With the cold, dry conditions of winter fast approaching, there’s no defense in not having a good skincare routine in place. Not only does getting ‘unready’ every evening help you unwind from a long day but it’s essential to maintaining healthy skin and getting one step closer to your dream complexion. Removing your make up every night is a must as sleeping with it on interrupts the skin’s natural renewal process, clogs pores and sets you up for a nightmare in the mirror the next morning. To remove even waterproof mascara in one go, micellar water is fast becoming the go-to product (you’ll never want a face wipe again). BioDerma (£10.20/250ml, Boots) caters to sensitive skin and is an international favourite amongst beauty bloggers, whereas Garnier’s Micellar Cleansing Water (£4.99/400ml, Boots) is a cheaper alternative and suits combination-oily skin particularly well.
Once your make-up is off it’s time to cleanse your skin. Choosing a cleanser can be daunting but find one suited to your skin type, invest in a muslin cloth and not much can go wrong. Soap and Glory’s hot cloth cleanser The Ultimelt (£10/100ml, Boots) leaves skin soft and fresh, whilst La Roche Posay (an award-winning brand from across the channel) offers specialist products for particularly troubled skin that are a worthy investment. Toner is something of the primer of the skincare world in that it tends to divide opinion over just how necessary it really is. Regardless, if your skin is problematic then the right toner could be the answer. High street brands such as Garnier and L’Oreal offer everything you could need from brightening and hydrating to mattifying and purifying. A personal favourite is Garnier Essentials Softening Toner (£3.29/200ml, Boots).
Daily moisturising is key to achieve a healthy glow, prevent signs of ageing (it’s never too early) and keep skin troubles at a minimum. If your skin is congested and changing your cleanser doesn’t help, your moisturiser could be to blame; the wrong one can block pores and worsen acne, so look for ones that are non-comdeogenic to avoid this. On the topic of moisturising, your lips need just as much attention as the rest of your skin, particularly as they tend to pay the price for the cold walk into uni every day. Lush’s Mint Julips scrub (£5.50/25g) will sort out seriously chapped lips, while a Burts Bees balm at £3.99 a pop will last you until next year. With 100% natural ingredients in both to keep you super soft, there’s no excuse not to treat yourself to one or two (or nine) this season. If your skin needs some extra TLC then indulge in a face mask (who doesn’t love a good pamper?) one to two times a week. For oily or blemish-prone skin this thermal mask from Sanctuary Spa (£10.50/150ml) offers a luxurious but affordable detox, whilst Nip+Fab‘s Kale Clay mask hydrates and restores radiance to lifeless skin.