Helping Blemished Skin: Part Five - My Skincare Routine & Favourites (Extras)

I'm sad to say that this will be my last post in my Blemished Skin Series! I've really enjoyed writing this series as blemished skin is a subject that is 'close to my heart.' I hope that you've found it useful in one way or another and do let me know if you have! This is the second part of my Skin Care Routine & Favourites and you can view the first part of it here which includes cleansing, toning and moisturising. This part of the series includes my favourite 'extras.'

Liz Earle Deep Cleansing Mask* To see my full review of this product click here.

Boots Tea Tree & Witch Hazel Peel Off Face Mask. I love peel off masks as they're great for refining the pores and this certainly does the job. It sets pretty quickly, smells fresh and loves skin looking refined and clear. It also mops up any excess oil.

Dirty Works Face Mask* This is a clay mask which is great for drawing impurities from the skin. This sets well and is very easy to remove. After use, my skin feels really soft and my pores are less noticeable. 

Proactiv Refining Mask* To see my full review of this product click here.

Liz Earle Intensive Nourishing Treatment Mask* To see my full review of this product click here.

St Ives Apricot Scrub Blemish Fighting St Ives scrubs are very famous and if you're confused as to why my packaging is different to that on the website it's because they've been repackaged. I love this scrub as it's great at removing dead skin and leaving skin looking brighter and clearer. But not only that, it also removes excess oil and fights blackheads and blemishes.

Dirty Works Face Scrub* This is quite possibly my all time favourite face scrub. It's very minty which refreshes the skin and really wakes it up. It's also wonderful at refining the pores and removing dead skin gently.

Dr Nick Lowe Spot Gel* I use this during the day time as it's strong but also pretty moisturising and doesn't dry the skin out. Whereas at night time I use the Pan Oxyl 10 Acnegel. As well as the Cor soap, this is my #1 must-have for blemished skin. You can only get Pan Oxyl from behind the counters but it's only around the £4.00 mark. I've mentioned it many times on my blog but it's truly a life saver. Once again, spot size will be reduced within a few hours and normally the spots have gone by the next day. The only problem with this spot treatment is that when you first start using it, it's very drying. My skin was an absolute mess but luckily, I continued using the product and discovered it's magical properties! There are different strengths and I recommend starting off on a low one and working your way up to the perfect strength for you.

xxx

*PR Sample

Helping Blemished Skin: Part Two - Getting Into Routine

Here is part one of my Helping Blemished Skin series. In case you've just stumbled across my blog, here is my introduction post so you can find out more about this series.

A skincare routine is essential for healthy looking skin and without one, it's very rare that your skin will be clear. There are three (sometimes two depending on your preferences) essential steps to a skin care routine with a few extra add ons depending on your skins needs. I'd just like to say now that I'm not a dermatologist and I've never been trained in skin care. What I know is from my own experiences and what I say may not necessarily work for your skin as every skin type is different. When I'm explaining some of these steps, it may seem like I'm talking to you like a child but I thought I might as well go right back to the basics! The products featured in the pictures are my favourite products and I'll be going into more detail about each one of them in the my skin care routine post.

Step 1 - Cleansing

Cleansing the skin is so important for everything, not just people with blemished skin. In the morning it refreshes your skin and removes all the dirt that has crept into your pores overnight and at night, it removes your days make up to prevent your pores from clogging up and causing breakouts. The face washes above are my favourite and when it comes down to telling you about my skin care routine, I'll go into more detail about these items. But as you can see, 2 out of the 5 items are foaming cleansers and these are said to be the best for blemished skin. I don't understand why and I believe that any form of face wash can work. The Cor soap is actually a soap and soaps aren't exactly highly recommended for the skin but this soap is a miracle worker and like a normal soap, it doesn't dry the skin out.

Step 2 - Toning

It's arguable whether or not toning is an important step in your skin care routine. I personally do tone and that's mainly because I like the feel of it. It leaves a tingling sensation on your skin and you removes any excess make up or dirt that your cleanser may have missed. Be careful when choosing a toner though as some contain a lot of alcohol that strips the skin and makes your skin a dry mess.

Step 3 - Moisturising

Possibly the most important step in every skin care routine. Moisturising provides an excellent base for make up and balances the skin out. What I've come to notice with blemished skin is that using a moisturiser aimed at blemished skin isn't necessarily that good as they tend to strip the skin of its natural moisture and once again, leave it a dry mess. If you do have blemished skin, I'd say go for a moisturiser aimed at combination skin as this will prevent your skin from shining whilst retaining its moisture. It'll also not block up the pores and therefore won't allow breakouts. Unless of course you have very oily skin then go for a mattifying moisturiser. My favourite moisturisers also includes a No7 night cream; I believe it's important to have a separate night moisturiser as your skin is completely different whilst sleeping.

