Basics for Skincare/Post Your Routine!

[zeebs]

Regarding the OCM: I tried it for a while and at first it seemed miraculous, but then I started to get acne again. I've concluded that I can do an oil treatment 1x per week and even then, only as a mask type treatment - do the OCM, then wash face after a few hours with regular cleanser.

[karen]

Great thread! Really interesting to see what everyone's up to!
I'm 32 with dry dehydrated sensitive skin- I'm a caffeine fiend, and used to smoke quite heavily when I was younger, and have some sun damage.

I kinda have a weird routine because of working in the shop- no two days are the same, and there's often a new goodie to test but here's what I mostly try to stick to:

Night
Kiss Cleanser or just plain water if I'm being uber lazy or just have on a little bit of makeup. Some days I'm literally covered in makeup from head to toe- so I use the Kiss Cleanser, and the Apricot Cleansing Oil to get rid of it all. I've even used Kiss Cleanser as a shampoo, and it's shockingly good.

Strawberry Spritz in place of a toner- although it's not really necessary because the cleanser has a good pH,- I just like the smell and the hydration boost.

If I'm feeling like I look old I use the AHA and/or the BHA, if my pores are big I use the Pore Refining toner. Then I wear either the Vitamin C Peptide, or the Super Serum, and the Firming Moisturizer if I feel like I need it. Oh and the masks- generally Friday nights I use either the oatmeal or pumpkin mask.

Day- a splash of water, Super Serum, Firming Moisturizer then the sheer zinc powder, followed by whatever makeup I'm wearing for the day. If I'm going to be outside all day- I'll sometimes also wear Burt's Bees SPF 30 sunblock- which I don't entirely love, but for a creamy sunblock it's about as good as I've found.

[tizzylou]

Ok, I think I'm the "old lady" of the bunch so far, I'm almost 53 and have sensitive slightly dry skin:
Night:

1) cleanse using the OCM method, currently using my own mixture of Olive Oil and Castor oil ( will mostly likely switch Karen's @ a later point in time) , if I'm not wearing a lot of makeup I will wash my face with Purpose Cleanser rather than OCM
2) apply either the Oatmeal Serum or the Facelift Serum
3) apply Remedy Skin repair cream as moisturizer

Morning:
1) Rinse face with warm water
2) Apply Facelift or Vit C serum
3) apply Remedy Skin repair cream as moisturizer
4) Apply Zinc powder as sunscreen or if I don't have the Zinc Powder, I use Clinique city block

1-3 times aweek
Microdermabrasion with Avon's Anew Microdermabrasion Cream

1-2 times a week
Mask with Image Vit C moisturizing mask

[Xarata]

*Parts of my routine are rather new as my skin has only recently recovered from *something* (i don't know what something) that broke my face out worse than ever in my entire life (i'm a 1-2 pimples on my chin and t-zone kinda girl. this was my very first full-face breakout in my life). In the effort of caution, I simplified. The things i was using when i brokeout were Bha toner, super serum, and raspberry moisturizer. I stopped using the bha, switched to hemp moisturizer and have not yet readventured into the super serum. I've decided I've always had low maintenance skin and it's best not to mess too much with a good thing. The bha I believe i am passing onto bob who has super oily skin- especially his back- my skin just really doesn't need it . the raspberry moisturizer is something i intend to revisit but not until after my wedding just in case it's the culprit.

Skin Profile
I am 22 light-medium skin. I burn easily which transitions to tan in 1-2 days. Most of my life I was a splash with water and go kinda gal using soap only with the rare pimple. I have very dark circles under my eyes, a heavy brow, bigger pores than i used to , and parentheses around my mouth- deeper on one side than the other. I do get oily in the china area and t-zone which are really the only places i tend to get pimples.

1. Cleanse
I am kind of bad about washing my face usually i wash it more and night with KISS foaming cleanser which i love.

2. Tone
I usually tone with the pore refining toner but i happen to be a toner junky so it's not unusual for me to pick up any random toner and spritz away. i also use hydrosols after my makeup.

3. Treat
Lately I've been using an immortelle HA serum, still playing with the super serum. I've been using the microderm gel 1-2x/week. I've also been using the holy crow sample on my laughlines/parentheses this week. Any extra i rub under my eyes.

4. Seal
I do want to test out a couple more moisturizers (haven't tried the jojoba yet) but right now, being summer, my skin seems pretty happy with the hemp moisturizer.

