Current skincare routine

The last few weeks/month or so was super stressful and busy for me, hence the huge gap in between each post. I was nearing my graduation, which meant final exams and projects. It just also happened to be in the month of November/December when everyone is going full speed planning from Christmas, which means crazy shifts at work as well.

I meant to do this post a long time ago, regarding my skincare routine, my completely revised routine that helped improve my skin by 100 times. In my earlier posts, I posted about an Algenist regime that I had been going through, that had helped tone down the inflammation of my acne, but not completely take it away. But recently, I switched to two skincare brands: Cle De Peau and Revive.

Cle De Peau is a high end Japanese brand owned by Shiseido. The reason why many have not heard of it, is because it is still a very exclusive and luxurious brand, and in all of British Columbia, you can only find it in one location, which is Holt Renfrew.
Revive is another high end American skincare brand under the same company as Laura Mercier. This brand focuses on science in skincare that helps to retexturize and hydrate the skin.

So with that little introduction done, lets get down to my routine!

1. Cleanse (Using Cle De Peau Refreshing Cleansing Foam)

 If you ever do your research for Cle De Peau skincare, you'll realize that most of the products are split into Gentle and Refreshing. Gentle is good for those that are more dry/combination skin, and Refreshing is suitable for those that are acne proned/oily/combination skin.
This cleansing foam is probably the best and current only cleanser I've used that will do it's job without drying out the skin. Usually, a cleanser's job is to get rid of impurities on the skin, which means excess oils and dirts that are leftover on the surface of your skin. This also means it will strip and take away some of the oil that we need to retain our skin's natural moisture.

2. Tone (Cle De Peau Gentle Balancing Lotion)

Using the Cle De Peau cotton pads (click to see why you should apply toners/emulsions using cotton pads instead of your hands), I apply the balancing lotion starting from my t-zone and working my way out. The purpose of the toner is to bring the Ph of your skin to balance. So whether you have more dry or oily skin, it is going to bring it to a regular skin type. This well help prep your skin, so that you can feel the rest of your skincare that go over feel more deeply penetrated into the skin.











3. Serum (Cle De Peau Brightening Serum)

Serums are a little bit like your moisturizer's side kick. It will help you fix problems quicker, allowing deeper penetration because of the consistency of the product compared to a thicker cream. It could either be for blemishes, anti-aging, brightening, dullness, environmental damages, pores, oil control, hydration, evening out skin tone, etc.
For me, I needed my serum to help me hydrate as well as brighten (to help get rid of the pigmentation and acne scars that had formed after my acne had healed, but unfortunately not the scars). Cle De Peau's brightening serum does not use vitamin C or any glycolic acid that causes skin to be sensitive to sun damage, therefore it can be used for both day and night.








4. Condition during the day (Cle De Peau Refreshing Nourishing Emulsion)

 In the day time, we want to hydrate and prep your skin for makeup application to go on smoother. This also means we want a moisturizer that isn't oily, and will allow your foundation to hold onto your skin. We don't want it to just sit on top of the skin where the foundation will easily move out of place. This is why I like using Cle De Peau's light emulsion. I use this both during day and night. During the day I use it alone with my toner and serum, and during the night, I layer another night cream on top for extra hydration.










5. Moisturize during the night (Revive ultra retexturing hydrator)


This product was literally the miracle cream, that in my opinion made the most impact on the improvement of my skin. The main ingredient being glycolic acid, it completely helps to retuxturize your skin and deeply hydrate so your skin feels rejuvenated and radiant. The glycolic acid also helps get rid and prevent future acne as well as help to smooth out the texture of the skin.
For some people with extra sensitive skin, you may feel a little bit of a tingle, but not to worry, it is just the ingredient settling into your skin. But remember, glycolic acid, although works wonders, it does make your skin more sensitive to sun damage, so be aware that you are only using this during the night time. And do not forget your sunscreen!






6. Protect with SPF (Estee Lauder sunscreen SPF 50)

If your primer/foundation/tinted moisturizer does not include an SPF, please make sure you are wearing sunscreen especially if you are using treatments that help with pigmentation/help to lighten your skin. Even if you're just going out to the office, or are going to be at a friend's day all day, they build up of the little times your skin is in contact with the sun will make a huge impact on how fast your skin ages when you reach a certain age. So if we can start preventing, why not start asap! And it's just a simple step of applying your sunscreen.










Weekly treatments (in no particular order):

1. Cle De Peau Massage Cream

I didn't start using this until about 95% of my acne was cleared. This product does many things:

a. hydrates
b. firms (tightens the skin)
c. helps to increase blood circulation)

For me, I needed it to hydrate and to help with blood circulation. The reason why, is because any darkness in your skin is caused by something called melanin that comes to the surface of your skin. Massaging the skin will help to break apart the melanin, making it easier for my serum to brighten up those dark spots.


2. Cle De Peau deep cleansing oil

You've probably heard this a million times already, but beautiful makeup means firstly having beautiful skin. If you don't exfoliate, or get rid of that gross layer of dead skin trapped on the surface of your skin, you can't expect your foundation to go on smoothly, no matter how expensive or hydration the formula is.

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My final advice here for those acne proned people is to be consistent with your routine. Be patient, and most importantly, don't lose hope in your skincare! The worst thing you can do to yourself is consistently be changing your routine because you feel like it isn't doing anything. But acne is a difficult thing to treat, and skincare and medication both take time to have affect. It took me a whole year to find my routine and clear my skin. For others, it may have taken longer. I know it is depressing watching a new pimple grow every day, but it'll get better I promise!

I hope this picture will motivate you to stay confident and believe that it will get better!

Thanks for reading!

