Skin Saviours

So I will be the first one to say that I do not have perfect skin. In fact mine has a few bumps, pimples and redness and its just oh so annoying. Now in summer my skin gets a hell of a lot worse in my opnion, because of the sweat and oil build up (eww). I have a few not-so-secretive-secrets that I use almost daily to keep my skin in check and makes my skin feel cleaner.
1. Soap... yes soap. Now I know we're not supposed to use soap on our face as it dries it out but honestly the Dove Beauty Cream Bar (sounds fancy, non?) is a little miracle bar of soap. I tend to use this only in summer as thats when my skin is much oiler. I find this does mattify my skin and it dries out pimples and makes them dissappear. Dove also uses a 1/4 moisturising cream in their soap so thats why its not as drying as regular soap, yip I've done a lot of advert watching to know that fact! I trust a lot of Dove products and I know this won't damage my skin. Its all about knowing your skin. If you know your skin won't have any bad reactions to using soap then by all means give it a go, if you're not 100% sure maybe skip this routine.

2. Toner. This isn't much of a secret as most people do use toner as their second step but I know I used to skip toner because I didn't think it was necessary as do a lot of other people. If you have oily or combination skin toner should be a must. It gets rid of excess oil or sweat on your skin which causes pimples and bumps under the skin and cleans your skin on a different level. It also gets rid of excess cleanser that you may not have washed off properly. I find that toner (my one of choice is Eucerin Dermato Clean Clarifying Toner) has helped with excess oil and it makes my skin feel cleaner. Completely up to you if you want to use toner or not but for me its a great help.

3. Mixing two creams together. I don't know if this sounds odd but just go with it... at night I use two creams on my skin, namely The Body Shop Tea Tree Blemish Fade Night Lotion and my beloved Bioderma AI Intensive Care Cream (no I will not stop raving about this just yet!). They both moisturise and help with blemishes so its double the power. Again this is completely optional but it does make a difference to me.

4. Mixing your daily day cream in with your foundation. This isn't all that odd or unheard of. Whatever your skin concern is whether it be dull skin, blemish prone skin, dry skin or whichever, mix your cream in with your foundation. Your foundation will look sheerer and more natural and it will still cover what you want while the cream will help with whatever skin care issue you have. Another double the power option. My day cream of choice is The Body Shop Skin Clearing Lotion. This mattifies and helps with blemishes and makes my foundation look natural.

5. Two steps that have been drilled into everyones heads, I'm sure, is don't touch your face and drink water. I'm one to touch my face and if I feel a new pimple I will touch it and I'll pop it. My skin scars easy so I'm trying to not touch my skin or pop any pimples, just leave it to run its course. Water has helped my skin too. I don't think I drink 8 glasses a day or 2 litres but I do have my share of water that makes me go running to the bathroom a fair few times a day. Really water is the easiest and cheapest solution for skin.

So those are my "secrets" for my skin that I have found makes a difference for me. As I said a lot of them are optional and you have to know your skin properly before you can help it. So get studying on your skin and figure out what works for you.