The Body Shop Camomile Silky Cleansing Oil

I'm a Bioderma micellaire water kind of girl.  It's easy, works like a charm and only takes a few seconds.  Why mess with a winning thing right?  Well apparently I did.  When I was cleaning out my closets in September I came across this Camomile Silky Cleansing Oil by The Body Shop.  I vaguely remember buying it when it just launched and using it a few times ... and not really liking it.  But since September was the month I forced myself to use everything I had in my closets before opening something new, I reintegrated it in my evening routine.  

I've been using it a few weeks now and it has grown on my.  Especially now that the weather is getting colder I'm loving the feeling of the oil on my skin.  One pump of the product is enough for you whole face, you gently massage it all over your face and eyes and then add a bit of water which turns the formula in a milky substance.  Gently rub the water/milky substance over your face and eyes and rinse off with more water.  My skin feels really nice after this and my face is ready for the next step in my evening routine.  I'm a firm believer of the double cleanse: you take of your makeup and follow up with a cleanser to really clean up your face.  So after the Camomile Sliky Cleansing Oil I'll still use another cleanser (one of Neutrogena at the moment).

As much as my face loves this product, my eyes do not.  Well, maybe that's putting it a bit wrong.  It doesn't irritate my eyes or anything but after the cleansing it feels like there's a film of some sort over my eyes.  Also it doesn't take off all the eye makeup (think a panda like situation).  It's fine for eyeshadow but removing eyeliner or mascara?  Nope, there's still a fair amount left after cleansing.  So you'll still have to use an eye makeup remover alongside the cleansing oil.  One swipe with a cotton pad with some eye makeup remover on does get rid of all your eye makeup and also takes care of the film that was left over the eyes.

I'm pretty sure the amount that's left in the bottle will get me through the coldest months of the year but I don't think I'll repurchase it when it's finished.  I think I'll just go back to my Bioderma micellaire water that does the job so much faster.  

Where to buy:

You can buy The Camomile Silky Cleansing Oil at The Body Shop.  I paid €13 for 200ml.

Emptied and replaced in October

October went by fast and I have a feeling November is even going to go by faster.  Just 3 more weeks of work and then I'm off to somewhere sunny for 10 days.  Much deserved, even if I say so myself ;-)

Anyway, I was on a roll in September, emptying a lot of products and I'm forcing myself to continue this process.  So here's what I emptied out in October and what I replaced it with:

Facial care:

I used up my Neutrogena Alcohol Free Toner and replaced it with Body Shop Vitamine E face mist.  Technically not really a toner but it works the same to me and since I had half a bottle left I decided to use it and not buy a new toner until the face mist is empty.  Also my much beloved Neutrogena Raphid Wrinkle repair moisturizer has been emptied.  I'm so bummed by this, it's not available in Europe and I love this one so much (I do need to put a hydrating serum under this).  Yet another reason to plan a trip to the US soon.  I replaced it by Vichy Normaderm Tri-Activ Anti-Imperfection Hydrating care that I found laying around, I think it was in a Deauty box at some point.

Body care:

Bath and Body works time!!  I finished the Beautiful Day hand cream and got started on my tube of Crisp Morning Air Handcream.  The Maui Mango Surf body cream replaced my Love & Sunchine body cream.  I also found this Clinique Water Therapy foot smoothing cream somewhere in the back of a closet, it was almost empty, I only got 3 more uses out of it and I replaced it by the Body Shop's Spa wisdom honey & beeswax hand and foot butter that I found in the back of the same closet.  I remember I was hooked on this stuff at one point and then they stopped selling it.  So I'm kind of hoping I don't get hooked again since it's no longer for sale.

Makeup:

My sample size Photo finish primer by Smashbox lasted until the end of the first week of October and I replaced it by 2 primers.  Kiehl's Micro Blur Skin Perfection (which I love by the way, you can find a review of this on the blog real soon) and Too Faced Hangover replenishing face primer.  I intended to alternate between both but I'm loving the Kiehl's one so much that I haven't tried the Too Faced primer yet.  When it gets colder I probably will start alternating more because the Too Faced one is more hydrating and that's what my skin needs in winter.  And than there's my Guerlain Lingerie de Peau bb beauty booster ... this one got me through 2 summers.  It's so lightweight it feels like a bb cream but gives a foundation like coverage.  I'm happy this one is now empty.  As much as I loved it, I was so sick of it by the end, I really wanted to try something new and the damn tube kept producing product. I'm now using the Cover Girl Ready Set Gorgeous foundation in the color 110 as my everyday foundation, especially for workdays.  It's very lightweight and gives you that pretty healthy finish.  Another Neutrogena favorite is their Healthy Skin foundation (shown here in 110 Classis Ivory), since the formula is a bit heavier I  currently only use this one on special days or if I'm going out at night. And last but not least one of my all-time favorite Mac eyeshadows: Satin Taupe, that one got replaced by itself.

