Hi girls,
After the morning skincare routine, it is now time to show you my night time skincare routine. Usually, I try to cleanse my face and apply the treatment products in the evening itself, after I’m done with the kid’s dinner and while they are brushing their teeth, because if I leave it for later, I get too exhausted and feel lazy. This is the only resolution that I have been able to stick to so far 🙁 .
If I’m out at night, I still make it a point to at least remove my makeup even if I’m too sleepy to go through the whole routine. Last night, though, after absolutely ages, I went to sleep with my makeup on….and guess what? The thick winged-liner I had done with the Maybelline Gel Liner was absolutely INTACT! Anyway, to get back to the point, here’s my night-time skincare routine and the products I use…..
CLEANSER
The most important part of skincare at the end of the day, is properly cleansing the skin. Most of the days, I have just a BB/CC cream on my face and no other makeup and so I cleanse with the Fresh Soy Face Cleanser. It is a very gentle cleanser that removes even sunscreen / BB cream / eyeliner thoroughly yet gently. I haven’t tried removing mascara with this yet though it does makeup very well.
However, when I’m wearing makeup, I prefer to do a double cleanse just to ensure that all the makeup has come off totally. For that, I first use the Clarins Total Cleansing Oil all over my face and neck to remove the makeup. Initially, I didn’t use this for eye makeup as the SA had told me not to, but I did try it once out of curiosity and it removes eye makeup very well indeed, including mascara! Haven’t tried it on waterproof mascara but it does remove the Clinique Lash Doubling Mascara, which is the mascara I wear these days (on the rare occasions that I wear mascara).
After emulsifying and rinsing this oil off, I use the Fresh Soy Face Cleanser to get my skin totally clean. Another cleanser that I really, really love is the Shiseido Rinse Off Cleansing Gel which is a non-foaming cleanser. I have heard really good things about the Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm which I’d like to try but I have one more bottle of the Clarins Oil stashed away that I need to finish up after this one.
TONER
I kept reading about the wonders of acid toners and how they gently exfoliate the skin and make it radiant. Some of the most raved ones are Lotion P50 and Alpha H Liquid Gold. I was thoroughly confused as to which acid toner I should order (coz none are available locally in India) and while browsing online, I stumbled across this Mario Badescu Glycolic Acid Toner which is very gentle as it has only 2% glycolic acid. The ingredient list of this toner was what convinced me to buy it…just four ingredients, water, aloe vera, grapefruit extract and glycolic acid!
When I first got it, I used the toner twice a day but my skin reacted and I cut down to just night time usage. It mildly exfoliates and yes, I do feel it has made my skin much better. I’ll write a detailed review on this soon but if you’re looking at buying an acid toner, I would highly recommend this one.
EYE CREAM
Shiseido Benefiance WrinkleResist 24 Eye Cream. Do I need to say more???
TREATMENT / NIGHT CREAM
The tiny empty bottle you see nestled against the Shiseido Eye Cream in the picture, is the sample bottle of the Clarins Lotus Oil. After hearing that this oil does wonders for oily/combination/acne-prone skin, I asked the SA for a sample along with my Clarins purchase. She gave me two sample bottles which lasted me around 20 days coz, being an oil, a very tiny quantity is needed. I really like this oil as it has helped in refining my skin texture and helping in controlling the oiliness. The samples are over and the only reason why I haven’t bought the full-sized bottle yet is because I want to buy it from duty-free when I go on my holiday next week. Or perhaps I should first use up the Faran Face Serum that I got in my Glam Guru bag. That too, is an oil based serum.
Another night cream that I really liked is the H2O Plus Total Source Night Cream that I got in my August Vellvette Bag. It has a thick gel-creme texture that is instantly absorbed into the skin and leaves my skin leaving soft, plumped and radiant the next morning. The L’Oreal Revitalift Laser X3 Cream is also fabulous as a night moisturiser and that is what I use on my neck while my face is slathered with Clarins Lotus Oil. In my pre-blogging days, I have also used, and liked, a couple of other night creams like the Clinique Youth Surge Night Moisturiser and Shiseido Pureness Gel-Cream that can be used day and night.
A few years ago, during winter, I had bought the Kama Ayurveda Kumkumadi Oil. It was a new launch then and I had bought it out of curiosity. This oil is quite thick and just one drop was enough for my entire face. Of course, this was in winter and my skin was dry then. It would be too heavy for girls with oily skin. I think I’ll buy it once again this winter. Or maybe I’ll buy the Forest Essentials Advanced Soundarya Age Defying Facial Serum with 24K Gold which has been on my wishlist since quite some time. Just the name sounds so luxuriously indulgent, doesn’t it?
If you have very, very VERY dry skin, I would strongly recommend the Mary Kay Extra Emollient Night Cream that I had got in yet another Vellvette Bag. I had used it in december in Rajasthan and it is FABULOUS!!! It is also super thick, more like a balm than a cream so use it only if your skin is comparable to the Sahara desert.
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There are loads of products available in the market and the ones I have mentioned over here are the ones that I have used and that have worked for me on my combination skin. Hope this routine helps you. Let me know in the comments if you have any questions and I shall try and answer them the best I can. I’m off for my holiday at the end of this week and will be carrying all travel-sized and sample products. Would you like to see a post on “tropical, beach holiday skincare”?
PS – Thanks for participating in the L’Oreal Shine Caresse Giveaway. I’ll verify the entries and put up the winners’ names soon 🙂
Will try to review the MB toner soon. I bought it from Beautybay.com.
Haven’t yet tried the Etude House eye cream. Thanks for the recco….it goes straight on my holiday shopping list 😉
I’ve been wanting to buy some skincare from there as well, was wondering if you had to pay any custom duty charge ?
Mario Badescu Glycolic Acid Toner review pls… I read rave reviews for Liquid gold but like u said getting that is definitely a pain. And from where did you buy Mario Badescu Glycolic Acid Toner? Next time pls leave relevant links its so easy to check and not bother you….
And have you tried Etude House Collagen Moistfull Firming Eye Cream? I really loved it .. give it a shot sometimes 😀
It is really nice. Try and get a sample to try first. It takes time to get absorbed into the skin since it’s an oil but the massage you do to make it get absorbed also helps the skin 🙂
Lol. Thanks Naomi 🙂
Now i too wanna use the clarins lotus oil! Sounds amazing for my type of skin 🙂
I always drool over most of the products you have <3