Essentials: My Daily Skincare Regime

Having a mum who qualifies as a beauty therapist, the importance of CTM has forever been instilled within me. That is of course...Cleanse, Tone and Moisturise. But I think with the beauty industry as booming as it is today and the amount of endless products available to us (causing unmanageable decision making btw!) no 21st century girl has missed the boat when it comes to CTM. Everyone knows it’s as much a regular in our everyday lives as sleeping and always carrying a lipgloss!

But they’re honestly more products out there than decent men, I’m sure of it! For every man that has left you waiting, left your newly styled hair unnoticed or forgotten your birthday, there is a new hair mask, a night cream or an oatmeal and honey infused body butter that is screaming your name. This is great as it provides a small compensation for a bad date and adds a new friend to your collection but when it comes to choosing which one’s right for you, it’s like deciding between The Hills and One Tree Hill...you just can’t do it!

Fortunately for me and I’m sure many others, my financial situation and lack of a job dictates which products are in my price range. This narrows it down to about 25% to choose from. Oh yeah, and of course my skin has some say in it too! So with a budget of a say £5 per product (give or take and with Liz Earle being my exception, we all have one!) these are the five that made it through the fight at Boots and on to my shelf:

‘Liz Earle’s Hot Cloth Cleanse and Polish’- I won’t repeat myself here as I have mentioned how heavenly I find this product in a previous post but I use this of a morning. It deeply cleans your skin of any excess oil that has appeared over night and the hot cloth method really helps to wake you up and rid you of those sleepy eyes.

‘Simple Eye Make-Up Remover’ – Simple is my friend as I seem to have quite sensitive skin and with their claim of ‘no perfume, colour or oil’, it leaves my skin un-irritated (and this one’s great if you have semi-permanent lashes in as its oil free). I use this every night to remove my eye make-up and it lasts me a good 4-5 months which is a bonus. It retails at £2.99 and is on offer in Boots at the moment as part of a 3 for 2!

‘Healthspan Soothing Cream Cleanser’- I was introduced to this brand by my mum, as usual! At the time I was using Garnier Cleanse and Toner but they really irritated my skin and brought me out in spots so mum suggested I try this and I’ve stuck with it since! That was about 9 months ago now. I use this cleanser every evening to remove my skin make-up. It’s smooth and refreshing, has a subtle smell and leaves my feeling soft and fresh, not at all oily which is very important to me as I suffer from an oily T zone. This retails at £4.45 on the Healthspan website.

‘Healthspan Gentle Toner’- Again this product was to replace the harsh Garnier Toner I was using at the time. I love Toner no matter what brand as it feels so soothing, cool and refreshing on your face. Although my personal favourite will remain Liz Earle’s ‘Instant Boost Skin Tonic’, uni days call for less beauty expenditures and so this toner is a cheap and cheerful alternative. It smells lovely and helps to revive my skin whilst removing any excess make-up or dirt that still remains after cleansing. I use this immediately after cleansing of an evening. I like this brand because like Simple and Liz Earle for that matter, they use all natural products. This also retails at £4.45 on the Healthspan website.

‘Simple Replenishing Rich Moisturiser’- Another Simple product which is a cheap substitute for my usual purchase of Liz Earle’s ‘Skin Repair Moisturiser’ (not that the two can be compared but this product does its job). There is a Light version of this moisturiser but I find that although I have an oily T zone, my cheeks can get very dry, especially in wintery weather so I went for the Rich one. I use this in the mornings after washing my face with the Cleanse and Polish, and of an evening after my shower or after cleansing and toning. It hydrates my skin which is what I ask of it, but it can make me slightly oily too. But what moisturiser doesn’t? After all that’s its job. This retails at £2.99 in Boots and is also in their 3 for 2 offer.

And there you have it. These are my skincare dailys and I wouldn’t be without them (cheap versions or expensive). I wonder what our skin would be like without these everyday routines...I like to think the ten minutes spent each morning and evening applying products helps in preventing or slowing down the aging process, or even preparing our skin for the inevitable! I have additional products such as spot fighters, blemish healers and skin exfoliants that I couldn’t live without but I’ll save those for another Essentials post.

Ps, Again apologies for a long post today! I’ll try to be better. What are your favourite daily skincare products? Are there any that you recommend?

[I DO NOT WORK FOR ANY OF THESE COMPANIES, THESE PRODUCTS ARE A PERSONAL PREFERENCE]