“The beauty exorcism”

It was but a quick title in my inbox, with clickbait allures written all over it, designed especially to draw me in and extend my (already extensive) procrastination with another 15 – 30 mintes, but the words hit home and started living their own life, creating a story in my head and trickling into my subconscious. With Autumn in full swing, it is not only the perfect moment to transition into crisp skies, jaw-dropping foliage and sweater supremacy, but also a clear skin (and a clear mind).

My skin has been playing tricks on me, so the need for a beauty detox matches that spin of words swindling around in my head, needing to be tamed and structurised for a greater effect. The last few months have been an (superfluous) overflow of products marching in an out of my cabinet, my routine, and while that much product testing is fun, it has been causing havoc. I’m talking blotchiness, redness, itchiness and that uncomfortable feeling of tightness and dryness, no matter how much water I drink and hydrating serums, oils & creams I layer. Time to go back to basics.

First step: Out with all that is unnecessary, and create a basic, start from scratch routine that will love my skin and that my skin will love. Away with the 5 different serums, three moisturising and two brightening creams, aggravating clay masks, essences, etc etc. I’m pairing down my morning  and evening routines to the bare necessities that will allow my skin to calm down, re-focus and find it’s stride again.  A no-nonsene gentle yet effective cleanser such as the Sukin Sensitive Cleansing Gel, followed by a spritz of the La Roche-Posay Serozinc are the perfect first step. In the AM, two drops of the Medik8 Hydr8 B5 Liquid Rehydration Serum and the Sukin Sensitive Facial Moisturiser are my personal heroes, with the Sukin Antioxidant Eye Serum and the Avène SPF 50 Tinted Cream to top it off.
Nighttime is even more simple, again a little moment with the Sukin Sensitive Cleansing Gel, followed by a spritz of the La Roche-Posay Serozinc. Next up is a pea-sized dollop of A313 one night (I’ll do a separate review on this later on, but this stuff is heaven in a tube), and a few drops of the Caudalie Overnight Recovery Oil the other night. Consistency is key here, so I’ve taken all other products away, and am sticking to this beautiful simplicity for the time being.

Feeling relaxed and pared down, maybe it’s time to tackle the biggest chaos of them all: my complete beauty stash!