My skincare history isjust like my personality – a drama queen, completely over the top. Before Ieven touched Clinique my routine was extremely basic – it just involvedCleansing, toning and moisturising with the brand Simple. When I got older and my skinbroke out I moved over to Clinique, and when I discovered that wasn't at allappropriate I moved over to NUDE. For a long while their combination ofcleansing and moisturising with a facial serum every few days worked wondersfor my skin, the breakouts were minimal and my complexion as a whole was muchclearer and even. If you’ve been reading for a while you’ll probably have seenthe post I wrote about it here. Now don’t get me wrong, I still swear by NUDEfor my skin type, it really is an incredible brand and the serum andmoisturiser are something I swear by. Unfortunately, my skin seems to havefought back and decided it doesn’t want me to use the cleanser anymore. Myspots were coming back fast, fierce and painful – at first I thought it might bestress (this was just around Christmas time, and I had a lot going on prior toAustralia), so I waited until I was away in the sun and when that didn’t evenslightly help with clearing it up I started to panic. I was going to be inAustralia for a month, and my skin looked horrific – not only that but when youhave a tan none of your foundation matches, so I couldn't even cover up!
In Australia we werestaying with Daniel’s family and for a few years his younger cousin hadsuffered with acne. He was now on medication as nothing had worked well for him– but luckily his Aunty had kept over some facial washes that he had used priorto his new prescription. I was willing to try anything (remember, I am a dramaqueen) so I jumped at the chance when she mentioned it!
Cetaphil is a soap freegentle foam cleanser – aimed at oily skin (although they do cater for all skintypes), this particular one is aimed at problematic oily skin. If you find youhave overly oily skin it’s more than likely down to your body producing toomuch sebum (this is released through your sebaceous glands, and is used to keepthe skin supple). Although no face washes will completely get rid of this (I’mpretty sure it’s a hormonal thing that can only be combated by medication) –Cetaphil promises to reduce the amount of sebum your skin produces by up to 60%after using for over two weeks, twice a day (I was already converted by thispoint). Being soap-free it is also less harsh on your face, it doesn't leave theface feeling too tight and the skin is still lovely and soft – no dry patches.
It’s the first facialwash that has worked effectively enough for me to take my make up off with it.One pump lathers softly and removes make up, excess dirt and cleanses theentire face. It's a clear gel like solution (doesn't photography particularly well) and bubbles up extremely gently - not at all frothy or soapy. I use it again in the morning, but only need half a pump as I makeit a rule NEVER to sleep in my make up! Being a 500ml bottle, it’s going tolast me yonks. I used it every day for 3 weeks in Australia and it hasn’t evenmade a dent. Being an Australian brand, it’s not as readily available in theUK. However I know you can get it from both
Boots and
Amazon. It cost me $15when I was over there, and my little sister spent just over £15 on it throughAmazon a few weeks ago. So it’s not breaking the bank by any means.
My skin for the entiretyof the holiday up until now, has been incredibly good. I will have the occasionalspot but nothing compared to the massive breakout I had at Christmas. Forexample, today I am wearing just concealer under my eyes and over a fewblemishes. No foundation. I know – say whaaaaat?! I just feel more comfortablewith my skin and letting it breathe every now and then. Don’t get me wrong I’mstill using my foundation every day usually; I was just giving you an insightinto how much better it’s made me feel.
I’ve come to theconclusion that perhaps my skin will always be this way. I’ll find a skincareproduct that works really well for my skin for up to say a year, and then myskin will become accustomed to it and reject it. However I do know that I can’tjust use any product I fancy without doing some serious research first – my skinflares up at anything that is too heavy, highly scented or overly moisturising.Which is why I know that when I do find something that works for me for a while– it’s something worth shouting about.
I hope you found thispost helpful – apologies if it’s a bit rambly! But I wanted to explain itproperly for you :)
I'm starting to believe that less is definitely more when it comes to skincare. So I'll probably be writing about my 'Day & Night' routine soon - is that something you would like to see?
