BEST SKINCARE PRODUCTS OF THE YEAR

best skincare products of the year 2018

This year I most definitely wanted to choose my ultimate favorite products of the year AKA the best beauty products of the year. I chose two categories (so that I could include more products, I know, I’m wise): skincare and makeup.

Today I will share with you my favorite skincare & body products of the year 2018. These products I used the most and I feel like they are amazing and they deserve this special title. You may have seen some of these on my other posts, but there are also some products I haven’t yet talked about. I only chose nine items, because I wanted to keep this listing short – and – well, special. Obviously there were other great products I used as well.

BEST SKINCARE PRODUCTS OF THE YEAR 2018

best skincare products of the year

When I chose my products I noticed a funny thing: there were three brands I loved the most. Rituals, Evolve Beauty and Lavera. Oh – and most of my favorites are from organic brands! Lavera, Evolve Beauty and Hurraw! are all natural beauty brands.

*adlinks

best evolve beauty products

Cotton fresh deodorant cream*
Last year I found a deodorant that works and I was happy to find it from an organic brand. This deodorant has my back and I really appreciate it. Natural deodorants can be effective as well, guys!
Read my blog post on it here.

Evolve Beauty Radiant Glow mask*
I love this mask. It smells amazing, it makes my skin smooth and radiant and it’s quick to use. I mean, five minutes is more than enough to work it’s magic. One of those can’t live without products. I would recommend it to all skintypes, but if your skin is very dry or sensitive, let it sit on your skin for a shorter time.
Read my blog post on it here.

lavera best skincare products

Lavera Hydro-Effect Cleansing Balm*
After years of searching for the perfect cleanser that would be gentle yet effective, I think I’ve found the one. This finishes my cleansing ritual (after taking my makeup off with another product) and overall I think it’s a great product for normal to oily skintypes.
Read my blog post on it here.

Lavera Mattifying Balancing Cream*
Sometimes having a sister with oily skin comes in handy. As in, she finds the perfect moisturizer before you and loops you in. This mattifying cream is great for my skin especially during summer. It’s somehow quite thick and moisturizing, even though it does leave a matte finish and is lightweight for oilier skintypes.

rituals happy buddha shower foam ritual of dao body mist

Rituals Ritual of Happy Buddha foaming shower gel*
I’ve been obsessing over Rituals body products and especially these foaming shower gels for so long, I thought it was time to introduce some on my blog as well. I know shower products might seem boring, but if you haven’t tried Rituals’ shower gels, you haven’t lived. It’s the perfect every day luxury. Happy Buddha is one of my favorite scents along with Sakura and Dao.

Rituals The Ritual of Dao bed & body mist*
The scent of the year for me was this. It’s calming, sweet, mild and delicious all at the same time. I bought this last summer while we were in Amsterdam and been using it ever since. Especially when I’m stressed, I like to wear this. It’s funny, because usually I’m all about sweet and crazy scents. This one time I wore a perfume and Risto thought I was carrying candy with me. I think that about sums up my scent-profile. But hey, maybe I’m becoming a proper adult and appreciating things that are a little less… well, intense.

makeup eraser pink

Makeup eraser*
I only got this at the end of the year, but I know it’s here to stay. If you’ve been searching for the best and easiest way to remove your makeup, look no further. This solves all your problems. I mean, it removes all your makeup. Quick and easy. Honestly. I might just do a blog post about it. The post will be called “An angel’s touch on your skin”. Or not. You get the idea.

skin treat warming body scrub

Skin Treat Healthy Radiance Warming Body Scrub
I love being warm and this warming body scrub makes me feel warm even after showering. Living in a cold country I’ll use all the tricks to stay warm. Oh, and this also makes my skin nice and smooth. Again, body products can be boring and I know that taking care of all your skin is a struggle (or is it just me?). This makes the task just a little bit easier and nicer. And your body cream absorbs nicely after using this. Taking care of the skin of your body is just as important as taking care of your face. 

hurraw! moon balm best lip balm

Hurraw! moon balm*
This just had to be included in the list. I’ve been using Hurraw!’s lip balms for years now and this is my secret weapon in fighting dry lips. It’s very nourishing, smells good and is just perfect to use during nights.

the best skincare products of the year

And that’s it! There was one product I didn’t choose for this list, just because I’ve been mentioning it quite a lot in my blog already. But I wanted to quickly give it one more shoutout, just because, well, it’s the best. And that is The drops of youth serum from The Body Shop. It just stays in my favorites year after year. It’s the key product in keeping my pores clean, my skin smooth and helping diminishing my acne scars.

And as I said, there were so many great skincare products I loved this year. If you would like to read more about them, check out my Skincare category for more reviews.

 

What were your favorite skincare products of the year?

Skincare routine for dry skin & best dry skin products

my sister's skincare routine dry skin

If you have dry skin, you already know that a good skincare routine is crucial for you. That’s why I collected the best dry skin products in this post, with a little help from my sister.

What is dry skintype?

