My skincare routine – 12 products I use daily

My daily skincare routine contains 12 different products. That might sound like a lot, but for a skincare enthusiastic it’s actually not that bad.

My skintype is combination and I’m still recovering from acne. I have acne scars, so that’s one of the things I try to take care of. I also try to be gentle with my skin, because even though it gets oily, it also gets dry and I want my products to balance my skin. Being a beauty blogger means trying out different products quite often, but from this post you get an idea of how I treat my skin.

But one of the things I wouldn’t change are my oils: argan oil and jojoba oil. And my serum!

my skincare routine

my pm skincare routine

MY SKINCARE ROUTINE – EVENING

First, I double cleanse. It is one of the most important things in my skincare routine. I first wash my face with an oil, because oil soaks off makeup and sunscreen from my face, after which I can use my actual face cleanser to clean my face from dirt and sebum. Washing your face with two different products might sound extreme, but it’s amazing, I promise you – and not drying at all, since the first product is an oil, anyway.

Missha Perfect BB Deep Cleansing Oil
A great oil cleanser, that removes makeup really well and is quite long-lasting.

Dr. Organic Tea Tree Face Wash
I’m still searching for that perfect face wash and that is the one product, that I do change a bit, but this one I’ve been using the most. It’s inexpensive and very long lasting, so it’s great for a budget.

Chrissanthie eye lid cleanser (mixed with pure water to get a foam)
I use this daily to wash my lash extensions. If you want to know more about lash extensions, check out this post.

EkoPharma Vadelma Moisturizing Toner
I love this toner. It balances my skin, while hydrating it. I think this is my favorite toner so far.

The Body Shop Drops of Youth Concentrate
This serum would deserve a party of it’s own and I dedicated this post to it. When my skin started to get very bad last Summer, I bought this and started to use it daily. It helped with inflammation, spots, skin texture and dryness. It balanced my skin and was the key factor in making it smoother.

Argan oil
Argan oil my skin’s saviour, when it comes to dryness, but it actually has some other benefits as well. It has anti-aging properties, so it’s great for keeping that youthful glow on. Argan oil is also great for scarring and as you may know, I have pretty bad acne scars. I’ve been using this consistently throughout my acne journey and I’m pretty sure it’s one of the reasons my acne scars have been fading away quite nicely and my skin has stayed smooth. For anyone battling acne scars (or any scars), you might want to try argan oil.

EkoPharma Herukka Cream
This is one of the lotions I told you about in this post. Basically I got to make my own lotions! I’ve been using this one as a night cream. It soothes my skin, balances any redness I might have and nourishes super well, so that when I wake up in the morning my skin feels moisturized, but not oily or sticky.

Vichy AqualiaThermal Eye Balm
A lightweight and refreshing gel, that moisturizes well and suits my lash extensions. I also like the packaging!

my morning skincare routine

MY SKINCARE ROUTINE – MORNING

Before I put anything on my face, I wash my face with cold water. It’s essential for me, and not least, because it helps me to wake up. I need cold water under my eyes and all over my face in the morning, period. Then I go through these products.

EkoPharma Vadelma Moisturizing Toner

Mario Badescu Facial Spray with Aloe, Herbs and Rose water
This facial spray offers nice lightweight moisture. I like to moisturize my skin using lighter products in the morning.

Jojoba oil
Jojoba oil seems to absorb in my skin better than argan oil, so I like to use jojoba in the morning. I apply oil either before lotion or I mix it with the lotion.

EkoPharma Vadelma Cream
EkoPharma’s Vadelma (Raspberry) line is made for normal to mixed skin and it’s great for my skin. This lotion is very moisturizing, but not heavy. It works well under my makeup as well.

Clarins Multi-Active Eye Cream
This eye cream actually has it’s own blog post! It has a metallic applicator tip, which makes it perfect for eye massage and therefore helps with puffiness.

+ Sunscreen
Usually, my makeup acts as my sunscreen, since my foundations almost always contain a SPF. It’s not that sunny here all year round, so wearing a full face of foundation is enough for my face in Fall and Winter. However, if I’m not wearing a foundation and I’m headed outside in that beautiful winter sun, I make sure to apply sunscreen. In spring and Summer I wear either a sunscreen (I like Eucerin’s Mattifying Sun Fluid) or mineral makeup.

That is it for my daily skincare routine and products. Besides these I exfoliate my skin once or twice per week and use a mask once or twice as well. But I change those products a lot, so I didn’t want to include all of them here. The exfoliator I use is amazing though, so I might give it it’s own post.

How many products do you use daily for your skincare routine?

