Winter Skin Saviours

Hey everyone!

Having a good skin care routine is obviously a necessity for anyone, whether you suffer from acne prone skin (like myself) or simply to keep you looking as gorgeous and glowing as possible. With it being so bloody cold at the moment, products need to be extra hydrating to make up for the sub-zero temperatures we Brits have to put up with. (Ok maybe sub-zero is a slight exaggeration but you get my point.)

So, here are my Winter Skin Saviours; 5 products that my skin and I simply could not have lived without these past few months!

 

 Products (From Left to Right-ish)

1. Thalgo Softness Exfoliator - £26

2. Kiehls Midnight Recovery Concentrate - £36

3. L'Occitane Almond Delicious Hands - £8 (travel size)

4. Clarins Instant Light Lip Comfort Oil - £18

5. Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water - £4.99

 I've recently been seeing a Dermatologist about my skin, and am now on antibiotics that seem to have sorted my acne out, however my skin is still super sensitive, so harsh exfoliators are a no-go for me. One of the tips my dermatologist advised was for me to have facials once every 4-6 weeks and one of the products my beautician used was the Thalgo Softness Exfoliator. Thalgo is a French skincare company that uses Red Algae as an active ingredient in many of their products, and this exfoliator is not harsh or abrasive at all on my skin, but still leaves it feeling so soft and nourished. At £26 for 50ml, it is quite pricy but it's the best natural/soft exfoliator I've come across for my skin!

I've had this stuff on my wishlist for quite some time, but with there being no Kiehls counter or store anywhere in Leicester I've had to wait until fairly recently. I would fully recommend getting a skin consultation in a Kiehls standalone store if you can, I visited the one in Nottingham, and the girls were so lovely, checked the hydration level of my skin and then tailored products to my needs. (Plus they gave me loads of samples to try!) This is the Midnight Recovery Concentrate, its nick-name is "12 hours of sleep in a bottle" and I can completely see why! You only need to pat a few drops of this serum onto your face every night for glowing, radiant skin the following morning. I've been getting complements all week about how healthy my skin looks, and it's completely down to this magical stuff. The lavender scent is also super soothing at bedtime.

So whilst this post is mainly about facial products that have been my saviours this Winter, I have to give a shout out to this L'Occitane hand cream. This was a little stocking filler from my mum at Christmas, cause she knows how much I love hand cream, so thanks Mum! I've been commuting a lot this past month or so, and all the harsh outside air has not been my friend. It also probably doesn't help that I still haven't bought any gloves. (I don't help myself do I..) Anyway, being outside a lot plus putting away tonnes of shoeboxes in the Aldo stockroom means I've needed an extra thick hand cream - and this is the one. I've tried ones from Soap and Glory and Bath and Body, but they're both more heavily scented and less heavy duty, so I think I've finally found my perfect hand cream.  It's £9 for this small, handbag size, which doesn't pull at the purse strings too much..

This Clarins Instant Light Lip Comfort Oil is a mouthful to say, but yet the name does perfectly describe what this product does. Yes it is £18, which is the most I've ever spent on a lip balm. But without sounding like some cheesy advertisement; this is more than just a lip balm. (I'm cringing just reading that, so apologies.) The last medication I was on for my acne gave me the worst dry/cracked lips as a side effect, and they're only just calming down. I'll be doing a separate post on my 'Ride or Die' lip-balms and whatnot, but this stuff is just so soothing and leaves a hydrating barrier on the lips for a good couple of hours, whilst making them look all glossy and plump. It's kind of a balm and a gloss in one, and I save it for once every other day, when my lips need a real pick me up!

Last but certainly not least is the Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water. This is probably my third bottle of the stuff, and I absolutely love it. I've written the price above as £4.99 but it's often heavily discounted in both Boots and Superdrug. This is the one for sensitive skin and I prefer it cause it doesn't sting my eyes at all, which is an issue with pretty much every makeup remover I've ever tried. I used to use alcohol-based cleansing wipes before learning about how much they strip the skin, so I'm happy I listened to the hype on this one cause it's so gentle, yet still manages to remove my makeup. Ten million thumbs up!

Say hi to my cute little pom pom I just had to include in the photos :)

Also I'm still on the lookout for the perfect face moisturiser, so let me know if you've found one you love!

Thanks for reading your Dose of Winter Skin