My Current AM Skincare Routine

Hello friends!

With as much as I talk skincare and ingredients on this blog, it kind of amazes me that I haven’t revealed my go-to skincare routine. I always put it off because my skincare routine seems to evolve with what I feel like my skin needs/concerns are at the moment. Of course, there is also the issue that I’m a total skincare junkie, and constantly trying new products. When I put some thought into my routine, I realized that my mornings are almost identical, and I tend to do most of my experimentation in the evening. So naturally, it makes the most sense to share my morning routine first.

For starters, I think I should address the steps that I take:

1. Cleanse the skin
2. Tone
3. Eye cream
4. Serum
5. Moisturizer
6. SPF

After these steps, I may proceed with make-up application, or go make-up free. This is typically determined by whether or not I’m going to work 😉

As far as specific products go, I will be sharing the exact products I use and why I use/like them. You can find the products by clicking the link.

Step 1: Cleansing the skin.

Depending on how my skin is feeling, I either use Cetaphil’s Daily Facial Cleanser or Caudalie’s Cleansing Oil. If my skin is feeling pretty normal, I’ll go with Cetaphil (90% of the time). If, for some reason, I wake up feeling drier, I’ll go with the Caudalie cleanser. The Cetaphil cleanser is an excellent drugstore option, and you can snag for less than $15 (for a HUGE bottle). It isn’t really anything special, but it works. I tend to prefer to invest $$ in the products that are actually going to stay on my face though, not the ones I wash down the drain. The Caudalie cleanser is also good, although I much prefer Clinque’s Take The Day Off Cleansing Oil. Last time I was at Sephora, they were out of it, so I bought the Caudalie one instead. I don’t have any complaints about it, I simply like the Clinique one better.

Step 2: Toning.

This step is an opportunity to either gently exfoliate the skin and provide a little extra moisture, or help take care of congested skin. When everything looks great (most of the time) I use Son & Park’s Beauty Water. It contains gentle fruit enzymes that provide a very gentle.mild exfoliation. If I’m struggling with a few breakouts, or noticing blackheads/whiteheads, I’ll go for the big guns with Paula’s Choice 2% BHA solution. This stuff packs a serious punch when it comes to dealing with clearing up clogged pores. I will literally never live without it.

Step 3: Eye Cream.

There are two schools of thought on eye cream. One crowd will say that eye cream is a total waste of money, you should just use a serum that you would use for the rest of your face in your eye area (so long as it is eye-safe). I absolutely used to belong to this crowd. After all, most eye creams are the same ingredients as serums, but at twice the price and half the product amount. But then I tried Drunk Elephant’s C-tango Multivitamin Eye Cream, and I became a believer. The formula is beautiful, it wears well under make-up, and it helps combat puffiness, dark circles and fine lines. Needless to say, I’m sold.

Step 4: Serum.

If you’ve read (or watched the video) from my previous post on Vitamin C, you already know I’m a HUGE fan of incorporating this ingredient into your regular skin care routine. If not, go read/watch that post NOW! I’ve been using vitamin C serums for almost 3 years now, and I absolutely swear by the wonders they do for your skin. I’m currently using Sunday Riley’s CEO Rapid Flash Brightening Serum, and I LOVE it. Which is actually fairly surprising, considering how skeptical I was when I purchased it. The formula is very creamy, which packs an extra punch of hydration I definitely need during the winter. Some other favorites (I swear by) are Drunk Elephants C-Firma Day serum and Algenists vitamin c serum.

Step 5: Moisturizer.

If you haven’t noticed by now, I’m a big fan of Drunk Elephant skincare. My moisturizer is no exception. My go-to moisturizer is Drunk Elephant’s Protini polypeptide cream. Not only does it have an excellent formula, chock-full of skin-boosting amino acids, but the packaging is the BEST. It’s a pump top, so you don’t have to stick your fingers in a jar, and risk exposing all those awesome, sensitive ingredients to air, light, or the bacteria in your fingers.

If I’m feeling it, I’ll mix a little extra somethin’-somethin’ in my morning moisturizer. The Drunk Elephant D-Bronzi Anti-Pollution Sunshine Serum is an extra step I add if I want a boost of nutrients or a little extra glow. I definitely reach for this when I’m going make-up free, because it adds a slight bronzey glow to the skin that looks great solo, or wears well under make-up.

Step 6: SPF.

This is arguably the most important step of the whole routine. If you aren’t protecting your precious, delicate skin from harmful UV radiation, you are essentially throwing away money on the rest of your routine. SPF is pretty much the only part of your routine that can PREVENT damage that causes aging. Everything else you are using helps fix prior damage de to environmental and lifestyle factors. After all, sunscreen happens to run quite a bit cheaper than serums. I should also note that it is totally fine to use a moisturizer that contains SPF (shoot for at least SPF 30). Moisturizer/SPF combos can cut down the amount of products that you need, and steps in your routine. I personally prefer to keep them separate, so I use Clinique’s Pep-Start Daily UV Protector. It has an SPF of 50, and is a peachy-pink color, so it doesn’t give any white cast. It layers perfectly well under make-up and absorbs quickly into the skin.

All in all, it may sound a little overwhelming/time consuming to use this many products every morning. But I can honestly say it takes me less than five minutes every day to do this routine, and it is worth every single second!

I hope you learned about a new product or skincare step in today’s post. I know a lot of people I’ve talked to find the idea of putting together an entire routine together to be very overwhelming (especially if day and night are different). The best advice I can give is to follow these steps in the best way that fits your budget. If it would be helpful, I can put together another blog post about how to put together a routine that fits your skin type, skin concerns, and budget. Leave a comment or send me a message if this is something you would find helpful!

Until next time,

Amanda

Follow along on IG: @amandadev4