Nail care:

There they go, my two favorite nail care products of all time, in the bin: trend nail balsam and nail repair.  Trind products are definitely among the best nail products on the market and I already have backups of them at home but I decided to go with Sally Hanssen Vitamin E Nail & cuticle oil and nail hardener and I'm liking them so far.

Miscellaneous:

I've been a very good girl lately cleaning my makeup brushes every sunday.  I usually use the same colors every day when I'm working so it wasn't really necessary color-wise to clean them often but of course it's more hygienic to clean them regularly.  So on sunday I clean brushes!  I emptied my Mac brush cleanser and replaced it by a new bottle.

And that's it!  I'm liking this process a lot: empty out one thing before opening another.  It's working well for most products but in case you're wondering; I'm not even going to try to implement this in my nail polish and eyeshadow collection because I'd never be able to write a post like this if I did that ;-)

My evening skincare routine

After doing a morning skincare routine a few weeks ago (you can find the post here), it’s time to show you my evening skincare routine.  I’m a big fan of double cleansing.  I take my make-up off first and than proceed with this routine.  So what I’m showing you here is what I do after I take my make-up off.

First, cleansing.  If you’ve read my morning skincare routine you know I’m a big Neutrogena fan so it should come as no surprise that you’ll find a lot of Neutrogena in this post. For my evening cleanse I use the Pore Refining exfoliating cleanser.  It contains Alpha and Beta Hydroxy acids and also contains little beads for a scrub like’effect.  The beads aren’t harsh in any way but they do make your skin feel really clean and ‚new’.  

One thing though: this really hurts when you get it into your eyes.  I know, you’re not supposed to get products in your eyes but when I rinse this off and open my eyes to grab a towel, somehow I always get some in my eyes and it really stings.  

Next up: toner.  At night I like a toner that’s not as soft as the one I use in the morning.  I’m currently using the Pore Refining Toner by Neutrogena.  You can just feel it working without drying out the skin.  It feels like it does more than just take away the leftovers from the cleanser without being aggressive.  My skin feels thoroughly cleansed after this step.

Under my eyes I use Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery Eye.  I’m a firm believer of eye creams and this one is great to use at night.  It’s a very creamy substance that really needs time to sink in but it makes my under eye area feel really hydrated at morning.  Does it do something for my wrinkles?  Well, yes and no.  If you have wrinkles around the eyes, they always seem ‚better’ when you use a good eye moisturizer.  Dry lines just seem so much worse than they really are.  So yes, it does something for the lines around my eyes but I don’t feel like this one really ‚battles’ them (if that’s even possible).  

For my face I start off with a hydrating serum, currently loving the Indeed Labs Hydraluron serum.  I’m so into the retinol and acids these days that I sometimes forget that I have a normal to dry skin.  My forehead and chin are normal and my cheeks are dry.  My day and night creams all have their purpose but they aren’t moisturizing enough for my cheeks so I use this serum at night, on my cheeks mainly.

Last step is my night cream.  This Retin-oc correction nourishing anti-wrinkle cream by ROC is a joy to put on.  It makes my skin feel really good and smells really good (according to the man sleeping next to me at night).

I also put on a really moisturizing lip balm at night like Rosebud salve or Bite Beauty’s agave lip mask.

So here you have it, my daily nighttime skincare routine.  To be honest, I think I need to do this again in a few months because I’m running out of Neutrogena products and the way things are looking now I won’t be going back to the states in the next few months so I’m going to have to do some research as to what to replace them with.  If you have any suggestions you can always leave them in the comments down below.

My morning skincare routine

A few years ago I read an article on allure.com about creams that contain retinol and a dermatologist recommended the Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair range saying it was the best drugstore buy and even better than some high end creams.  Naturally my interest was sparked, especially since you can’t find the Neutrogena skincare range in Europe (well, you’ll find some product lines in Boots in the UK but not all of them).  I only knew Neutrogean from their very moisturizing, very effective but also very no-nonsense hand creams so learning about their skincare range made me very very curious.

Back to spring 2014 when we went road tripping in the USA.  First stop as usual: Walmart, first beauty product I bought: Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle repair night cream and eye cream.  I remember putting on the eye cream and the wrinkles around my eyes actually started to tingle. Tingle is good I thought, that means that it works.  And so it did.  After using the products for a few weeks I saw myself in an elevator and thought ‚where are my wrinkles, my skin looks good’.  Of course the lighting had a lot to do with that but nevertheless, my skin looked good.  Ever since then , Neutrogena has become a regular in my skincare routine and every time I visit the USA I bring home a new supply.

So, my morning skincare you wonder?  Well, I start by cleansing my face with the Neutrogena Pore Refining daily cleanser.  Aside from wrinkles, I don’t like big pores and for that I love to incorporate my Alpha and Beta hydroxy acids.  

This cleanser is a gentle one though, it doesn’t make my skin feel dry in any way and I feel really fresh and clean after using it.  

