Hey yo~
I know it has been awhile~ 😁
Weather in UK has been tricky. It is still cold af not gonna lie, weather forecast says it is going to snow in the next few days, can you imagine? It's almost March, the sun is so bright during the day but it is going to snow, like WHATTT?!?
It is cold, dry yet sunny at the same time, so I have been incorporating sunscreen back into my morning routine lately. Other than that, it is always been hydration, hydration and hydration. I have not been trying a lot of other products lately but I have had some good ones.
Morning Routine
Simple Water Boost Hydrating Booster £6.99
Origins Cinzing Refreshing Eye Cream £21
Mario Badescu Facial Spray £7/£11
Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream £24.50
Bioré Aqua Rich Watery Essence Sunscreen RM35.95
Hada Labo Moisturizing Lotion RM64.90
The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG £5.80
& Other Stories Sardonyx Fire Body Mist £12
I know I know, some stuffs are just so old and I have been using them for ages, but they are just so good that I am not willing to try anything new. Like the Hada Labo lotion, I have been using it for over 10 years, been through countless bottles and still loving it to bits. It is just so good.
As for the Mario Badescu facial spray, as you can see in the picture, I have almost used up the big bottle, loving it even though I am not very keen about its smell, it smells weird, the green one smells even weirder, but I would not complain. Facial spray is the first thing that I put onto my skin right after I washed and dried my face. As you know I am not a believer of toner, I do not think toner does anything to my skin so I replaced it with facial spray long time ago. Maybe I should try using toner again after I have used up both of these.
I have heard many Youtubers talking about this Simple hydrating booster so I thought why not give it a try. What I heard from them was you can use it on you whole face if you skin is very dry or you can just spot treating your dry patches. I mean, it is cheap so I am just gonna use it on my entire face hahaha~
So far so good I mean. It has a more like a serum kind of texture. It is light, absorbs really quickly into the skin, not greasy or tacky at all and I can still pile on more products on top of it, it does not ball up. How great it that?
Even though I am not too sure about it's hydrating effect because I use a lot of products at the same time but I know it is doing something to my skin. Usually I would use a tiny amount of facial oil in my daytime skincare routine, like 2 drops because it can get a bit dry during the day, especially after I came back from gym and all the sweats have took away my moisturizer. Now that I have used this Hydrating Booster, I totally have skipped using facial oil. So I guess it is doing something isn't it? Most importantly, IT IS CHEAP!!! It is even cheaper when it is on sale, I have got myself a few backups *wink*.
Nothing special about this lip balm I would say. Well yeah it is a rather unique scent because you could rarely get a pear scented lip balm but it does not smell or taste like pear at all, it just smell like apple flavoured, yet still, how often do you get an apple-scented lip balm right?
I like very thick and balm-y lip balm, those which leaves a seal on your lips to prevent moisture being sucked out of it, you know what I mean? But this Kiehl's lip balm is a rather thin one. It dries down after awhile so it would not leave a layer of something on your lips. Does my lips feel moisturized? Uhm, I don't know actually, nothing too special for me to notice.
So what I usually do is I would apply a thin layer of it at the end of my skincare routine and go to the kitchen to make some breakfast. By the time my breakfast is ready the lip balm would have been dried down. So yeah, perfect timing that is why I am continue to use it, this is like my daytime lip balm.
One day in the kitchen I ran out of hand wash so I used my flatmate's and then I was so amazed by the scent of her hand wash. It just smells so so good so I went to the shop to get the same scent but in body mist. This scent is very masculine I would say, it is very strong, not too musky, a little woody and it smells exactly like you are next to a fireplace. I have not had anything like this scent before and fell immediately in love with it.
This scent is kind of special to me, it keeps some special memories. I might go back to the shop to grab it in Eau de Parfum. It is my current scent so I would just put on a few spritz even though I am not going anywhere.
As for The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG, I am just trying to go through it. You are supposed to only use it on your eye area but I already have the Origins eye cream that I love, so I am just trying to finish it to not waste it.
I want to just list down step by step what I do in the morning after I have my face washed.
Facial Spray
spam spray it and pat them all into the skin
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Hada Labo Lotion
put a generous amount, pat it into the skin. I do not rub it because I am afraid that that would create wrinkles, let everything dries down before applying the rest of the products
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Simple Water Boost Hydrating Booster
gently rub it in onto the whole face and let it soak in completely before applying the rest
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Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG
put like 4 drops and pat that into the skin gently
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Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream
gently rub and massage it into the whole face in a lifting motion until it is completely absorbed
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Eye Cream
take a pea size and gently pay under the eye and near brow bones
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Kiehl's Lip Balm
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Body Spray
Nighttime Routine
Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate 50ml £49.50
Carmex Lip Balm £2.69
Vaseline Intensive Care Essential Lotion £5.99
The Body Shop Shea Nourishing Body Butter £20
I do not change much in my nighttime routine, basically I use almost the same products except I would change up to something with better hydrating effect.
The body lotion and body butter, I feel like I have dedicated a lot go post talking about this combination so I am just gonna skip them here. Yeah still going for this combo, they are still the best in my opinion.
I would use the Simple Hydrating Booster sometimes, like I have said, it is cheap, so I would use it whenever I am not too lazy because why not?
I started using facial oil at night since a few years back and am totally amazed by how my skin looks the next day, that is why facial oil has always been in my nighttime routine right now. Even though this Kiehl's product says it is a concentrate but it does not feel like the ordinary concentrate at all. It is straight up facial oil.
I had this small little sample that they gave me and then I am hooked since and got the full size. It smells so good, not artificial scent but a very natural herbal scent. It is not greasy at all after I have rubbed it into my skin. It does not leave any greasy residue and it keeps my skin beyond hydrated throughout the night, my skin feel so so soft and plumped the next day. I am a fan of this. This concentrate and the Ultra Facial Cream, best combo ever!
Even though it is a tiny bit expensive but it is totally worth it. I have been using it for a little more than 3 months now and I have only gone through a quarter of the bottle. So I am guessing a 50ml bottle can last you a year, that is not too bad isn't it?
Lastly it is the lip balm. I have made it a habit to put on lip balm before I go to bed, I would feel a bit uncomfy if I don't do that and my lips would be all chapped and peeling off the next day. I need something extremely thick to last me the whole night, Carmex has done a very good job so far. It is so thick, so so thick, which is exactly what I am looking for.
Except its scent, I have nothing to complain about. But make sure you don't drink water after you have it applied because it is going to change the taste of your water hahaha~ I almost used up a small tub and definitely am repurchasing it.
My nighttime skincare would be like:
facial spray
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Hada Labo Lotion
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Simple Hydrating Booster
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Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate
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Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream
↓
body lotion / butter
↓
lip balm
My night time routine is definitely much simpler than my daytime routine. I am thinking whether I should incorporate another eye cream in my night time skincare. If I were to then I would probably go for the Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Concentrate Matrix, that looks so legit.
Till then~ xx
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