Or: how beauty bloggers can also get it wrong. I took this picture a few weeks ago, fully intending to use it as an Instagram-update on my (at that time) current skincare routine, but alas as fate should have it, the next day, the odd one out in this line up created such a huge allergic reaction on my cheeks and chin that I tossed both the product and the post. Cue a few weeks later, when I decided to use that grainy picture after all (perfect metaphor for the result on my skin :-)) as a way of proving that us beauty bloggers aren’t the know-it-alls we like to be, and that trial and error are more common than we’d like to admit.

4 out of the 5 products in this routine fall in good / really good / stellar categories, The Radical Hydrating Cleanser is one of 4 cleansers I use regularly at the moment, and it is a good, basic, hydrating cleanser. I first purchased it after seeing Amelia rave about it countless times, and I am glad I did.. Does not dry out, nor does it tighten my skin, and performs perfectly as a single cleanser. No thrills, no frills, if you’re looking for an allrounder, this is the one! The Ambre Botanicals brand has been a complete discovery, and while I have been testing (and loving) their body butter as well, I can already say that the Ambre Botanicals Luxurious Oil Blend Face Serum is the bee’s knees! A luxurious (don’t you just love that word!) blend of cold pressed oils, such as Marula oil, Meadowfoam Oil, Rosehip Oil, Evening Primerose Oil and Avocado Oil amongst others, and with the addition of vitamins and fatty acids, this creates pure bliss for my skin. Extremely soothing and hydrating, this oil doesn’t sink in as easily as other oils I’ve tried, so this is more of a nighttime treat, but if you want to venture into face oils, this one is the perfect start. Galina did a great piece on the brand if you want to know more. The Sisley Black Rose Precious Face Oil* has a post about it’s merits coming up next week, and I have to adhere to the general opinion that it is perfect way of boosting that all necessary radiance every morning!  Next up, after all that oil action is the Verso Day Cream*, which I will tackle in a separate post tomorrow. Let’s just say design and fashion aren’t the only things the Swedish are good at!

Attentive readers might have already notice that I failed to discuss one product, the L’Oréal Sublimist Serum for perfect skin. After having steered far away from this brand’s skincare for a long time, I thought I’d give it another go, but once more the beauty giant’s skincare offerings proved to be more of a nightmare than a dream come true. This one gave me a lot of things, but perfect skin such as Blake Lively’s, it’s spokesperson, it did not. The mother of pearl reflective particles did enhance my cheekbones with a soft sheen, but there was no hiding the red bumps and breakouts it caused a few days later. In the trash can it went, and out came the Avene Soothing and Hydrating Mask to calm it all down. Guess not even beauty bloggers can have it all…