5. Sunblock!
I'm very bad about sunblock. Sometimes i use my precious Sarafina one, and I do always wear mmu but i don't sunblock the way i should. In my defense, i see very little sunlight in my life- about 10 minutes a day with the dog and whatever hits me for the 20 minute drive in the car (which is more my arms rather than my face- and i have tinted windows. There are no windows where i work and it's always dark when i leave. I could use a little more sunlight...lol. I DO sunblock when i'm spending the day outdoors and especially at the beach but usually with a random drugstore brand.

[curlychik]

Fun thread - love to read everyone's routine!

Okay, me - I'm 33, 3 months postpartum, so my hair and skin are up to wacky things lately, right now, it's pretty dry, and I had been dealing with pimples on chin and jawline. Pores are bigger than I would like (although with this routine they are improving so much!) and I get blackheads on my chin and lower cheeks if I'm not vigilant. Wrinkles haven't really been a problem until the last year, and I've been noticing them more and more - parentheses around the mouth and the 11 lines between the eyebrows mostly. I also moved to FL a year ago from living in MN for 12 years, I swear the sun down here is just brutal, so I've been upping the sun protection as well...

PM - If I haven't worn make-up, I just rinse with water, with makeup, I wash with Avalon Organics coenzyme Q10 cleansing milk, pat dry, then either spritz on the Pore Refining Toner or the BHA Toner (this one I use probably every other day), apply a hydrating serum, right now I'm trying the Oatmeal and really liking it, then the Facelift Serum, sealing everything in with the Firming Moisturizer.

AM - Either splash with water or use the Avalon Organics cleansing milk - this stuff is creamy and non-foaming, so I've also been adding a smidge of Karen's microdermabrasion gel to it and LOVING the results (*PRETTY PLEASE* make this available in full size???), pat dry, spritz with Pore Refining Toner (love the smell of this), Oatmeal Serum, allow to sink in, Super Serum, Firming Moisturizer to seal in, then Holy Crow around my mouth and between the eyebrows. When dry, then I dust on the Zinc Powder.

I've been doing this for the past couple of weeks and I am thrilled with the results so far. My skin is more even, softer than ever, the pimples have gone away, and it's glowing. Honestly, in the past few days, I've just used some Date Bait or Blur over the Zinc Powder and have skipped using foundation all together. Once the firming moisturizer is available, I'm ordering full sizes of everything Thank you Karen, these products are wonderful!

[royalgoddessbeth]

33 years old- still have fairly oily skin- I used to break out badly, but not anymore.

Morning:
I wash with a facial soap from another online retailer.
Pore Refining Toner
Raspberry Oil Moisturizer
Super Serum
Oil Control Serum
Holy Crow!

Zinc powder as primer, then rest of makeup, which is SN too!

Night:
Use OCM- will probably purchase Karen's when I run out of what I have.
Pore Refining Toner
Hemp Moisturizer (will switch to Firming once Karen has it on the site!)
Face Lift Serum
Oatmeal Serum
Holy Crow!

Microderm twice a week, mask occasionally.

[zeebs]

*Parts of my routine are rather new as my skin has only recently recovered from *something* (i don't know what something) that broke my face out worse than ever in my entire life (i'm a 1-2 pimples on my chin and t-zone kinda girl. this was my very first full-face breakout in my life). In the effort of caution, I simplified. The things i was using when i brokeout were Bha toner, super serum, and raspberry moisturizer. I stopped using the bha, switched to hemp moisturizer and have not yet readventured into the super serum. I've decided I've always had low maintenance skin and it's best not to mess too much with a good thing. The bha I believe i am passing onto bob who has super oily skin- especially his back- my skin just really doesn't need it . the raspberry moisturizer is something i intend to revisit but not until after my wedding just in case it's the culprit.

Sam, you're probably good to suspect the BHA first but I wanted to let you know that I had some trouble with the raspberry moisturizer, too. Not as severe as yours sounds, though.

[Rhys]

Tizzy, I've got you beat on old, cos I'm 61. No wrinkles for whatever reason, hope to keep it that way - do get fine lines under my eyes if my skin's really dehydrated or it's winter, though. Dry, dehydrated, fussy skin. And I'm pale. I got a sample of the Super Serum by mistake, but am reticent to try it because I use AHA, and because I don't want my skin to get any lighter!

