A.M. / Morning Cleansing Routine

Good Morning! Let's pretend it's morning, even if it's not, mmkayy?

An essential part of beautifully applied makeup, and beauty overall, is taking good care of your skin. There are lots and lots of routines and regimens and sources for advice and information out there in this World Wide Web but this is just my particular method. 

My skin is combination, very oily in the R-Zone, acne prone and has hyper pigmentation from old acne scars. It's a real winning combination (note the use of sarcasm, as there is not yet a sarcasm font). 

When I had really bad breakouts I tried it all. Pro-Active, dermatologist prescribed skin care and medicine, Clinique 3-step system, various drug store brand cleansers and systems, and many more. 

Then while I was pregnant it became necessary for me (I decided) to simplify my routine and use only natural ingredients, organic where possible. I figured whatever I put on my skin would sink in to my blood stream and affect my baby. It may have been neurosis but that was my thought process. 

I went to Lush and kind of made up my own AM and PM routine for taking care of my skin (PM routine up next). 

Please note: it IS imperative to properly cleanse and wash your face in the morning. There are lots of reasons and a more detailed blog (from a true skin care expert) can be found on Caroline Hirons website. 

Here's the run down:

Cleanse with Herbalism from Lush

Tone with Tea Tree Water from Lush

Moisturize with 100% pure Argan Oil from Josie Maran

Moisturize Lips with Honey Trap from Lush

I also take my vitamins, supplements and drink my first 20 ounces of my daily 80 ounces, in the morning. This helps my skin from the inside out. Consult a doctor to find out what's right for you. 

As you can see I keep it reallllllll simple. I don't have a lot of time for fuff in the morning. Yep. I said fuff. And I've got zero time for it. 

Now, what's missing? 

1) EYE CREAM

2) SERUM

aaannnnd 

2) SPF 

Those are three VERY critical steps that I kind of skip.  Well. Not kind of. I actually skip them. 

Any self respecting skin care specialist would require vapors for fear of fainting if they knew. Let's not tell any, shall we? *wink wink*

I find SPF causes me to break out so I avoid it and rely on SPF in my makeup and/or only apply my Clarins one when I know I am spending the day in the sun. I'm still on the hunt for one I like and when I find it I'll let you know. 

I avoid serums because I don't like anything getting between me and my Josie Maran 100% pure Argan Oil. That stuff is pure hydration and deliciousness for my skin! 

As for eye cream...well...I really should use it. At my age (not disclosing that right now thank you very much) I should really be taking a proactive approach to my anti aging regimen. I do use eye cream at night (PM routine spoiler alert!) but I never use it in the day time because I feel like it makes my under eye makeup crease. Again, still on the hunt for that holy grail eye cream. 

If you've got any recommendations for serum, eye cream or SPF please feel free to leave it in the comments below. 

Until next time!

Xoxo

Jessica 

Photocredit: http://www.cnjtc.com