My skin care routine, and why less is more

I vividly remember times of when I had flawless skin. I was a lucky teenager and never suffered from horrible or serious acne, only the casual pimple yet I still had the urge to wear foundation. Now ladies, you know where I'm going with this. We are grown to see these actresses on screen and assume either a) they were born with God-sent skin or b) their foundation is magic. Regardless if our skin is indeed, flawless; we are our own worst critic. I am a firm believer foundation did in some way alter my skin and if I honestly knew the ingredients in my foundation it would somehow be easy to figure out what my skin reacted to. If you are curious, I use Lancôme's Teint Idole Ultra 24H foundation. I swear by it, it's that good. I even went as far as finishing an entire bottle which in essence took me more than 2 years to do and repurchased. 

I started my "official" skin care routine when I was 17 or 18 because it was a time where I started to notice small things, and slowly introduce myself to the massive world of skin care. I was subtly brainwashed (or brainwashed myself) into the regimen of skin care: cleanse, exfoliate, tone, moisturize. It was something I thought I knew clearly, and my skin needed most but in reality it wasn't. I have used products not limited to Spectro Jel, Morning Burst, Neutrogrena Makeup Remover wipes (it burns!), and St. Ives to expensive creams such as, Estee Lauder. 

When I realized nothing helped my poor skin, I stuck to a very simple regimen. I instantly cut out toners, and cleansers and stuck to baby wipes. O. m. g. Words cannot express this little discovery made for little people I needed to get the word out. I use Huggies Soft Skin with Shea Butter. The wipes are thick, and moisturizing that cleans the skin very well. I use the wipes once in the morning, and night though in the summer I squeeze in more time because Canadian summers are unforgiving with heat, and skin. In addition to this, I use Bioderma to remove eye or face makeup and Clean and Clear's Persa Gel 5 spot treatment very sporadically. This little regimen has helped my skin and saved me tons of money. The most expensive product I use on my face is Bioderma which is retailed at 22$ CAN and it lasts you months. If you're wondering what I use to moisturize my skin, I don't. I only moisturize my eyes with POND's before makeup application, and I lightly mix it in with my foundation to lighten the coverage. POND's is a very hydrating moisturizing cream dedicated to dry skin and is only needed lightly if you have normal to combination skin. When I say "less is more", I mean it. I am all for your own personal skin care routine, however, with so many years of trying and figuring I realized it wasn't fair to myself, my skin, and wallet to constantly buy new products because none worked. I treat my skin to weekly or bi-weekly face masks as well to refresh myself. Back in my glory high school days, I discovered Montagne Jeunesse. They are a natural, and animal-cruelty free company and their face masks are SO good! I have literally been buying these hidden beauties for more than six, seven years. I find treating my skin with a face mask, adds onto a healthy and soft look. 

If you are at all curious or interested in any of the products listed above, I will share the link.

Huggies Soft Skin with Shea Butter
Bioderma for Sensitive Skin
Clean & Clear Persagel 5
POND's Dry Skin Cream
Montagne Jeunesse Face Masks

Delicious Coconut Macaroon Recipe

Hello my lovely readers! This past weekend I felt spontaneous and baked coconut macaroons. Needless to say they were delicious and thankfully I was able to make around two dozen with the recipe below! Enjoy x
note: the photo is the finished product and was taken after many, many dessert enthusiasts decided to eat the macaroons!

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon flour

1 1/2 bag of coconut

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup granulated sugar

5 egg whites

To do:

Set oven to 400 degrees. On the stove top, use a heated double boiler and combine 5 egg whites to granulated sugar, until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, and pour egg and sugar mixture into separate bowl to mix up to the point of the consistency of a thick meringue. Combine coconut and flour and pour into egg white mixture. Stir ingredients together until you create a strong batter to place on a non-stick baking sheet - I personally used parchment paper. 

IMPORTANT TIPS:

The recipe I used said to bake for 10-15 minutes. I found 8 minutes to be enough because the macaroons turned golden brown. If you want your macaroons to be lightly done, I suggest baking for 6 or 7 minutes maximum.

If you love coconut but find the amount of coconut to be much, melt dark chocolate in a double boiler and drizzle onto the macaroons. I find this cuts the sweetness and adds a beautiful touch. 

Another useful tip is to store in a dry place. I refrigerated mine though I found the macaroons to sit better wen they are at room temperature. Store in an oven, or container. 

Thank you

Thank you to anyone and everyone who has viewed, read, or lurked my blog. It means a lot and I thoroughly enjoy creating blog posts for you to read xx