Next up: toner.  In the morning I try to use more gentle products than at night just in case my skin turns a little red.  I do not want to go through the day with a red face, if it turns red at night at least there are 8 hours left for it to calm down before anyone sees me.  This Alcohol free toner is very gentle, it’s a very watery solution, not at all creamy like some toners are.

Step 3: serum.  To stay true to my Neutrogena love I put on the Rapid Wrinkle Repair serum.  I put my contacts in while this sinks into my skin.  It doesn’t take long before it’s almost completely gone.

Serum is on, contacts are in, time for some eye cream.  As I mentioned before I love the Rapid Wrinkle Repair eye cream, I still have a new tube in my closet yet I’m currently using something else.  Simply because I had it, it was open and it would be a waste to not use it before it turns bad.  So I put on the Kiehl’s Eye Alert eye-cream.  Made to combat puffiness and dark circles, now dark circles I have not but puffiness is a bit of an issue.  So does this one work, not as much as a gallon of coffee does but it does freshen up the under eye area.  

I finish with my Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair moisturizer with sunscreen (spf 30).  After that I start my daily makeup routine.

I’m very strict about the steps of my morning skin care routine, the products may vary over time but the ‚system’ stays the same.  I never skip this, if I ever skip something it’s usually my evening routine.  I know, I know but hey, sometimes I feel like I’m sleepwalking to my bedroom and taking care of my face is the last thing on my mind when I’m in such a state.

So there you have it, my morning skincare routine.  Later this week you can expect my nighttime skincare routine to pop up on the blog.

Post flight face pampering

I just got back from a 3 week trip to the USA (I love the USA!) so I thought I’d start with a post flight skincare routine now that it’s still fresh in my mind.

I’m afraid I’m not a brave person when it comes to skincare on a plane.  There are tons of blogpost on the net on inflight skincare routines but seriously, who does that?  „I take of my makeup, I put on a facial mask, I put this or that product in my hair” … really??  When I’m on a long haul flight the only makeup I put on is mascara, I wear my glasses instead of my contacts and I make sure I’ve put on my moisturizer.  That’s it.  I do have some samples of facial creams with me and when I feel the need I might put some on during the flight. That’s as brave as I get.  I don’t pull out a gazillion products which is a shame really.  Because there is nothing to do on a plane but read, sleep, watch a movie … it makes sense to use that time to create your own little spa up in the air.  But not me, I’d get self-conscious and wonder what people would think (which is ridiculous I know, just look up the passenger shaming account on instagram and you’ll see what I mean). 

So my face might not agree that what I do after a flight is pampering, it would probably consider it more a ‚feed me, rescue me’ kind of routine.  

First off I’ll start with a gentle facial scrub, there are many out there but two of my favorites are the Clinique 7 day scrub cream or Roc Gommage doux lissant (which I received as a gift by an order of Roc facial cream on the Belgian webshop iu).  I somehow always feel ‚dirty’ after a long flight so this helps me get rid of that feeling and of the old skin cells on my face.

Next up is moisturizing and I love using the hydraluron moisture boosting sheet mask by Indeed labs for that.  Now, you don’t want to put one on when you’re in the same room with someone you hardly know but then again, why would you have someone you hardly know in your room??  It looks kind of freaky and the first time I put one on my man laughed so hard he almost choked.  Needless to say I never put one on again in his presence for a while.  But all that changed when we were on a holiday and he burned his face a little.  He was a bit hesitant at first but his skin just sucked up all the product and all that was left was a sheet and I mean a real dry sheet, the same texture as the one you put in a printer.  He’s been a fan since and that’s a good thing because now we share.  I put on the mask and after my 15 minutes, he’ll put the other side on his face.  There’s enough product on there to do so and most sheet masks aren’t cheap so it makes sense to get as much product as you can out of it.  Another great one is the Dr.Jart+ water replenishment cotton sheet mask, which I got in Sephora during my last trip to the USA.

It takes my skin a few days to recover from a long flight so the next days I’ll put on a normal moisturizing mask.  A real favorite is Kiehl’s Ultrafacial overnight hydrating masque.  I love this!!  But don’t let the name fool you, you do not (and I repeat do not) want to put this on overnight.  I did because well, that’s what it says right?  I was afraid to move and slept on my back all night.  The stuff is sticky, the kind of sticky that when you would turn around you’d have your pillow stuck to your face.  So, overnight mask?  Not really, but a great moisturizing mask nonetheless.

Where to buy:

• Clinique: at your local beauty store

• Roc: at your local pharmacy 

• Hydraluron moisture boosting mask, indeed labs 19.99£: boots.com (shipping is 9.99£ but they have special offers all the time that can make up for the shipping costs, or you can order together with your bestie and share)

• Dr Jart+: beautybay.com or boots.com although neither of them sells the sheet masks

• Kiehl’s ultrafacial overnight hydrating mask: kiehls.be (or your local Kiehls online shop)