque
10. Image Skincare Ormedic Balancing Lip Enhancement Complex

Below is a break down of my day time and night time routines:

Daily Skin Care Routine:

  1. Bare Minerals Pure Plush Gentle Deep Cleansing Foam Cleanser– I have been using this cleanser for what feels like eternity. It’s super creamy, and turns into a rich foamy lather. I love this cleanser because my skin always feels clean after and doesn’t feel like rubber after I use it.
  2. Bare Minerals Skin Longevity Vital Power Infusion Serum-Okay, this is a product I literally cannot live without. I have been using this for years and cannot imagine life without it. It’s supposed to help reduce visible signs of aging and damage, improve skin’s resiliency and suppleness, and protect the skin against age accelerating factors. It also replenishes your skin’s vitality and natural glow. It’s very light, it never feels oily or greasy. One pump is all I use and that covers my entire face. It makes my skin feel light, soft and gives it a beautiful glow.
        
  3. Neocutis Lumiere Bio Restorative Eye Cream– I recently just started using this eye cream, and I’m in love. This eye cream is the only eye cream that I have found that doesn’t irritate my eyes. It helps hydrate and reduce the appearance of aging around the eye area. It also gives a nice highlight effect on the area I use it in, which is an added bonus!
  4. Neocutis Bio Restorative Cream-the product details for this cream reads, “Growth factors, antioxidants and matrix proteins, including collagen, revive skin while boosting firmness, elasticity and brightness.”—sold! I mean this product is perfect for anti aging and it’s non greasy, goes on very smoothly!
  5. Image Skincare Prevention Plus Daily Matte Moisturizer SPF 32– I’ve been wearing Sunblock every day for a few years now, (prior to being an aesthetician I used to work for a dermatologist)and I truly believe it’s magic. The matte makes it feel light and not super greasy which if you haven’t noticed I steer far away from. This SPF has zinc oxide in it which acts as a physical block from the sun, which means I am preventing my skin from any further sun damage! A win win!

 

Nightly Skin Care Routine:

  1. Bare Minerals Pure Plush Gentle Deep Cleansing Foam Cleanser– I normally use only this cleanser both morning and night.
  2. Radha Beauty Rosehip Seed Oil– I’ve been using this oil for about a year on and off, it is filled with antioxidants and fatty acids, it also has a lot of Vitamin A and if you’re familiar with vitamin A, you know that retinol is vitamin A, which is essential for fighting aging skin! I also, really love this oil, because it’s not “oily.” I have dry skin, so my skin absorbs it almost immediately and doesn’t feel like it’ll come off on my pillow.
      
  3. Image Skincare Vital C Enzyme Masque (2 nights a week) – This is the exfoliant I have been using for the past year. I like this exfoliant because it’s not a physical scrub so I don’t have to sit and try to get all the tiny micro beads off my face. Also, anything from Image Skincare’s Vital C line smells like a dream, if your dreams consist of oranges.

Quick lesson: if you’re not exfoliating stop what you’re doing, buy an exfoliant and start exfoliating your skin twice a week! Exfoliation is essential for healthy skin. By removing the dead skin cells off your face, your skin will be instantly smoother and brighter. It will also help with product penetration as the product won’t have to fight through the dead skin to penetrate deeper into the skin. If you’re exfoliating more than twice a week, again stop what you’re doing and don’t exfoliate more than twice a week! Exfoliating too much will strip the skin of its natural oils and overproduce oil which in turn will make you oily, and possibly breakout.

  1. Neocutis Lumiere Bio Restorative Eye Cream– I’m obsessed with this eye cream that I have to use it morning and night!
  2. Image Skincare MD Restoring Overnight Retinol Masque (3 nights a week)-Retinol is a must if you’re over the age of 30. Retinol is an ingredient that helps with cell turnover, which in turn helps with the skin’s aging process. Quick lesson: In our 20s our cells turn over every 28 days, in our 30s they turn over every 38 days, 40s-48 days, get where I’m going with this? So by introducing retinol into your daily routine, or even a weekly routine, helps speed up the metabolism of the skin, therefore you help prevent further fine lines and wrinkles from occurring and lots of products help reduce the appearance of aging that is already present. So this masque is great for someone that hasn’t used retinol before and wants to slowly add it to their nighttime routine because you only apply it two to three times a week.
  3. Image Skincare MD Restoring Youth Cream– This is a great cream to wear on nights I’m not using the retinol mask. This cream not only has retinol but it also has glycolic acid and vitamin c. This cream along with every other skincare product I own helps fight the signs of aging lol!
  4. Image Skincare Ormedic Balancing Lip Enhancement Complex– Another product I literally cannot live without. I suffer from very sensitive lips; anything I apply to my lips causes me to breakout into tiny bumps. This is one of the very few lip products that I can apply, especially in excess and not have any breakouts. It plumps up my lips and if I apply it at night before bed, I wake up and can still feel it on my lips in the morning. It’s incredible. Waking up with smooth, hydrated kissable lips is everything!

 

“Beautiful skin requires a commitment, not a miracle.”

Can you tell how much I love skin care products? It’s a slight addiction. This can seem very overwhelming for some, which is understandable since it’s a lot of products! I’ll be honest I’m extremely diligent with my daytime routine. Every day every product is applied unless I’m staying inside on the couch all day then it’s a waste of product in my opinion, lol! But I’m a lot more lax with my night time routine. Some days I just let my skin breathe. I never ever go to bed with a dirty face, and you shouldn’t either! If you can’t stick to a routine just make sure you’re cleansing your skin morning and night and then slowly build from there.

Please share your thoughts and opinions on your favorite skin care products! I’d love to hear from you!