It's a no makeup makeup look + pop of red lips!

Being in raincouver, it really does become a problem when you're trying to figure out with what to wear. Some days it may be blazing hot, and then it suddenly becomes winter weather pouring rain the next day. It makes your wardrobe so difficult, and when I leave the house I am not afraid to wear shorts on a sunny day, because it may start raining in the afternoon. I am also afraid of wearing a jacket on a rainy day because it may suddenly become like 30 degrees when it reaches the afternoon. What do I do!!!

I guess my solution has just become to wear light, and bring a cardigan. They're easy to carry, if it gets to hot, and when it's a little chilly, they'll keep me at least warm enough.
Today being a gloomy day, aka your typical Vancouver weather, I really wasn't in the mood to put on makeup. But, being a fashion student, and working in the cosmetics industry, it really isn't that easy to go out with my naked face anymore. Instead I decided to be trendy and do my no makeup makeup look ha! With, of course my favourite classic red lippy.

I've always loved Bite lipsticks, but the one I used for the first time (and love love loved!) is the exclusive one that only the one and only VIB Rouges from Sephora receive in their little congratulations kit. Obviously I've spent over $1000 in the last year... its only August ....what will happen to me in December???

Oh please excuse my beautiful roots, they will be touched up next Friday, and hopefully with an exciting new tone of blonde as well, yay :D 

So today, it literally took me about less than 10 minutes to do my makeup, and this is what I did.

1. SPF of course! Can't leave the house without that. Even when the days are yucky and cloudy, the sun still peaks through, and still damaging for our fragile skin. Especially that my skin has just been recovering lately from my acne outburst from the last few months. Read my post about how I treated my longly irritated and nasty acne here. Today I used my SPF 50 from Estee Lauder. It's super moisturizing and really nice for sensitive skins. It kind of has a bit of a green hint to it because cucumber is one of its ingredients, so it gives it a nice fresh smell instead of the yucky usual sunscreen smell. 

2. Next on the list, I applied my favourite Benefit Stay Flawless 15 hour wear primer that magnets your foundation or any complexion products right on to your face. It's perfect for that summer beach day where you don't want all your foundation to just sweat off. Even if you go to Asia, or those extremely humid locations for your vacay, you're going to want this primer to keep your makeup in tact. Even though Vancouver weather is pretty dry, I just like to have this on so that I don't have to keep touching it up throughout the day. I usually don't anyways... so if there is a product to prevent me from having to touch up my makeup, I need it! The plus size for buying it is also the extremely cute packaging that goes with Benefit's foundation collection. 

3. I don't have a picture of this one, because I actually took a sample of it home from Sephora. So always hearing all the rave about the Nars Sheer Glow foundation, I never cared to try it until now. I have to say, it really is an amazing foundation. It gives a light to medium coverage that is so natural, it really gives you that no makeup makeup kind of look. The consistency of the foundation is very liquidy, and doesn't give you the sticky feeling after you apply it at all. Of course, I like the healthy glow and dewy kind of finish, so the Sheer Glow line suited me well. If you're the type of person who doesn't like that nice shine, they have a second line of foundation called the Sheer Matte. Try that instead, you'll probably like that a lot better. The good thing is that even though it gives a matte finish, it won't dry out your skin, so don't worry about that!
I applied the foundation using Sephora's Pro Finish brush in #55. This brush gives your skin a nice airbrushed finish, and if you wanted a bit of a heavier finish, you can go ahead and use the classic flat foundation brush instead.

4. The Bite lipstick from the VIB Rouge packet is this cute little mini size! So for those who are not familiar with Bite products, they are absolutely phenomenal, and you should definitely try it if you are a lipstick lover, and haven't tried it yet. Why should you try it you ask! Well! I'll be glad to answer that curious question of yours. It is a completely natural and cruelty free lipstick that uses colours from natural fruits. In other words, its a lipstick that is healthy for you to eat. That's very important for a lipstick, because how much of the lipstick do you apply that ends up on your food or in your mouth when you lick your lips? Yupp, that's right, if the makeup product is something that you are constantly eating, you really want to find something that you can actually eat, and not just always swallowing a bunch of chemicals and artificial colours. Did I mention that they're super pigmented and last alllll day??

5. To add a bit of colour to my face, since I used a very bold lip colour, I don't want to leave out my cheeks, otherwise I'll look super flushed and sick and pale. Here, I'm using the blush and bronzer trio from Nars, I'm only using the Laguna Bronzer. It's a really nice and light milky brown that doesn't add too much definition to my fair skin. It has a tiny bit of shimmer, but is not so visible once you apply it on to your skin. 

To apply, I used the E.L.F slanted bronzer brush. I like using this one because it gives me a lot of control, as the shape of the brush goes perfectly along under my cheekbones. 

6. Lastly, I can't forget my eyebrows! I'll look like a zombie or something if I don't have them on, and people will run away from me if they see me.... Anyways, I'm using the Anastasia brow powder duo in the colour blonde. Most of Anastasia's brow products are either waterproof or are super longwear, so if you have no eyebrows or little eyebrows like me, I really recommend their eyebrow line, because they LITERALLY stay on all day. Unless you roll around in bed with your face in your pillow...then I guess you should use brown gel instead haha. 

So anyways, this is my final result, a nice natural school day kind of makeup that is appropriate for those lazy bums that want to add a bit of glamour to your day, but not having too much on. If you're someone who is used to having bold makeup, I dare you to try this! I believe that every girl should have a red lipstick as part of their accessories. 

Thank you for reading, and I hope wherever you are that it's not raining like Vancouver... unless you're here, then I guess you have to suffer with me... Bye!

-Carol

#nowplaying: City of Dreams - Alesso