Skincare diet & natural oils in skincare

Many of us start a diet after winter. I know I’ve been there many, many times. I don’t really believe in diets though – if you are constantly on a diet you probably need a proper lifestyle change. But – yes there is a but – sometimes a short diet does you really good. And a diet isn’t always about your tummy or even about food. I’m talking of course about my most recent diet – Skincare Diet.

Skincare diet means to cut out all the excess products you’re using for your skin. You still need to wash your face with a cleanser, because your skin sweats and develops sebum and the idea of this diet is not to make the skin worse. You should skip lotions too, but if your skin gets dry try simple clean products such as natural oils. The proper time for this diet is 1-2 weeks, depending on your skin (you need to listen to it here, and see what it needs, you know).

What I did was leave out all my lotions, toners, masks, serums and exfoliators for a couple of weeks. I tried to take care of my skin with the most simple products with just a few pure ingredients. The products that I used were cleanser and natural oils. That’s it. It would have been good to not wear makeup at all, but I didn’t want to do that, so I had to use a makeup remover too on those days.
I used oil as a moisturizer in the evening and/or in the morning. Some evenings I skipped the oil completely, but living in Finland my skin gets so dry I have to moisturize with something.

diet for your skin

About my experience

For me, the skincare diet was worth a shot. If you’re a regular reader of mine you know I struggle with acne and over-skincare is definitely one of my sins. I love skincare products and I have a ton of them. I don’t always have a clean routine where I only use a few products, but I mix and match and sometimes that takes a toll on my skin too. I’ve never tried to not-take-care of my skin. I’ve always had a ton of products in use at the same time. Solution: taking a break from them. My skin was really sensitive at the moment too so I figured I could give it a break.

The diet helped my skin to calm down a bit and it helped with the dryness. It also taught me that I can survive on only moisturizing with oils! It also gave me a great chance to declutter my cosmetics and find out what products I was loving and what belonged in the trash. The most important thing I learned though was that my normal routine with cleanser, toner, lotion (=oils) and weekly exfoliator + mask is working for my skin. I just need the right products and I shouldn’t be changing them all the time.

It’s was also relieving mentally: the diet gave me a much needed break from my routines and after it I felt super excited to get back at my products. I also love that now my bathroom is only full of products that I’m using or that I’ve found really good.

But since it’s only a diet and not a skincare routine I recommend to follow, there were some cons too. My sebaceous filaments got worse during this time. As I said on this post, exfoliation is key to maintaining an even skin. I also feel like my ~2,5 week diet was a bit too much and a week or two would have done just fine. I felt that my skin was super oily and bumpy at the end of my diet and I couldn’t wait to properly wash it and do a good old purifying mask.

I can recommend the diet for anyone who is struggling with their skin like me. But I dare to say it’s not the solution for a clear skin. It can be beneficial for the skin to get a break and for you to see what products are really working and what it is your skin actually needs. If you’re using hundred different products, but feel like none of them are working or if your skin feels dry and irritated no matter what you do, maybe try this.
skincare diet with oils

3 x wonderful oil

These products are mainly Finnish brands so I chose similar organic products from amazon, *links are affiliatelinks

This diet also taught me a lesson on natural oils, which are the only thing I’m still using after getting back to my regular skincare routine. I have three in use: Jojoba oil, Argan oil and Shea butter. All of them suit my combination acne-prone skin fine and they don’t cause pimples or irritations.

Jojoba oil
Viva Naturals Organic Jojoba Oil*
A great oil that I came up when I realized how much it’s being used in my favorite makeup products. I soon noticed it suits my skin perfectly! Jojoba oil has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties so it works for oily skin and acne – and all skin types. It moisturizes the skin containing vitamin A, B and E, but it also absorbs really quickly, which was surprising, because I’m used to the oily feeling after application. I can use this in the morning now too under my makeup.

Argan oil
PURA D’OR Organic Moroccan Argan Oil*
My go-to oil. This I recommend to anyone, to any skin type.  It’s not only a great moisturizer with fatty acids and vitamin E, but it also has anti-aging properties and it helps with acne and scarring.  This is the best oil for oily skin, since Argan oil balances the oil production and can help with acne scars.
For the record: My sister has a completely different skin type than me (dry skin) and her skin loves this too.
Shea butter
Sky Organics Organic Shea Butter*

The heaviest oil of them all. Shea butter is solid in the jar, but it melts from the warmth of your skin. I bought this when my skin was extremely dry begging for mercy. This helped, as I stated on my January Favorites post. This is super moisturizing (vitamin A and E) and thick so I recommend trying it for a smaller area first – especially if you have combination or oily skin. For my skin it works just fine, but it does leave a greasy feeling so I don’t use it every day. I focus on using this on dry patches or dry areas such as my forehead (hello wrinkles!). This is the best body moisturizer as well.

best oils for skincare

Have you tried a skincare diet? What’s your favorite skincare oil?

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