The first thing most people say to me (after all the pleasantries of course) is that they want to look flawless. My reply…make sure you look after your skin first.
I appreciate nowadays it is easier said than done, life getting in the way and all that. But your skincare routine doesn’t need to be complicated and can easily be done in your own home. And although realistically you might not achieve naturally flawless looking skin (if you want that then I recommend Photoshop), but at least looking after you skin really does help with makeup application.
With that said, I’m always on the look out for new skincare products. I used to have quite normal skin but as I grew up, my skin became drier under my eyes, down the side of my temples and around my jaw. My T-Zone gets super oily like to the point my forehead and the side of my nose looks wet. As part of daily skincare routine, I always wash my face twice a day. No matter how many skin wipes you use to take off all your makeup, washing your face is sure to break down ALL your makeup. I also make sure to use a good face scrub at least 2 or 3 times a week. This helps scrub away any dead skin cells and leaves skin looking and feeling smoother.
Recently my skin has been feeling a bit bumpy and I have been breaking out more than I normally would. I’d already started considering changing up my daily face wash and scrub so I was super excited when Influenster and Dermalogica sent over some new stuff for me to try.
Dermalogica Skincare
So lets go through what I received, what they do and what I thought about each one:
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Daily Superfoliant RRP £55:”This highly-active resurfacer delivers your smoothest skin ever, and helps fight the biochemical and environmental triggers known to accelerate skin aging. The advanced powder formula activates upon contact with water, releasing powerful enzymes, skin-smoothing alpha hydroxy acids and anti-pollution technology. Activated Binchotan Charcoal purifies the skin, helping to adsorb environmental toxins from deep within the pores, while Niacinamide, Red Algae and Tara Fruit Extract help guard against the damaging effects of pollution.”
So to use this scrub, you pour half a teaspoons worth of the dry granules into very wet hands. Once you rub your hands together it lathers up and and turns into a scrub. At first I wasn’t too sure about this scrub and kind of thought it might have just been a gimmick. Charcoal based products have been a recent trend so I figured this one should be good given that it was from one of the biggest skincare brands on the market.Dermalogica advise to use the scrub for a at least a minute to really get deep down into the pores. I started using it everyday and to be honest at first it would just make my skin a lot drier. But I recommend giving it some time to really feel the benefit. It does leave my skin a lot smoother and my pores definitely feel a lot smaller. I don’t use it everyday because I hate my skin feeling too dry but every other day works just fine.
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Special Cleansing Gel RRP £32: “Soap-free, foaming gel cleanses all skin conditions. Refreshing lather thoroughly removes impurities without disturbing the skin’s natural moisture balance. Calming Balm Mint and Lavender extracts soothe the skin, while natural Quillaja Saponaria gently foams away toxins and debris.”
I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t a huge fan of this. I love that its soap free but other than that I didn’t see any difference in my skin and it didn’t feel like it actually did anything. When I use a face wash, I want to walk away with that ‘fresh-faced, just-washed’ feeling and I didn’t feel like this did anything. And again, it just makes my skin drier than it already is.
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Pre-Cleanse Balm RRP £44:
“Deep-cleansing balm-to-oil melts away impurities and make-up from skin. This water-activated, balm-to-oil v deconstructs layers of excess sebum (oil), waterproof make-up, environmental pollutants and residual product buildup on skin. Use the included Cleansing Mitt to thoroughly cleanse debris from the skin’s surface. The Natural Biolipid Complex locks in hydration and reinforces the skin barrier while Apricot Kernel Oil helps nourish skin.”
The other latest trend going around is balms to melt away makeup without the need to wash your face. When I received this I was super excited to try this out. As much as I am an advocate for washing makeup off, I do love just using a balm to take my makeup off on super lazy days. But although this balm melts makeup really well especially with the scrubbing mitt, it still requires you to wash your face after. So I kind if thought this was an extra step which isn’t always really necessary. Nevertheless, I did like this balm. As it is a pre-cleanser it does feel like it helps take off stubborn makeup but you do need quite a bit of balm for it to really do the job.
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Skin Smoothing Cream RRP £54:
“Medium-weight moisturizer to balance combination/dry skin. Deep-moisturizing Lecithin and Aloe Gel nourish while extracts of Mallow, Cucumber and Arnica soothe and hydrate.”
I like this face cream. I find it works better if its patted into the skin rather than rubbed and it does leave my skin a lot smoother. I do generally prefer thicker moisturisers because they all tend to deeply moisturise. The one thing I didn’t like about this cream was the smell. It literally smells like chemicals. which makes me question whats really in it. But then again Dermalogica is known for focusing on skincare rather than it being a luxury brand or pampering. The smell does go after a while and it does help my makeup go on better so thats a bonus!
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