Routine is:

Wash with one of Chagrin Valley soaps (I have a few of their facial bars and rotate them) or oil cleansing (mine - mostly almond and olive).

PRT - love this stuff. Sometimes instead I'll use the AHA toner, usually about three times a week. Not sure if I like it as well as mandelic acid, but the price is better! And it works okay. If I'm using AHA, I let that sit for 20 minutes.

Facelift next, and that gets to sit for 20 minutes by itself, too, at least at night.

Then spritz with a hydrosol or distillate or just plain water, and while my face is still wet, mix a couple of drops of argan oil with some HA, and put that on. Or sometimes cream. Or if I'm really dry, sometimes both, with lots of hydrosol in between and after.

I really like the moisturising serums Karen's made, but I've still got some HAs, and money's an issue, so....but the moisturising serums are good. Dislike gelled oils (I'm weird and my face doesn't seem to like them either) so I don't use those. If I did, I'd probably go for hemp or emu, cos out of the lot those are the oils my skin likes.

And I'm running out of Sarafina's Green Tea Eye Gel!

Mask (usually clay) when I can, and that's about it. No sunscreen, except what MMU provides. When they started coming out with sunscreens way back, they were just too gross. I don't spend a lot of time in the sun, but I reckon I need the vitamin D from the few sunny days we get here. I would like something like Sarafina's Fruit Enzyme Facial again, cos that was good for a sort of but not really manual exfoliator, but some of the soaps have things like dead sea mud or rhassoul or a bit of oat flakes in them, so for now that's working.

And that's about it.

They've come A Very Long Way with skin care, so in my case I think the no wrinkles is just genetics. Believe me, there have been lots of times I haven't been able to take care of my skin - or at least it was Pears soap and water and that was it. That makes me splotch and does flare my eczema, but I didn't end up getting wrinkles. I would LOVE to use one of the firming moisturisers because of the Renovage, but it's in a fractionated coconut oil base (that's just how Renovage is made), and my skin hates that stuff - the one time I did start getting wrinkles, and zits, and just generally looking awful - was when I tried Markey's renovage cream - fortunately three weeks after stopping it, things went back to normal. I didn't realise the base for Renovage was fractionated coconut. Virgin coconut cream is fine, though.

So Renovage would be great. But - I can't use it.

[sewwies]

This is a really good idea!

I've finally found something thats working for me... I'm 21 with veeeeryy breakout prone skin but it can be good when it wants to, I'm really pale with freckles and burn then tan lightly!

Morning:
Kiss cleanser
BHA on a slightly damp cotton wool ball
Super serum (It was green tea and aloe, but this stuff... wow!)
Moisturiser - just this week moved on to Hemp but was using Biotherm Pore Refining

Makeup:
Zinc powder with a little colour Date Bait if my skin's good, then blusher and ES and whatnot - or Zinc/Date Bait, Foundation, Date Bait, everything else!

Evening:
Simple Face Wipe to de-gunk
Kiss cleanser again
BHA with the damp cotton wool ball
Super serum (love!)
Raspberry Moisturiser (Since the Biotherm again!) Might have caused a pimple or two though so I'll probably go to just hemp but it really feels like it's feeding my skin! It's also a little too hydrating for me to use in the day under makeup but it is so lovely.

I've been using the Microdermabrasion Cream about 3 times a week, but it's a little heavy and hard to rinse off, I've tried the gel that's better, but I've found myself using the dregs of my St. Ives Apricot scrub, I just love the feeling of real scrubby scrubbing and although it's full of rubbish my skin likes it!

And thats it really, skins looking and feeling pretty good!

[tizzylou]

Rhys, I too am lucky in that I don't have any wrinkles yet. I also ge the fine lines under my eyes if I'm dry,and especially in the winter, although since it is so dry in CO. most of the time ,I just constantly moisturize. I think the no wrinkles in good genetics, but I only used soap on my face for a very short period of time, and that was when I was using Clinique, and my supposed 3 step program made my face to dry , so back to sometype of cleansing cream or the OCM for me. I do wash my cafe with the Purpose cleanser , which techniquely isn't a soap, but even that will dry, so for the most part I just OCM, using either a small amt of castor oil mixed with olive oil or, castor oil mixed with almond oil. I still need a little bit of castor oil, but as I age my misture becomes more olive or almond and less castor oil.