February 01, 2011

My favourite skincare products

My skincare routine is pretty simple and fuss free... My skin is pretty good now, but when I was in my teens I used to have acne so a dermatologist put me on Roaccutane for 3 months which completely cleared up my skin. Sure it played havoc with my hormones for those 3 months, but the result is that I ended up with clear skin since then.

Even though I like trying out new products all the time, for the past 10 yrs or so I've always gone back to the following items and they're all really inexpensive drugstore buys. When I was still at uni I was working at Myer (Grace Bros as it was known back then!) so I used to buy all kinds of high end beauty and skincare products every pay day. But eventually I found that the following inexpensive items work best for me.


Cleanse and scrub



DermaVeen Soap Free Wash ph 5.5
I use this every night to cleanse my face of make-up and other grimes. The dermatologist put me onto this when he put me on Roaccutane because it's very gentle without any harsh ingredients and I've been using it since then. The packaging has changed a bit now, the bottle  above is the older style. I usually get the 1 litre bottle (about $20AUD), and fill up this smaller bottle which is a more manageable size.

Johnsons 3in1 facial cleansing wipes for dry & sensitive skin
This is for those lazy nights when I can't be bothered doing a proper cleanse, or I use them when I'm travelling. I love it because it's gentle on my skin, doesn't tug at the delicate eye area and gets rid of my heavy eye make-up fairly easily.

St Ives Moisturising Olive Scrub
I know the apricot scrub is a cult favourite of most, but I don't really like its smell. This one has a more organic scent, and the scrub particles are small enough to use everyday without being harsh on your skin. I use  it every 3rd day or so and it leaves my skin smooth and glowing.



Moisturise


St Ives Day Cream
I bought this a while back from Priceline but haven't been able to find it since. I'm almost finished with this tube and I don't know what I'll replace it by if I don't find this. I love it because it's light enough to be used in summer without clogging pores, but moisturising enough to get rid of dry cracked skin that sometimes we can get in winter. Plus the scent is lovely too.

QV Face Night Cream 
This is a chemist brand again, and is one of the brands that the dermatologist put me on. It's a very heavy night cream which I only use in winter as it's too thick for hot weather use. This is just amazing because no matter how bad my skin is, when I put it on at night I always wake up with soft and supple skin that's velvety to the touch. Love it.

Bio Oil
This probably doesn't need much selling I guess, it's everyone's favourite oil! I love this because of the beautiful velvety feel it gives my skin and the way it makes me glow. I use it at night during the summer months when the QV night cream feels too heavy. I've also got a really old acne scar on one of my cheeks so I'm testing to see if this will reduce its appearance.

Rosehip Oil - not pictured
When not using Bio-oil, I use pure rosehip oil instead. I use either the Trilogy brand or the Kosmea one, whichever is cheaper at the time as I find both are really good. Rosehip oil does feel slightly oilier on the skin than Bio-oil does, so I reserve it for winter use which I alternate with the QV Night Cream.

Palmers Olive Butter Natural Bronze for face
This is one of those gradual tanner/moisturiser combos. I generally use it at night if I want to end up with a bit of colour, over 2 - 3 nights's use I end up with a pretty decent healthy looking colour, and the smell is that organic olivey smell similar to the Scrub.

Lucas Paw Paw ointment
I have this in my handbag for all kinds of emergencies, whether to cure chapped lips or smooth my cuticles. Similar to the 8hr cream but much cheaper.



Face Mask



Montagne Jeunesse Chocolate Masque for normal/dry skin
This is heavenly! Smells just like chocolate, and so tempting to have a taste of it, but I imagine it won't be very yummy. I use this once a week, leave it on my face for 15 mins (which gives my husband plenty of time to keep looking at my chocolatey face and laugh his head off!), then wash it off. I normally use it just before I jump in the shower as otherwise it's a bit of a hassle to clean. It's about $3.50AUD for a sachet and I usually get 3 or 4 uses out of each sachet.

Have you used any of these before? What skincare products and brands do you like to use?

8 comments :

  1. I love St Ives! I've never used the olive scrub though, probably because I dhate the taste of olives I wouldn't want them on my face haha... perhaps I should be less silly!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've been on roaccutane too, although during its a pain, the clear skin is totally worth it! Really weird, but I've just done the exact same post right now! The St Ives scrub looks good, but I dont think we can get that version in England.
    http://myfrostedworld.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  3. @Elizabeth, it's not really an olive smell... put it this way, i love olives but using this scrub doesn't make me crave eating them!

    @Shameera - yep, definitely a pain to be on roaccutane, but I never get pimples anymore(ok, maybe a couple every 3 months or so). And must be a skincare posting day, I'll have a look at your posting later, off to work now.

    Lilit
    xo

    ReplyDelete
  4. My skincare is pretty low key too, I find the simpler the better for my skin :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I used Bio Oil to get rid of some scars from mosquito bites on my legs. They used to red quite red, but since using Bio Oil they have faded quite a bit. I'm also trying it to reduce the appearance of some stretch marks on my hips so I will see how that goes.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I LOVE Johnsons and Johnsons 3in1 facial wipes! Thought I was the only one! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. @Jade, yeah there's no need for expensive solutions if these chemist brands do the trick.

    @LovelyGangster, I'm hoping the bio-oil will reduce my old acne scar, and if I wasn't too lazy I'd try on stretch marks on my legs too but I'm just too lazy!

    @honestlybec - nope, you're not the only one. It's pretty good and a decent price too!

    ReplyDelete
  8. i've never tried any kind of oil (i wouldnt have a clue what to do with it) but ive seen a lot of people talking about bio oil. i might have to look into it!

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...