Cup of Basics: My skincare routine

Dear Buttercups,

I don’t know about you, but it can take quite some time to figure out what would work for your skin. Especially when you buy a jar of product and if it doesn’t do much for your skin, you’re not going to throw it away. So only by the time the product is finished, you’ll be “allowed” to try out something new. Honestly, I don’t know how some people go through their creams so fast! But in my case, it takes forever.

My thing is, I went crazy in Japan a couple of years back in the cute pink fuzzy make up shops that are called Etude House. And then I went crazy again in Singapore at their flagship store 2 years ago. Going crazy there doesn’t even begin to cover my behavior. I’d call it a frenzy! When I enter their shops I’m immediately blinded by all the cuteness and the pink. By the time I arrive at the counter, the sweet and pretty sales girls have already told me about the a-maaaazing sales, they’re holding on their bestselling skincare line: the Collagen collection. So because I get caught up in this happy frenzy (I’m seriously like an addict, I’m worst than a kid in a candy store), I ended up collecting 2 (complete) sets and a lot of huge samples (I’m talking of -1/2 of a normal bottle-samples). This means that it has been over 3 years that I’ve been using the same skincare products. These products last FOR-EVER, which is great as I can get as much out of it as I can. But for doing reviews, I haven’t been able to try out new products. Luxury problems, I know…

But on the bright side, this allows me to know perfectly well how my skin behaves with these products. So when I change the smallest thing in this routine, I immediately know whether a product works for me and which effect it has on my skin.

Today I’d like to share with you my current routine. I wouldn’t call it perfect, but my skin is behaving pretty well :). Keep in mind that I have mixed to dry skin. I tend to have open pores around the nose area and redness. Occasionally I do have breakouts.

My Morning Routine

When I wake up, I always think that I’m still super tired. And that is because my eyes are very dry. So the first thing I do when I get in the bathroom is put in some eye drops. If you’re still going to college by the way, and studying hard and for many hours, this is a great tip: Use soothing eye drops!

After I brush my teeth, I wash my face with a mousse cleanser. The one I currently use is the Herborist All-day Softening Cleansing Foam. I wet my face and massage the mousse onto the skin. This mousse feels very soft and applies very gently. You can also rinse it very easily (it goes straight off, unlike many other cleansers). Because it is a mousse and not a gel or cream, it doesn’t feel cold on the skin. My bathroom is very cold in the morning, even when I put up our little stove. So for me that’s a plus.

I then apply my Etude House Collagen Facial Freshener on my face and neck with my fingers. In Asian skincare, you often get a lot of layering, because each cream layer will take care of a different aspect of your skin. This means that in this line, there is: a facial freshener, a toner, an essence (which is essentially a serum), an eye cream, an emulsion, a cream… This well known collagen line from Etude House is good to give your skin extra moisture. So what the Facial Freshener does, is give your skin some “water to drink” after having been washed, like a first layer of hydration. This will also help your skin absorb the next skin care applications. The texture is a bit thicker than water, but not as thick as a gel. It immediately sinks into the skin.

The next step is applying eye cream. I haven’t really found an eye cream yet that does anything for me. But I apply it diligently because I believe it’ll have benefits on the long run. I am currently using the Kruidvat Originals Vitamin E eye cream (which only retailed for 1,99€!!). It’s not too thick and it absorbes nicely into the skin. I apply 3 little dots under each eye and massage it in circular motions.

And now for the final step: applying the Etude House Collagen Emulsion (see picture aside from the Facial Freshener). It is a runny cream, that moisturizes and absorbs extremely well into the skin. It makes your skin looks dewy. I don’t often use the Etude House Collagen Cream, because it is intensely rich. If my skin feels extra dry, I will apply it on top of this emulsion.

After this last step, I’ll use a primer and then go in with make up.

My Evening Routine

You all of course know: I’m a make up junkie! In order to keep your skin radiant and healthy, it is extremely important to take the make up off every day. So it won’t come as a surprise to you that the skincare item that I use up the fastest is always some sort of cleanser. I consider removing make up and cleansing my face as 2 different steps. I’ve seen Youtubers use a gel cleanser to remove make up and cleanse there face as one step… That just gives me the shivers to be honest. I’m really paranoid about this.

First of all, I remove my make up, using the Nivea Make Up Remover (for under the shower, which I don’t use under the shower haha). Read my review here.

Then I take my Kruidvat Sensitive 3-In-1 Micellar water to remove the remaining waterproof mascara on the eyes and lashes. I swear, this Micellar water performs as good as my Bioderma Micellar water. I love love love it (I know, I said “love” thrice!). But this bottle costs 2,49€!!

Next up is my beloved Estée Lauder Advanced Night Micro Cleansing Foam (read my review here, you see below how much I love it! It’s already halfway). You know the drill: wetting the face, put on the cream cleanser, massage it in and rinse it off.

Like in the morning, I’ll use eye drops in the evening. Because I work all day in front of a computer. Also when I get home, I’m on my laptop to catch up with my blog comments. So my eyes do need the extra love and especially moisture.

The eye cream that I use in the morning, is also applied in the evening.

As it is now winter, I smack on some drops of Almond oil all over my face and neck. I love how it absorbs immediately! In the summer, I usually use the Etude House Collagen Cream. But at this moment, my skin needs the extra oil and moisture! I currently use the Kruidvat Originals Almond Oil (1,99€… need I say more…).

Extra pampering

Aside from this routine, I also scrub my face 3 to 4 times per week. I currently use the Tony Moly Latte Art Strawberry Cream-In Scrub. It is a lot like the Coffee version of Tony Moly, but the scrub smells strongly like Strawberry Latte, very sweet… Honestly, I do prefer the the Coffee version better.

I try to use a sheet mask once a week. I should use more, but as it is cold now I just cringe at the thought of an ice cold mask on my face haha. The ones I currently use are from Etude House. They smell nice and not overly sweet.

This was it, for my skincare routine.  I did talk a lot about Kruidvat (my local drugstore), but they have very nice private label products and it is so affordable! I hope you found it informative and that you enjoyed this post.

I’ll talk to you guys in my next post!

Love,

Sarah

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