Whether you’re 21 or 71, you always want to look the best you can and unfortunately we all age. The best thing in knowing is that you can always do something to protect and maintain the awesome looks you have now! Seriously the littlest things all do help. no l’m assuming everyone has their own night time skin care routine and if you don’t… tsk, tsk! It really doesn’t take that long. Probably in all fairness, it takes around five minutes or so. It may seem like you could be stuck in the bathroom for ages as you have to get through all of the cleansing, toner, serum, eye cream and night moisturizing. But really its about five minutes or so.
Now just splashing cold water on your face and washing it with soap just isn’t enough to get it ‘clean’ any more nowadays. Because of the world we live in now is changing daily with the day to day life stresses and environment pollution it effects our skin.
Here is a run down of my daily night time routine and basically what each one does. I’ve included the products that I’m currently using and highly recommend them:
1. Cleanse and ooooh, perhaps another good dose of cleanse!
Every beauty skincare specialist will tell you that you should always cleanse twice a day (morning & night) and that is true. It will remove all of your make-up and also wash away the built up pollution and stressed from that day. Once you’ve done it, you will feel like absolutely AMAZING after cleansing your face and straight away you are going to see the benefits on your face. Glowing!
2. Tone up those pores
Back in the old days there was a lot controversy that a toner wasn’t good for your skin and in some cases, it actually wasn’t. It was filled with alcohol and naughty ingredients that would just strip away the natural skin oils that we need to keep our skin nice & healthy. I prefer to use spraying toners. It just feels so lovely as your spritzing it around your face that you can feel your pores start to tighten up and your face start to glow a little more. Niiiiiicccceeeeeee!
3. Meet my best-friend: the serum
I absolutely love serums! Its like an entree meal before you get to scoff down your main meal at dinner. Look at it as a pre-sampling of yummy goodies. Serums are products with high concentrations of certain active ingredients, such as hyaluronic acid (to reduce the appearance of lines and wrinkles – well, hello!! Yes please!), vitamin C (to brighten the skin & help reduce the appearance of pigmentation and age spots – again, yes please!) and/or glycolic acid (an exfoliant). Using a serum under your night cream is preparing your skin, by excelerating the benefits even further.
4. Look into your eyes
The skin under the eyes is thinner and more sensitive than the rest of the face. When applying any eye cream, tap the cream under your eye gently (the fleshy part) and between your eyebrows using the tip of your index fingers. Some fun facts: the index fingers don’t absorb the moisture of the cream like the other fingers do, so always try to remember to use your index finger!
5. Night-time feed for the face
I’ve been using night creams since I was about 11 or 12 years old. Why I started to so young, I just couldn’t tell you as I don’t even know myself. Haha! I just remember sitting in front of my dressing table applying my mama’s Nivea cream (the blue tin one) and thinking I was so grown up, and la-dee-da. Haha! A night cream is to help your skin rest & repair in line with your natural body bio-rhythms, also to help maintain a healthy complexion each day. The main important ingredients you want in a night cream are things like ceramides, to peptides (which trigger collagen production – the real good stuff!) and vitamins A, C, E or B5 (helps the skin to function perfectly).
6. Go on, give me a kiss!
I always apply lip balm before going to sleep. It basically keeps my lip smackers hydrated throughout the night (cue the sound of kissing lips. Mwah mwah!). I like to use Paw Paw Rosehip & Manuka Lip Balm. It’s made from all natural products and there is NO petroleum or mineral oil in the actual product itself (they are big NO No’s!). Your lips are just as important to look after too!
7. I wanna hold your hand
The very last thing I do as I hop into bed is slather on the hand cream. I like the way my hands feel nice and soft and also it’s to try to minimize wrinkly hand look in later years to come. Haha!
ADDED EXTRA: facial masks (3 x times a week)
I’ve been using facial masks for a long time now and I just absolutely love them! When I first got married, for the first three years I used to wait until my husband went to bed because I didn’t want to scare the poor guy. Let me give it some time at least. Haha! Facial masks are like giving yourself a mini facial. There are are many varieties and forms of face masks: clay/mud, cream, gel and face sheets. They are all are worthwhile and beneficial. I recommend you look into them. Over a few days of usage, you will see results straight away.
All different types of assorted facial masks. They are heavenly!
So that’s my bed-time skincare routine. Tell me about your night-time routine. Do you do anything different, and what products would you recommend using as well?