Step 4 - Exfoliating

I generally exfoliate two times a week and I do this to remove the dead skin cells from my skin. It's important for people with blemished skin to exfoliate in order to unblock the pores and prevent further breakouts. Another reason I exfoliate is because I do have skin scarring which my blemishes have left.. exfoliating regularly will eventually get rid of these. They do tend to go after a few years but there's no harm in speeding up the process is there?!

Step 5 - Face Masks

I absolutely love using face masks! I use them around 2-3 times a week and depending on how my skin feels depends on the type of face mask I'll use. I either use a peel off face mask, a clay mask or a nourishing mask. A peel off ones is one that applies clear, dries and then you peel it off (the clue is in the name). After this, all the impurities have been drawn out of your skin and you're left with refined pores and clear skin. A clay mask is similar except from it's basically clay that you apply to your face, leave to set and then wash off. It helps to close the pores up and it leaves your skin feeling super soft. And finally, I'll use a nourishing mask whenever I have an active breakout and this is because my breakouts are painful most of the time and these help to nurture the breakout.

Step 6 - Speciality Products

By speciality products I mean spot treatments. These are important in your skin care routine but finding one that works for you is definitely a challenge. Spot treatments are wonderful as they're concentrated and really help to clear up active breakouts. You apply them straight to the spot once or twice a day and the spot is generally reduced within 5 hours and gone within 3 days.

What does your skin care routine consist of?

xxx

UPDATED: Skincare Routine

It's been a while since I've done an updated skincare routine and the same for haircare - that shall follow very soon! 

Cleansers

At time moment I'm switching between two cleansers. In mornings I use Purity's Facial Wash, this really refreshes my skin and soothes it leaving it feel soft and supple. It also makes my skin feel incredible fresh and ready to face the day. I have used this on a full face of make up as well and it removes all make up and even eye make up. I've even gotten this in my eyes a few times and it doesn't sting - perfect! As for night time, I'm sticking with my trusty Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish because it really gives a lovely deep clean.

 Face Scrubs

I'm currently switching between St Ives Invigorating Apricot Scrub and Purity's Facial Exfoliator. The St Ives is quite a harsh scrub but it really does the job wonderfully and on the plus side, it smells like babies! Well maybe not babies, but like Johnson's baby lotion. The Purity exfoliator is lovely and it's quickly becoming my favourite. The grains do an amazing job at brightening my skin and get deep down into my pores yet it's incredibly soft and has a sort of cream formula. This moisturises my skin at the same time as exfoliating it. I'm in love with it!

Face Masks

Yes they're all Liz Earle! I currently use these all once a week and this includes Liz Earle's Intensive Nourishing Treatment Mask, Brightening Treatment Mask and the Deep Cleansing Mask. I really cannot find any better face masks than the Liz Earle ones and there's always going to be one for your skintype. I use the Nourishing mask when my skin is in need of a moisture boost, the Brightening one when my skin is looking dull and the Deep Cleansing one when my skin is an oily, spotty mess! And they really work. 

Specials

For my spots I'm still using my Liz Earle Spot On which is incredible at zapping spots and soothing them at the time same. For my eyes I'm using Liz Earle's Daily Eye Repair which is just incredible, I've seen an improvement around my eyes since using this and it also works instantly! And then at nighttime before my moisturiser I'm using Liz Earle's Superskin Concerntrate in order to soften my scarring and after I've used this for around 6 weeks, I'll be posting a review :)

Moisturisers

In the day I use Liz Earle's Skin Repair Moisturiser in Normal/Combination and then at night time, I use Purity's Regenerating Overnight Moisturiser. The Purity moisturiser is incredible. It's of a medium texture and it sinks so well into the skin, so much so that if my skin is dry one day, I'll use this instead of my Liz Earle one even though it's an overnight moisturiser.

Overall you can see that I mainly use Liz Earle and Purity with the added extra of the St Ives scrub. I really love both of these brands because they're natural and work for my skin type. Purity skincare is completely organic and I recommend checking out their website here. Every Liz Earle product that has been mentioned here has been reviewed elsewhere on my blog and you view these here.

I should also mention that my skintype is combination and is prone to blemishes. However with this skincare routine, my skin isn't dry or oily, it's just normal you could say. And I don't get blemishes often at all. I was wondering if I should do a sort of 'spot blog post' as I used to suffer with them terribly and I'd love to help current sufferers out? Let me know :)

What skincare products are you currently using?

xxx