My Current Skincare Routine

Hi everyone!

This winter has been rough on my skin. Back in December the weather was actually warm - in the sixties! - and then the end of January brought two months worth of snow. Yeah. Two months. March in particular has been terrible what with constantly fluctuating temperatures. In my neck of the northeast we had the slightest glimpse of spring... Only for it to drop down to single digits in two days, plus snow this weekend. Yikes. This has meant trying to find something for my very particular skin that keeps it hydrated and balanced without making it too oily.

I normally have very oily, acne-prone skin that runs on the sensitive side, especially when it comes to fragrances and cleansing tools like brushes. It's for this reason I love Clinique; all of their products are free of irritating fragrances and the dreaded perfumes.

I will say - I did work for them for almost a year, and that's where I learned to love their products. I found that they worked well for me, even when I would supplement their use with products from brands like Origins and Estee Lauder (which do use fragrances).

This winter I took a break from my Clinique Sonic Cleansing Brush to keep from aggravating my skin too much, only using it on days where I wouldn't be going outside. When I first got it I would use it every other day because I found that even though it was supposed to be designed for use on sensitive skin, I was still getting some irritation on my cheeks. I have started using it again every other day and bought the Acne Solutions Deep Cleansing Brush Head to go with it as I was in desperate need of a new one (my old one was so gross). So far, a few purge-based breakouts but overall I'm loving how my skin feels combining the brush and the Acne Solutions Cleansing Gel - a new switch for me as well, considering I loved the foaming cleanser previously.

I follow up with your typical three step - if you're familiar with Clinique skincare, you'll know all about the three step. (It's basically a cleanser, exfoliator, and moisturizer, specifically made for different skin types.) I use the Acne Solutions Clarifying Lotion which also helps to mattify, and follow that up with the Acne Solutions All-Over Clearing Treatment, which is actually a moisturizer. This alone helps breakouts a ton and I'm obsessed with how it makes my skin feel.

However, my skin does need a little extra help, so I add Estee Lauder's Clear Difference Advanced Blemish Serum to give it an extra boost and also calm it a little bit. This is the only product with fragrance I put on my face, but it's such a light, calming fragrance I hardly even notice. So far I haven't had any bad repercussions from it so it's looking like I'm keeping it in my routine.

So that is my current skincare routine! It seems like a lot - it feels like a lot - but I really love the way my skin is looking and feeling with it. Do you have any skincare products you're loving right now? Let me know in the comments below!


As always, thanks for reading and I love you very much!

x Kristin