Hello Lovelies! Welcome back to my blog! :)
Over the past few months, I have really taken an interest in skincare. Skincare was definitely an area within the beauty community that I was never very fond of. I used to do the very basics; remove my makeup with makeup wipes (a sin in the beauty world I know!) and sometimes I even slept with my makeup on (eeeeekkk!). After attending training for Lancome and Clarins with work, my interest with skincare intensified.
My sister Róisín is 15 years old. Being a 15 year old is tough especially with the stress of the upcoming junior cert, friends and life in general. All these factors can contribute to the condition of your skin. This year for Christmas, I wanted to really push the importance of a good skincare routine for Róisín. Keeping your skin clean and hydrated is half the battle to clear skin. Of course, your diet and lifestyle can play an effect on your skins condition but I hoped that if I gave Róisín some skincare goodies, she might grow a passion for skincare like I did.
Working in a Pharmacy on a Beauty Counter, I have learnt first hand that changing a person's skincare routine needs to be completed in small steps. Although, there are a few people that can completely change their routine and excel with it, others prefer to slowly add and remove products from their routine. Firstly, I think this is down to the concept of change. I can speak from personal experience, I am a creature of habit, anything out of habit and I feel like I am thrown into the deep end. I need to make small baby steps with change to make sure that I am 100% comfortable. Secondly, I think it is all down to cost. People want to ensure that they are not wasting their money on products they won't use and won't get satisfaction from. This is completely understandable, I wouldn't want to buy a complete skincare routine if it was overwhelming and I never used it. For this Christmas, I decided to buy Róisín some skincare essentials that will begin her passion for skincare. Róisín isn't very interested in makeup so I thought skincare would be a great section for her to use daily.
Less of the babble and I will start with Róisín's skincare routine! :P
Róisín is a typical teenager; blackheads on her nose and hormonal spots. So far, all the girls in our house have been blessed with generally good skin. Róisín has normal to combination skin - oily t-zone and dry areas on your face. If Róisín gets any spots, they usually appear on her forehead or her chin. I think the spots on her forehead are from her fringe being worn down all the time.
With Róisín only being a teenager and only beginning with skincare, I wanted to start her skincare collection with the basics. I tried to pick up products that were for sensitive skin, just in case she had sensitive skin.
Before we begin with Róisín's morning and night routine, I wanted to show Róisín's skincare collection.
In Róisín's skincare there is:
-Nivea Sensitive Day Cream (SPF 15)
-Nivea Sensitive Night Cream
-Cien Gentle Facial Wash
-St. Ives Facial Exfoliator
-L'Oreal Clay Mask - Detoxify
-Pretty Nose Pore Strips
-Electronic Facial Cleansing Brush (Imitation of Clarisonic)
As you can see, it's very basic and simple but it is a starting point for her. I hope to add a toner, hydrating eye cream and other face masks in the future.
Remember, it's suggested that you start using an eye cream as soon as you begin to wear eye makeup. Although Róisín doesn't wear makeup frequently, a hydrating eye cream will be perfect for her and will ensure that no dry skin occurs around her eye area.
Remember, it's suggested that you start using an eye cream as soon as you begin to wear eye makeup. Although Róisín doesn't wear makeup frequently, a hydrating eye cream will be perfect for her and will ensure that no dry skin occurs around her eye area.
Róisín is a creature of habit and once she gets into the habit of something, she'll stick to it.
One item I gifted Róisín this year for Christmas was an electronic facial cleansing brush. It's a dupe for the Clarisonic and way more affordable. I loved the concept of the Clarisonic (you can imagine I was a very happy girl when I received one from Santa!), it's quick (only takes one minute to cleanse your whole face), it removes dirt that a manual cleanse can't and it's very user-friendly. Because Róisín was only beginning to dive into the sea of skincare, I wanted to pick up something cheap and cheerful for her to try out.
I was really happy with how Róisín fell in love with this item. If you watched my Christmas vlog, you would've seen Róisín use it immediately. She uses it twice daily; morning and night. She applies the Cien Gentle Facial Wash to the brush head and cleanses her face.
If you are looking to purchase the Clarisonic, buy an inexpensive one first. It will allow you to try the concept of an electronic facial brush and see if you enjoy it. I picked this one up from Ebay, type in 'facial brush' and thousands will appear!
1. Cleansing
-Róisín wets her face with warm water.
-She wets the head of the facial brush.
-She applies some of the Cien Gentle Facial Wash to the facial brush.
-She cleanses her face with the electronic brush. Starting with her forehead (20 seconds), cheeks (10 seconds each) and nose/t-zone (20 seconds). 1 minute cleansing total.
-She then rinses her face with warm water and cleans the facial brush.
2. Exfoliating
-Róisín will exfoliate her face twice a week to remove any dry skin.
-After cleansing her face, she will leave it damp and exfoliate her face with the St. Ives Sensitive Facial Exfoliator.
-Once she has exfoliated her face, she washes her face and pats it dry with a towel.
3. Moisturising
-Róisín's final step in her morning skincare routine is moisturiser.
-Róisín's current moisturiser is the Nivea Sensitive Day Cream with SPF 15. Her previous moisturiser was the Simple Light Moisturiser. Róisín prefers the Nivea cream as it feels thicker and more hydrating. The Nivea moisturiser has SPF too which is always a bonus!
1. Cleansing
-Róisín repeats the exact same cleansing steps as this morning.
-Róisín wets her face with warm water.
-She wets the head of the facial brush.
-She applies some of the Cien Gentle Facial Wash to the facial brush.
-She cleanses her face with the electronic brush. Starting with her forehead (20 seconds), cheeks (10 seconds each) and nose/t-zone (20 seconds). 1 minute cleansing total.
-She then rinses her face with warm water and cleans the facial brush.
2. Face Mask
-Similarly to exfoliating, Róisín likes to apply a face mask twice a week.
-Her favourite one at the moment is the L'Oreal Pure Clay Detox Face Mask.
-While her face is still damp from cleansing, Róisín applies the face mask with a foundation brush all over her face avoiding her eyes.
-She allows the face mask to dry - usually around 20 minutes.
-Once the face mask has dried, Róisín removes it with a hot face cloth.
-Róisín pats her face dry with a towel.
The L'Oreal Pure Clay Detox Face Mask is honestly amazing! It's so affordable (around 7/8 euros) and works wonders. When I began using this, after my first or second try, some spots appeared. This is normal, people call this 'purging'. Róisín's skin 'purged' too. The detoxify mask pulls up any spots/imperfections, if you keep on top of this and apply your face mask twice a week, less spots will appear. I find my skin can become quite dry/red after using this, a rich hydrating moisturiser is ideal to apply after.
Twice a week, Róisín likes to use Nose Pore Strips. She usually applies these after she has cleansed and leaves her nose damp. She applies the nose pore strips and allows these to dry (usually 20 mins). She removes the nose pore strips and will grab some of her exfoliator and focus this just on her nose area.
3. Moisturing
At night time, Róisin applies the Nivea Sensitive Night Cream. It's richer than the day cream and it also doesn't contain the SPF. This moisturiser is lovely, it's very comforting to dry/tight skin especially after cleansing with a facial brush and applying a detoxifying face mask.
So that's it! It's quite simple and straight-forward at the moment. I didn't want to shock Róisín with an excessive amount of skincare at first. Róisín has fallen in love with taking care of her skin. I'm going to slowly add products and change products up for her.
I hope you enjoyed today's blogpost. I really enjoyed doing this with Róisín. If you enjoyed reading about different skincare products, I recently wrote a post about my favourite skincare products, click here to read it!
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XO, Siobhán
