What does your skincare routine look like? Are you into layering up your actives, defining distinct AM and PM routines, or stripping it down to a couple of trusted staples? After briefly dabbling in the Korean 10-step skincare routine, I’ve more or less stuck to a 3-step approach of cleanse, treat and moisturise. This may sound pretty basic, but what those 3 products consist of varies massively from one month to another – that’s where the tailoring comes into it. In this empties post I share the breadth of cleanser formats, different treatments and creams I use on a regular basis.

THE CLEANSERS  

The cream cleanser: Temple Spa Be Gone Cleansing Crème

What an amazing texture: it feels like I’m smearing cooling natural yogurt across my face, but with more of an elastic texture. Ideal for sensitive skin, with calming soothing liquorice, hydrating aubergine and softening apricot, I love how clean, refreshed and settled my skin looks and feels.

The cleansing balm: Neal’s Yard Remedies Wild Rose Beauty Balm

When I want to keep my evening skincare routine super simple this is the only product I use – yes just the one: use it as a cleanser to melt away makeup and dirt and wipe clean with a wet flannel, then massage in a thin layer as an overnight nourishing mask. Done.

The exfoliator: Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant

This still remains to this day my favourite physical exfoliator of all time. The super fine rice-based powder with Salicylic Acid polishes and buffs for baby smooth skin. If you’re a double cleanse fan, this works well after the balm. Plus it’s available in a refill format.

The oil: Lisa Franklin Anti-Pollution Cleanser

This is a good one for city dwellers. The antioxidant-rich oil formula deeply but gently purifies, leaving skin feeling refreshed and looking balanced, without the greasy feel you sometimes get from oil-based cleansers.

The quickie: Neal’s Yard Remedies Micellar Cleanser

Some evenings you just can’t be bothered. Or maybe just enough to care about not going to bed with makeup on. Which is where a micellar cleanser comes in handy. This fragrance-free one is loaded with hyaluronic acid, fermented oat extract and a sea water mineral infusion to leave skin not only clean, but moisturised and soothed.

THE TREATMENTS

The toner: Pestle & Mortar NMF

Once your skin is clean, you can have fun with the treatments: whether you lean more towards an essence, toner, serum, booster or a mix of these, this tends to be the turbocharged skincare step. Pestle & Mortar’s lactic acid toner with niacinamide hydrates, exfoliates, lightens hyperpigmentation and reduces fine lines. A gently tingling sensation on application, it delivers an instantly smoother skin texture.

The essence: Caudalie Vinoperfect Essence

A pillar of the Korean skincare routine, the essence hasn’t achieved the same status in the West. This 98% natural light, refreshing and hydrating essence can really prep skin to ensure it makes the most of the products’ ingredients that follow: according to Caudalie, if you use their Vinoperfect serum on its own you’ll notice improvements to skin after 46 days, however if you apply the essence beforehand, results are visible after just 28 days.

The booster: Neal’s Yard Remedies Mahonia Clear Skin Booster

Boosters are great if you want to tackle a particular skin concern and give your existing skincare routine a turbocharged boost in a specific direction. When I have a breakout I swap my cleanser for a salicylic acid gel and pair it with this booster which is clinically proven to target blemishes thanks to its tincture-based mahonia formula with antioxidant centella asiatica, to clarify and decongest.

The day serum: Evolve Hyaluronic Serum 200

Such a simple serum but what a hydration booster. By using 200mg of concentrated low molecular weight Hyaluronic Acid per bottle, this certified organic serum locks in moisture and plumps out fine lines.

The Night serum: Element Apothec Face Serum

I find this serum works best at night as it’s oil-based. Boasting no less than 20 botanicals and oils (including raspberry, rosehip and sea buckthorn), this nutrient-packed vegan and cruelty-free serum remains lightweight but highly nourishing to restore skin’s elasticity and plumpness.

THE MOISTURISERS

The classic: Weleda Skin Food Nourishing Day Cream

As their most iconic product, Weleda’s Skin Food deserves a whole franchise, and this nourishing cream doesn’t disappoint. 100% natural and vegan, with calming chamomile and soothing calendula, it gently but intensively nourishes dry skin but remains less thick and tacky than the OG.

The cushion: Balance Me Collagen Boost

Sometimes a product can impress by its simplicity. This cream looks and feels like an everyday moisturiser, but what makes the Collagen Boost stand out is that it’s so gentle: like a weightless cloud of cashmere on your skin. On days when my skin felt fragile, this is what I reached out for.

For day: Lunalis Hydra Renewal Cream

Lightweight, fast-absorbing and radiance-boosting, this Hydra Renewal Cream sits well under makeup so works perfectly as part of a morning skincare routine. With nourishing prickly pear seed oil, soothing linoleic acid and skin barrier strengthening vitamin E, Lunalis’ cream plumps and brightens.

For night: Evolve Nightly Renew Facial Cream

Finally for your evening routine, this rich and nourishing organic cream detoxifies, smooths and plumps while you sleep. Not only does the retinol-mimicking Bidens pilosa plant rejuvenate skin, the natural fragrance blend is proven to help you fall asleep more quickly, and enhance sleep quality – no need for that chamomile tea then!

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