Hey cats!

As I said in my very first post, I want to keep variety in my blog so currently I write posts that I want to write when they spring to mind. Apologies if they do seem a bit all over the place! Anyway, on with the blog post!

Lately I've been trying really hard to get into a better routine with my skincare, and this has been far from easy. Having acne from a very young age and still struggling now at 24 years old I've been through so many routines, so many products and a lot of wasted money which has understandably put me off finding new products and creating a routine for myself. I got into a rut where I just left my skin alone really and probably mistreated it because I figured "well, nothing makes it better when it says it should, so why should I bother at all?". This rut happened because at the time anything and everything would irritate or flare up my skin, there was literally nothing I could do and even make-up couldn't cover it up properly. This made things worse for me as I'm not a very confident person as it is, so to not be able to wear my 'mask' and hide a part of me I hated was very difficult.

I don't want to be back in that place, and I don't want to mistreat my skin either for misbehaving. As I see it now, acceptance is the only way forward for me as well as working with what I've got and being comfortable with that.

So, working with that theory I've slowly been building up a small collection of products I've tried and tested that seem to work for my skin and also in unison with one another. I like all of these products because they're quick and easy to use both on their own or together as a full routine; also none of them are too costly and they all last for a long time even with frequent use. Currently, as I mentioned before, this process hasn't been easy and I'm still not in an everyday routine despite it only taking about 10 minutes or so. It's more so an every other day thing but I always do it the night before a day when I know I'm going to be busy/that is going to be taxing on my skin.

Enough rambling! These are the products working for me at the moment and how I use them before I go to bed:

1. I wash my face and neck with the Ultrabland cleanser, massaging on in circular motions and rinsing off with a warm damp cloth. 
2. A quick couple of spritzes of Tea Tree Water all over to make sure my skin is super calm
3. When my face is dry I pop a tiny amount of Vitamin E eye cream onto my ring finger and pat this around my eyes, focusing on my dark circles
4. I take a pea sized amount of coconut oil, warm this between my hands and then gently massage onto my face and neck, avoiding the lip and eye area
5. After this is use The Kiss lip scrub to get off any dead skin and smooth out my lips
6. I then apply a layer of Vitamin E lip balm and then a layer of the Nivea essential lip balm over the top
7. Lastly if I feel the need I just lightly spray a layer of Avene Thermal Water over my face and neck, this helps make me feel refreshed and again helps to keep my skin calm

Products mentioned: Lush Ultrabland Cleanser | Lush Tea Tree Toner Water | Superdrug Coconut Oil | Lush The Kiss Lip Scrub |  The Body Shop Vitamin E Eyecream | The Body Shop Vitamin E Lip Balm | Nivea Essential Lip Care | Avene Thermal Spring Water | Avon Clearskin Pore Penetrating Mask