A normal skin produces both sebum and sweat, which together create an acid mantle. That is the skin’s barrier, which protects the skin from dryness, bacteria, air pollutants and other external threats. Dry skin type doesn’t produce enough sebum, which is why the skin appears dry and sensitive. Basically the acid mantle isn’t working properly. On dry skin the pores aren’t really visible or they’re small.

Dry skin demands oil and moisture. It can be more or less sensitive. It can’t take certain ingredients and it can react to things like weather quite dramatically, since the acid mantle isn’t fully there to take the hit.

dry skin skincare
Dry skin. Here is Annika and her beautiful skin. You can see she takes good care of it! Her beauty therapist-sister must be proud.

My sister Annika has a dry skin, which, you wouldn’t necessarily believe, if you didn’t know better. She takes such good care of her skin, it basically looks flawless.

Only fair to share her skincare secrets, right?

Besides sharing her current routine, Annika also shared all of her favorite products for dry skin.

skincare products for dry skin

SKINCARE ROUTINE FOR DRY SKIN

AM MORNING ROUTINE

1. Toner – *Clarins Extra Comfort Toning Lotion
2. Serum – *Novexpert Booster Serum 
3. Oil – *Pura D’Or Organic Argan oil
4. Moisturizer – *Loccitane Aqua Reotier Ultra-Thirst Quenching Cream
5. Eye Cream – *Natura Siberica Siberian Ginseng Eye Cream

 

Cleansing

Toner

On mornings, Annika just wipes her face clean with a toner. Currently she is using Biotherm’s hydrating & softening lotion. Usually she can’t use products that contain alcohol, but this particular product is working fine. Long time favorite toner of hers is *Clarins Extra Comfort Toning Lotion

Moisturizing

Serum & Argan oil

Annika uses a moisturizing serum before applying the oil. Two of her favorite serums are *Novexpert Booster Serum with Hyaluronic acid and Estelle Thild BioHydrate Thirst Relief serum.

Argan oil is the most important thing in Annika’s routine. It’s actually an oil that I love to use on my skin as well. It’s safe to say that it’s an oil, that is suitable for all skin types and problems: dryness, wrinkles, blemishes, acne scars and even acne. My sister also sometimes uses argan oil in her makeup: she just mixes a few drops in her foundation.

Cream

Right now Annika uses *L’occitane AquaReotier Ultra-Thirst Quenching Cream, which I gave her to try. Other great moisturizers Annika likes to use are *Clarins Hydra-Essentiel Rich Cream and *Novexpert The Repulp Cream.

I like to think I taught my sisters the importance of an eye cream. An eye cream is a part of Annika’s routine and I’m proud. Taking care of that thin skin around our eyes is important. *Natura Siberica Siberian Ginseng Eye Cream is very moisturizing, but doesn’t feel heavy.

P.S. Check out my post on L’Occitane Aqua Reotier products!

dry skin skincare routine

PM EVENING ROUTINE

1. Makeup remover – *Makeup eraser
2. Skin Cleanser – *Lumene Valo Balm Cleanser
3. Toner – *Clarins Extra Comfort Toning Lotion
4. Serum – *Novexpert Booster Serum
5. Oil – *Pura D’Or Organic Argan oil
6. Moisturizer – *Loccitane Aqua Reotier Ultra-Thirst Quenching Cream
7. Eye Cream – *Natura Siberica Siberian Ginseng Eye Cream

Cleansing


Makeup eraser

Annika uses makeup eraser to remove all her makeup in the evening. The original makeup eraser is very soft and it’s indeed gentle enough even for a dry skin. She has used this for a few years now.

It’s seriously so effective, but soft as a feather. Or heaven. (I ended up buying it and I love it.)

Cleanser

Annika’s favorite skin cleanser is unfortunately discontinued (Clarins Pure Melt Cleansing Gel). I would recommend Lumene Valo Balm Cleanser, which has that same balmy oily consistency.

Moisturizing

After the double cleansing, it’s the same toner + oil + moisturizer + eye cream combo than it is on the mornings.

 

WEEKLY MASK FOR DRY SKIN

 

Weekly exfoliating and masking is crucial even for dry skin. Getting rid of those dead skin cells helps the toners and moisturizers to do their magic even better.

When you choose the right products, it’s not too drying, I promise. I gave Annika Lumene’s Nordic-C Glow Reveal Peeling Mask as I felt it was very gentle and could work for her. Happy I did, because it’s now dry-skin approved. I wrote a post about Lumene Valo products here.

Other masks that Annika likes to use are moisturizing *sheet masks (from korean brands mostly) and acid-containing exfoliants (like the Lumene one mentioned above).

And sometimes (not weekly, more like once or twice per month) she uses a more effective mud mask. But she never applies the mud mask on the most sensitive areas which are her cheeks and forehead. If she does a mud mask she only applies it on her nose and chin.

my sister's skincare routine

Thank you dear sister for helping me put this post together! Hopefully this helps all the dry-skinned beauties out there. Would you like to see more posts like this? I’m thinking of some makeup recommendations, dry skin approved?

Scroll to top