Right, are we ready?
Not that we've been doing anything wrong, you understand, but we can do this better and better means amazing skin.
I've been very interested to see a well know guru on beauty injectables (Botox, to you and me) saying that it all starts with good skin. Frankly, I've heard injectable practitioners claim that we're wasting our money on skincare because a quick prick in the right place can sort it out in a jiffy. Now, the bit about injectables puffing out the skin in the right places is correct, but great skin goes beyond smoothness, it goes to glow and I want you to glow. 2021 is your year of glow, how exciting is that?
So, your December box is packed with Elemis (did I mention we have Elemis?) and Gatineau to get this routine kick started. Now, we don't have all the products we need just yet so you might have to improvise, but the others are coming in Jan and Feb boxes. Gotta be honest, quality products for each bit of this routine are expensive but I have secured you some absolute crackers that will help you glow.
So, I'm not going to run through the steps because I've made you a download with both your morning and night time routines.
DOWNLOAD MORNING ROUTINE HERE
DOWNLOAD EVENING ROUTINE HERE
There are 6-7 steps for each routine and I'm not doing this just to push in more products but to ensure that you get the maximum hydration into your skin as well as ingredients that work for midlife women. Our main problem is that skin loses its elasticity (so we need collagen), it can look dull (so we need peptides) and it's low on key ingredients such as vitamins A, C and E. So that's what we're putting back in.
There are two steps that might look unfamiliar and these are:
1. Facial Acid
2. Facial Spray
ACID
No, this is not nasty, what it means is a low level of AHA acids which brightens the skin. In short, it helps exfoliate the skin, turning over cells for renewal. In our teenage years we used to use face scrubs filled with challenging ingredients which were designed to "scratch" the skin, making it feel as though we had scrubbed. In midlife, we don't need this, we need to be gentle so we use a facial acid which is totally liquid, no bits in this. Only use acids that are meant for skincare!
SPRAY
Now, I've had an Evian one in my bag for hot flushes etc but this is not the same. You need a couple of different ones and the Gatineau one in the December box is Ionic. In short, it is negatively ionised water which limits the loss of water through the skin, keeping you hydrated and plumped. We're going to get a hyaluronic acid based one too, which does the same thing, in a different way. Choices. Your skincare for 2021 is all about choices and what is right on the day.
KEY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MORNING AND NIGHT ROUTINES
The key differences are:
1. DOUBLE CLEANSE - at night you cleanse to get rid of make up and then give your skin a deeper cleanse with a balm based cleanser. So, cleansing milk, then balm & rinse off with warm water and a soft facial cloth. Also, the Gatineau Floracil Eye Make Up Remover is perfect for your eyes. You do not want to use a skin cleanser on your eyes. Floracil is the same PH as your tears so won't sting. Also do not rub away your mascara. Soak a cotton pad, press for 20-30 seconds and the eye make up will lift off with a tiny bit of pressure. No rubbing!
2. SPF - daytime, you have to start using an SPF over your moisturiser, that's what November's Emma Hardie's Prep & Prime was for. That fantastic product both gives you an SPF of 30 (which is the minimum you want) plus primes the skin for make up - perfect, because sun damage is one of the worst things for our skin and really inhibits our glow.
3. LOOK AT YOUR SKIN - how often do you genuinely look at your skin and decide what it needs that day? Well, you're going to start doing this. We are no longer slaves to a certain brand or range, we are going to use what works on YOUR skin for that day. The steps are always the same but the point of TOYL is to try new products to find exactly what gives you the best result, so look at your skin and feed it what it is asking for.
WHAT ELSE
SLEEP - sleep is going to be huge in getting your skin glowing. Ensure that you set yourself up for 7-8 hours a night. Not that difficult these days, there's nothing to do at present anyway.
WATER - If we're trying to retain water in the skin it makes sense that we've drunk a load to retain, doesn't it? Three litres a day. I'm not interested in the increased number of toilet trips you'll have to make, you will thank me when you see your skin!
After this, it's just a question of a little bit of time and then, the glow - enjoy!
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Niza
April 16, 2021
Your article is great but how do I incorporate masks in both AM and PM routine? Or it’s just a waste of time?