My Morning Skincare Routine

For a beauty blog with an over four year lifetime, I've only written about my skincare routine once before, at the very humble beginning. Quite a bit changed since then so I thought I'd be more than appropriate to update you, first on the morning goings-on and the evening and special treatments in the near future. Most of the products featured here have been already reviewed at one time or another, so I'll link the respective posts where possible. Let's have a look, shall we?

My morning routine philosophy is that it has to be simple, quick and lightweight. I need to prime my skin for make-up application as well as protect it against harmful UV rays and other environmental aggressors. Since my skin is definitely oily in the T-zone but currently on the dry side everywhere else, I want to keep it hydrated but not overloaded with products - so there!

First, I cleanse my skin from nighttime oils with Dermalogica Ultracalming Cleanser, recently reviewed here; it's a perfect soothing and non-drying cleanse to start off the day. In the morning, I usually skip using any type of washcloth or flannel as to avoid irritation and redness - I just splash off the cleanser with lukewarm water. I gently pat with a towel and mist my damp face with lavender hydrosol from Palindaba Lavender, whose farm we visited a couple weeks ago on our weekend trip to San Juan Island; unfortunately the lavender fields were not yet in bloom! If you're not sure what hydrosols are, they're basically a by-product of essential oil extraction process - they are sometimes called flower waters and contain mostly water with a minimal percentage of the essence. The smell of this lavender hydrosol is very calming and herbaceous, and lavender EO has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. I follow this up with a dab of eye cream; currently I'm testing out YSL Forever Youth Liberator Eye Creme; but if it's really sunny out, I'd swap it out for Clarins Sunscreen For Eyes Wrinkle Control Cream SPF 30, mentioned here.

On the areas where I've been breaking out the most recently, I pat on some Dermalogica Overnight Clearing Gel, a clear lightweight gel with 2% salicylic acid which helps to gently heal acne spots and prevents the new ones from forming. I let it dry and then apply Murad's Skin Perfecting Lotion as a light daytime moisturizer (click!); but if I'm in a hurry or if my face seems more oily, I skip it and go straight to Devita Solar Moisturizer SPF 30+ (mentioned here). This is still my favorite mineral facial sunscreen - incredibly weightless, non-sticky and non-greasy, and it simply wears beautifully under make-up.

And there you have it! Fairly straightforward, isn't it? What are your morning routine principles? Any skincare heroes that help you cut down on the getting ready time?