As promised, this post will be my personal skin care picks for the winter season. As you may know, I have sensitive, breakout prone skin that is oilier in summer and drier in the winter. So, with it being full blown winter, it is now dry!
Trying to counteract my dryness and increased sensitivity in the winter months without setting off my breakout prone skin can be a tough thing to do. This season, I seem to have found some great products that have been giving me great moisture without giving me excess oil. Thank goodness! Here is my complete list of products:
Let's start with my cleansing routine. I have made a pact with myself to break all my bad beauty habits this month, one of which is forgetting to wash my makeup off at night (so bad!). So, since my skin gets much drier and more sensitive I have switched a couple products from my summer routine.
1. Clean & Clear Soothing Eye Makeup Remover - I have never been one to use a separate product to take my eye makeup off, thats just another step and I'm inherently lazy. BUT I must say, once I started, my eyes were much happier! I am prone to eczema on my eyelids and I think makeup may have contributed. I also don't want to tug at my eye area anymore (another one of my beauty faux pas!) so this helps a lot. It removes everything without a greasy feel and is oil-free.
2. Neutrogena Fresh Foaming Cleanser - I love this cleanser. Its gentle, removes all makeup and doesn't leave my skin with that dry, tight feeling. It's also inexpensive so I can have one everywhere I need.
3. H2O+ Face Oasis Cleansing Water - This brand is relatively new to me, I've only been using it for about 3 weeks but its become a staple in my cleansing routine! I use this interesting cleanser in the morning and at night but in two different ways. This cleanser pumps out like water but once applied to the face it feels slick. Once you work it in it actually seems to soak into the skin. In the morning I only use this, I apply to my face until it is soaked in then add a little bit of water to my hands and continue to work it into a lather then rinse. At night I use it as a pre-cleanser and apply my Neutrogena cleanser right over top to make sure all my makeup is removed. This is a great product!
4. Clarisonic Mia - This never leaves my cleansing routine but I definitely use it much less in the winter. I find my skin gets extremely sensitive in the colder months so I only use my Clarisonic about 3 times a week as my exfoliating treatment. I also switch to the 'delicate' or 'sensitive' brush head.
My next step never and I mean NEVER leaves my skin care routine! To keep my breakouts in check all year I use Neutrogena's 3-in-1 Hydrating Acne Treatment. It is very gentle, has 2% Salicylic Acid to control breakouts and hydrates. It is a fluid/serum texture so its great for every skin type. Definitely a product to get if you have any breakouts and any skin type.
Next I apply a hydrating oil-free serum. H2O+ Oasis Hydrating Booster is an amazing for acne-prone or combination skin. One pump of this dual phase serum and you feel incredibly hydrated without any greasy feeling. It sinks in quickly and adds a much needed extra layer of moisture without feeling heavy or greasy! A new staple in my skin care routine.
Next up is my day/night creams (or should I say gels?). Both of these hydrating treatments by H2O+ come in a gel form, great for combination/sensitive acne-prone skin battling dryness. I use H2O+ Face Oasis Shine Neutralizing Gel during the day and H2O+ Face Oasis Hydrating Gel at night. Both absorb quickly, keep me hydrated and make my skin more plump without adding oil. I always steer towards gels or gel-creams for my moisturizers as a lot of the ingredients in creams and lotions can clog my pores.
I never want to give up my facial treatments and masks during the winter so I switch to more hydrating forms of the same thing. I want to absorb the extra oil without over drying or making my skin feel tight. Once a week I will use a clay based mask to absorb debris and oil either C. Booth's Deep Cleansing Volcanic Mud Mask or Bliss's Steep Clean Pore Purifying Mask. Both of these are amazing masks and sound like they do the same thing but I use them for two different reasons. If I have slept in my makeup or feel really breakout prone I will use C. Booth's Volcanic mask. It does a great job of clearing out pores ('amazing' was the first word I used when I saw the results!) without leaving my skin dry. If I'm feeling a little 'clogged' but dry I will use Bliss's Steep Clean mask. It is much more hydrating but also helps with breakouts and oil. I use Bliss's Triple Oxygen Instant Energizing Mask once a week as well (on a different day than the other mask) to give my skin radiance and an extra little 'boost' when it looks dull. I love this mask before a big day or event!
In the winter my skin has a tendency to get extremely itchy, irritated and red for pretty much no reason (fun!). I don't like using cortisone creams because they can thin skin with repeated use so I look for more natural alternatives for my itchy skin and eczema patches. This is B. Kamins' Bio-Maple Antipruritic Cream. It is great for general irritation and itching anywhere on the body. Whenever I have flare-up's I reach for this cream for a quick, soothing remedy.
As I've mentioned a few times (understatement!) my skin gets red and sensitive during the winter. I love Clinique's sunscreens because they don't break me out and its just as important to use a sunscreen everyday in the winter as it is in the summer. I switch from Clinique's City Block SPF 25 in the summer to Clinque's Redness Solutions Daily Protective Base SPF 15 in the winter. I find them to be very similar in formulation with the Redness Solutions having a green tint to counteract my redness (the other is flesh toned). I like this added correction and it reduces the amount of foundation and concealer I have to apply afterwards.
When I'm feeling extra dry or every other night (which ever comes first) I apply Neutrogena's Healthy Skin Anti-Wrinkle Cream with Retinol. This is a richer cream (still not nearly as rich as a regular cream) with the added benefit of Retinol to help ward of wrinkles. I'm a big believe in "its never too early to prevent wrinkles" so I use this quite a bit and find my skin looks smoother and brighter when I use it religiously.
So, there it is. My winter skin care routine! I hope this helped you figure out your new routine and gave you some good tips for sensitive/combination skin. What are your favourite products for winter? Let me know in the comments section!
Be sure to check back for winter Body Care and Hair Care posts!
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