My skin care products

As a person not big on skin care I hardly ever write about this topic. It’s not that I don’t use it, I just don’t really like changing up my routine. The reason for that is that I have sensitive skin that doesn’t agree with many products. For the longest time I detested using skin care products because they would either break me out, make my skin flaky, itchy, red or otherwise uncomfortable. That is why, once I found the things that work for me, I don’t want to change up too much as that usually ends badly. I even was allergic to some products given to me by a beautician. Go figure. So this is what I use and this has been pretty much the same in the past 2 – 3 years. I changed up a few products recently, but I will indicate what I like or don’t like about the products as we go along.

Step 1: clean

The Body Shop Aloe Vera Calming Facial Cleanser & Calming Toner, Sephora waterproof eye make up remover

The Body Shop Aloe skin care line is by far my favorite! It’s very gentle but the aloe vera in the products also makes it nourishing at the same time. I use the cleanser to take off my face make up at night. I just put a bit on a cotton swab and clean it all off. I then take the toner to remove any excess and really make sure my skin is clean. Even when I don’t wear make up I will use the toner to take off the tiresome day.

Before I do that though, I use the Sephora eye make up remover to take off my eye make up. I have tried numerous eye make up removers, but this is by far my favorite one. It is slightly oily, but not too much and even gets rid of the darkest smokey eyes, waterproof mascara and Urban Decay 24/7 liners. I keep repurchasing this over and over.

Decubal Face Wash & Lush Angels on Bare Skin

The face wash is one of the products I changed up recently. I used to use the Aloe face wash from TBS (surprise, surprise) but decided I could do with a change in that department. Decubal specializes in products for dry and sensitive skin, so I really wanted to try it. It also costs as much as the TBS face wash and it does it’s job. It feels very nice on the skin, nice and smooth and rich in a way.

I already wrote a review about Angels on Bare Skin almost a year ago. I am still using it in the shower to give my skin a thorough cleanse. To me this cleanser feels more like a scrub than a real cleanser so that’s how I use it. Afterwards I use the Decubal face wash to clean off any remaining dirt and my face is squeaky clean without it feeling like that.

Step 2: nourish

Zarqa Hydra Face Cream, TBS Aloe Soothing Night Cream, TBS Aloe Soothing Moisture Lotion with SPF 15

For the longest time I did not have a good day cream. Why? Because none, not even the Aloe one from TBS, is actually absorbed by my skin. All it does is just ‘sit’ there, sometimes even hours after I first put it on. I recently found out that’s because of the paraffin added to creams to thicken them. The Zarqa face cream doesn’t have anything in it that should cause any problems. It’s a very rich cream and unfortunately it has caused me to break out more than one time. I have figured out though that it’s perfect for my dry and super sensitive cheeks (it really works miracles for that part of my face), but I just shouldn’t put it on my t-zone. I only use it on my make up less days anyway, as I use a BB cream when I where make up.

The TBS Aloe night cream has been a staple for years. I use this every night before I go to bed. It’s a very nice cream. It has never broken me out. It doesn’t just ‘sit’ on my skin. Instead it gives me smooth and nourished skin whenever I wake up in the morning.

The Moisturizer I use mostly when I’m on vacation. The packaging is handy and it has a build in SPF. I used to use this as my day cream before I had the Zarqa cream, but sometimes I feel it’s not doing enough for the dry skin on my cheeks. Still it’s great for on the go.

Garnier Pure Active Anti-Spot Roll On, Garnier Caffeine Eye Roller, Dr Organics Aloe Vera Eye Gel

The Anti-Spot Roll-On is the invention of the century. It works best when you put it on a spot/ zit and leave it on over night. When you have very ferocious zits it may take a few days before they go away, but this definitely helps to get rid of them faster. I wrote a full review on it here.

The Caffeine roller is another staple. I wrote a review about it over a year ago and still use it every day. Even though I use this on a daily basis not much of the product is gone. I’ve had it for nearly 1.5 years and only one third of the product is gone.

Eye creams are also a feat for me to find. I think this may very well be my favorite one so far. A lot of eye creams I’ve tried have horrible packaging that doesn’t allow you to get the amount you need. I struggled with this problem when I first bought this eye gel too, but practice makes perfect and I have found it really works. It makes my eyes less puffy and I have also noticed that some of the finer lines around my eyes have started to disappear.

Step 3: make up

Garnier BB Cream, Missha BB cream, Biodermal Zonnefluïde SPF 30

The last step would be to apply some make up, but since I like my BB creams I thought I’d feature them in this post, as well as my favorite SPF for the face.

You can read my opinion on the Garnier BB Cream here. The review for the Missha BB Cream can be found here.

The Biodermal SPF was recommended to me by someone in the comments on a Dutch beauty blog. Just like with regular skin care products, most sunscreen gives me breaks outs. So, when we finally hit some summer in May I bought this to see if it would work and I am pleasantly surprised. It works great as an SPF and it has yet to give me a zit.

What products do you use?