I am a total skin care convert. I absolutely love the ritual of going through skin care motions before bed. Over the past several years, I have bought and tried a lot of skin products. Historically, I also subscribed to subscription boxes which introduced me to different brands and products.
While I wouldn’t say I have perfect skin – I’m happy how far I’ve come from ridiculously bad cystic acne in my teenage years. Now, my problem is generally speaking dry skin, large pores and the occasional hormonal break out. While I’m still looking for products that fit those problems, I definitely am happy with my current routine as sometimes when I experiment, I break out. So what are my hero products?
Philosophy One Step Face Cleanser
This one is almost painful to write about as I’m almost out of my favorite cleanser of the last several years. All I needed was a 240 ml bottle of this cleanser to last about 18 months. You need the tiniest dot of this to leave your face clean but not at all tight. It removes a lot of my face makeup (I always do pre-remove with another product) but not my mascara. I love the smell. I love how gentle it is and I’m basically heartbroken that I’m out of it.
Garnier Micellar Water
This is the product that I use to remove my makeup. I know that they had to reformulate this water due to the fact that it allegedly contained a banned ingredient. I haven’t tried every micellar water, this is the best one I’ve tried by far. It does a great job pulling the makeup off my face without leaving my skin dry. I use it in the morning to wake up my skin and at night to take off my makeup. I probably go through one bottle around every 6 weeks.
Glam Glow Gravity Mud Mask
I was gifted this for the first time in Christmas 2016. Since then, I’ve rebought it about 3 times. Although it only has a small amount of product, using it once or twice a week, it lasts 6 months. You use a little brush to apply the bright white mask to your face, wait until it turns silver then peel it off. This mask leaves my skin fresher, my pores smaller and my fine lines slightly lessened. I really love it despite the hefty price tag.
Biore Self-Heating One Minute Mask
So for me, the Biore Self-Heating mask was kind of a game changer. When you apply this to your face with water, like magic it suddenly is pleasantly warm. It only lasts a few seconds but it genuinely feels like you are at a spa. It has that typical charcoal smell but honestly I genuinely love these things. They come in a pack of 4 and typically I use about one a week. I’m currently out and am looking to refill on Amazon but they are significantly more expensive in Europe. If you live somewhere that you can buy these, and want a spa like experience from the comfort of your home, I will highly recommend. I don’t have any right now, really sadly, but I hopefully will buy some on Amazon soon.
Cerave PM Facial Moisturizer
This product was recommended to me years ago by my friend Katherine. I use the lightweight formula every night before bed, applying it generously as the last step in my skin care. I love the feeling of my skin both when I go to bed and wake up. I think this moisturizer has made my skin consistently less dehydrated. I have two back-ups right now. The brand is sold in Europe but because this product contains a high concentrate of niacinamide, it’s not sold in Europe.
Mad Beauty Masks
These things straight up look like a horror film on your face. It’s just a fact. But these are hands down some of the best sheet masks I’ve ever used. My two favorites are the Jasmine mask, with green tea, and the Ariel mask, with cucumber. Both are hydrating, refreshing and leave my skin feeling moisturized and healthy. I also like this hair mask which I can get a few uses out of considering I have fine hair. I don’t really buy into unnecessarily branded products but these are great.
The Minimalist Abroad 