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