Ever wondered what my geeky face looks like without the makeup I swear by? Well here it is girls. Not going to lie, good lighting plus a 50 mm lens do make your skin look nicer – so honestly, this is me without makeup on a good day. Speaking of skin, caring for mine is one of my passions in life – from the foods I eat to the hours I sleep including the toners, moisturizers, balms, oils and so forth that I use everyday. I take great pride in a blemish free complexion – it’s probably one of my strengths, aesthetically speaking. So for my final ‘On the Go Beauty’ post with Bobbi Brown, I wanted to share some of my skincare rituals as well as my favourite products that I use morning and night. As you girls know, I am constantly between two the cities I call home and my life has had to become somewhat portable including my skincare regime – so, I wanted to share the products I bring with me everywhere, wherever I am.
I like to wash my face twice, yes twice with 2 different cleansers – and I will do this morning (before makeup) and night (before bed). After some toner (I really love Bobbi Brown’s, but I’ve shared that with you before, take a look here) – I will moisturize. Hydrating my skin is practically a mini religion of mine, after being scolded by a dermatologist for not moisturizing sufficiently, I made a steadfast rule to be diligent about it. Also girls, you need two different moisturizers for day and night – (another fact I wasn’t aware of until about a year ago) – basically your day moisturizer is lighter and SPF loaded and as for night time, it’s a little oilier, creamier and contains no SPF. My duo of choice is Bobbi Brown, and I’ll tell you why. I’m not a fan of heavily scented skincare products – they just don’t seem natural to me and anything unnatural is not going anywhere near my face. Bobbi Brown’s moisturizers are so lightly scented – and delicate too, not at all overwhelming in scent nor consistency. And alternating between their day and night moisturizers has not broken my skin out whatsoever, I find so many other brands have messed with the oil balance of my skin, causing havoc on my complexion. Their day cream sits beautifully underneath my makeup and I even use it instead of a base before my foundation. As for night time, well it has formed a crucial part in my pre-bedtime ritual, it’s jam packed with all kinds of great things like almond oil, shea butter, green tea, vitamin E – and such a soothing cream to put on.
Then there are some magical products I use once or twice a week, depending on the state of my skin. First up, is Bobbi Brown’s Extra Repair Serum – now girls, I adore this stuff, if there were such a thing as a milkshake for your skin, it would be this. Now it is rather expensive, but really worth the money, a bottle lasts a long time because you only really have to use it occasionally. It’s an basically an injection of extra moisture for when your skin is especially dry – and it’s such a dreamy liquid absorbing immediately into the skin. Probably my favourite Bobbi Brown product ever! A close second is Bobbi’s extra face oil, again an additional moisturizer that I like to rub onto my cheeks, necks and forehead (avoid t-zone!) to help keep my skin plump and protected. Finally, I like to use Bobbi Brown’s Buffing Grains once a week too – you can add some of these to water or your face cleanser, to scrub your face a little extra, get rid of dry skin and speed up new skin cell turnover. They are not at all rough or sharp at all – but are similar to the consistency of oats and have a grainy, natural smell which I love.
And then there are my lips – as a lipstick aficionado and city-dweller, I am constantly challenged with chapped lips, especially as the weather starts to get colder. Sadly, I am not referring to a little bit of dryness, I am talking painfully cracked and dry to the point where any lipgloss or lipstick just looks horrible. So to deal with such woes, I apply two types of balm and they are always within arm’s reach, wherever I am. First up is Bobbi’s standard lip balm, packaged up in a little silver tin and pumped with olive oil – I will apply this with the same rigour that I drink coffee, about 5 times a day. Then for night time or in extreme cases of dry lips, I’ll reach for something called the Extra Soothing Balm (I talked about this product before, take a look here) – it’s wonderful and you can use it everywhere from your cheeks, nails, lips – I’ll even use it on my feet and knees. I’m addicted, so much so, it has a permament home on my nightt stand and if for some reason it’s not there at bedtime, I have to go find it before I go to sleep.
And there you have it girls, I hope you can take some of my advice and use it yourself. As always, striving to inspire you in any way I can. Don’t forget to nourish your body from the inside too with 8 + hours of sleep a night, minimal alcohol and plenty of fruits and vegetables – cosmetics are important but they will only work if you are diligent in your everyday habits too. In my early twenties, my bad habits weren’t really reflected in my skin but at 26, that has sadly changed – and so I’ve had to become more careful and responsible in order to save my complexion. If you have any tips of your own, I would love to hear them! My best friend and I have endless beauty conversations, ‘spa nights’ together at her apartment are what we fill our time with now that we rarely go out at night on the weekends and seeing as you are all friends too, let’s discuss!
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