Guest Post: Skin Care - Back to Basics

Skin care is an important step in anyone's routine, young or old. There are so many skincare products on the market that our skin doesn't know what to do with!

I have found myself countless times in a rut of having bad skin days - every single day, using every single skincare product possibly available to help clear up my skin. In fact, I was making my skin worse. It's hard to believe that, when there are so many mainstream products hitting the highstreet, you are lulled into thinking your skin needs to be cleansed with a mechanical tool, the latest technology and, as of late, cleansing brushes.

After some time, I took a step back and decided I was doing wrong to my skin. I will only have young, plump skin once in my life, and while I am deliberating whether to begin an anti-aging regimen at the grand age of 21, I want to take care of it best as possible, whilst being gentle and non-abrasive. Many a time, I have found myself scrubbing away at my skin, trying to exfoliate away dead skin cells, and clearing out my pores. Through trial and error, I began to remove skin care products from my routine, and replacing them with essentially nothing. Purely back to basics. 

My night time routine tends to be more concentrated, as you’re giving your skin plenty of time to appreciate the products, before interrupting it with makeup. I changed my regimen to one cleanser to remove all traces of makeup; this can be anything that works well with your skin. I found the No7 Foaming Cleanser worked well with my skin type. Secondly, I apply a swipe of Liz Earle Skin Tonic Toner, to completely remove all traces of makeup and cleanser from your skin. This will strip your skin of anything in sight, to give it the chance to breathe and not be suffocated by anything else. Lastly, I apply a night cream. I believe this is an important step, as this product will be soaking into your skin throughout the night, repairing dry skin, rebalancing your skin type, etc. I currently use Nivea Daily Essentials Regenerating Night Cream. 

I don’t use any extravagant brands of skin products. I don’t think it always does your skin any good. I found that it did more harm than good; various ingredients – sometimes unnecessary ingredients  – caused more hassle. Another note to be made aware of is your skin is a sensitive area, even if you are not prone to sensitive skin. It can take a while to adjust to various products, so you may find your skin does get better, before it gets worse.

I do swear by a back to basics routine. The fewer products that interfere with the natural oils in my skin, the better. This routine is also a lot quicker, so you will find you can spend more time relaxing or enjoying yourself than worrying about skincare routines!

Thanks for reading xxx

This post was written by Lucy from Lucee Loves, who won the second place prize in my guest post giveaway.