Happy New Year! It’s been almost a year since I switched to clean skincare. Making the switch has been great for my skin and I haven’t had any major issues related to my skincare, aside from some hormonal breakouts (we’ll get to that in a little).
If you’ve been curious about trying out clean skincare, I highly encourage you to look into it! The new year is a great time to start making the switch. And it doesn’t have to all happen at once! As products of yours start to run out, migrate over one by one, which is what I did.
I’ve refined and added a few products to my routine, but if you want to read about my initial switch to clean skincare, you can check that out here. Below are all of the products I’m currently using, as well as how I rotate through them throughout the week to keep my skin clear:
Face Wash: Face wash is one of those products that I’m not picky about, but recently I’ve been using the DermaBoss Pineapple and Vitamin C Brightening Cleanser. Not only do I love this smell, but I also love that this doesn’t strip my skin, which is great for the winter months.
Serums/Oils
Alpyn Beauty Plant Genius Survival Serum: This serum gives you the most gorgeous glow and smells like grapefruit, perfect for the morning. Serums are a great way to add extra hydration to the skin.
Kypris Antioxidant Dew: Your skin just looks GOOD after you apply this. I don’t know other way to describe it. While this product is highly expensive, I do think that it’s worth it and will be repurchasing.
Indie Lee Squalane Facial Oil: I absolutely love this facial oil. It’s extremely hydrating but soaks into my skin so beautifully. My favorite way to use this is to add it to my moisturizer for an extra drench of hydration.
Treatments
I don’t use every treatment every day, but do try and maintain some consistency. This combination of treatments took me months to get down. Make sure you introduce new products slowly so if anything doesn’t work, you can clearly pinpoint the culprit.
Ursa Major 4-in-1 Essential Face Tonic: This is my favorite toner that I have ever used. It’s the perfect blend between a micellar water and something a little stronger. It’s gentle enough to use around the eyes but also gets the job done if you need a quick refresh without washing your face in the morning.
Indie Lee Radiance Renewal Peel Pads: I use one of these pads 3-5x a week. I focus these pads on my forehead, nose, chin and jaw, where I am prone to blemishes.
Sunday Riley Luna Oil: This retinol oil is not clean beauty. I actually cut this out of my routine and my chin area got extremely congested. This prompted me to start getting a facial with extractions every 6 weeks, and that with the re-introduction of this oil has significantly helped my skin. I just got the mini size of this oil and once it’s done I plan on looking into Bakuchiol, a clean retinol alternative.
Beauty Counter Overnight Resurfacing Peel: I use this 1-2x week, depending on when I feel my skin needs it. If I’ve been slacking on my retinol or haven’t been going through all of my skincare steps and generally just want an overnight fix, BAM this comes to the rescue. I will apply this after my toner, apply a moisturizer and wash it off in the morning for an instant facial.
Beauty Counter Countercontrol All Over Acne Treatment: Before I reintroduced my retinol I tried to use this to combat blackheads and instead it just dried out my chin. Later I had an active spot on my jawline and used this as a spot treatment and found that it works WONDERS on my blemishes. If you’re normal-oily, not dry-normal, this might work as an allover solution, but if you’ve been looking for a clean spot treatment, this might do the trick.
Moisturizers
Alpyn Beauty Plant Genius Line Filling Eye Balm: This is the first eye cream I’ve ever used where I see a visible difference in how my under eye area looks. My eyes look plump, illuminated and most importantly, it plays so well with makeup.
Honest Beauty Soothing Daily Moisturizer: I picked this up on a whim at Target when I had run out of moisturizer and I am shocked by how much I like this. I love the consistency, easy packaging and the convenience of grabbing this with my coffee at Target.
Beauty Counter Countertime Tetrapeptide Supreme Cream: I use this as my night cream and love how rich this is without being greasy. It’s unscented, which is also big for me, because I don’t like using scented products at night.
Mist: I’m not saying I cried when my Josh Rosebrook Hydrating Accelerator spilled in my purse, but I might have cried. Bad day? Spray this. Tired? Spray this. Hungover? SPRAY THIS. I wish I was a piece of produce that could get sprayed by this 24/7.
Faking and Beating the Sun
I use two Drunk Elephant products to fake the sun and beat the sun. First the D-Bronzi Anti-Pollution Sunshine Drops. I mix half a pump of these in with my moisturizer to give myself just a little glow. I’m real pasty so these just help to add a little life into my face. Next, I have been loving the Umbra Tinte Physical Daily Defense Sunscreen. I apply this after my moisturizer, before primer/foundation and it doesn’t interrupt my makeup at all.
Face Tools
I use the FOREO LUNA mini 2 every day to wash my face. I haven’t had to recharge it since the first time I bought it (don’t know how that wizardry works) and I absolutely love how this wakes up my skin and makes whatever cleanser I’m using more effective.
I try and do a facial massage a few nights a week with the HERBIVORE Rose Quartz Gua Sha. Use whatever serum or oil you’re using to help the tool glide. I recommend watching some YouTube videos so you can use this most effectively!
Facials
Like I mentioned earlier, I my skin got a little rocky after my wedding. I think there were a few contributing factors here:
- I stopped retinol, which I have since re-introduced
- I loosened up my diet, eating a little more sugar and drinking alcohol, which I really wasn’t doing much of prior to the wedding
- The weather changed and got colder. For most people, the weather will have an impact on your skin.
I started getting regular facials and it’s definitely helped to have a professional clear out my skin. First step, it’s important to understand your acne. A lot of my acne happens around my chin and jaw, which typically translates to hormones. I’m still trying to get THAT figured out but in the meantime, my esthetician also gave me the following advice, which I will pass along:
- Retinol: Obviously my skin likes retinol, but I would really like my routine to be 100% clean. It’s back for now.
- Diet: She recommends cutting out dairy and salt to start (salt has been hard for me, luckily dairy was already out)
- Probiotics: Take probiotics once, if not twice a day (your gut health is super important with skin)
- Mask: Use a clarifying mask at home once a week
