My Skincare Routine

Below is a list of products I use to maintain my skin and a brief description of each.

Neutrogena Facial Cleansing Bar
This is a gentle yet thorough cleanser. It entirely removes liquid foundation, liquid liner, mascara, etc., leaving a clean face with no residue. It comes in an original and a fragrance-free formula, both of which I have tried. The fragrance-free formula is definitely NOT fragrance-free, and doesn't have the most pleasant scent, but the cleansing ability of this product is perfect. It costs $2.77 for a single bar at Target, and can also be bought in packs of 3 for a cheaper price per bar.

St. Ives Naturally Clear Apricot Cleanser &
St. Ives Fresh Skin Olive Cleanser
Both of these have comparable cleansing abilities. They are very, very gentle and will not remove makeup from your skin as easily as the Neutrogena bar would. However, this is ideal for a morning moisturizer as all it has to remove is oil/bacteria that accumulated over the course of the night. Does not leave skin feeling tight or excessively dry and would likely be ideal for sensitive skin types. The main differences are in the scents (the Olive Cleanser smells pretty bad) and in the fact that the Apricot Cleanser has a very small amount of exfoliating beads in it, but not too many to still be an effective daily cleanser.

St. Ives Apricot Scrub - Blemish & Blackhead Control &
Queen Helene Pomegranate & Raspberry Facial Scrub
These are both effective exfoliating scrubs that leave the skin feeling soft and pores looking clear. The St. Ives Scrub is slightly more abrasive, with larger exfoliating beads that might be too rough for some sensitive skin types. The St. Ives scrub also contains 2% salycyclic acid, which should help clear out acne. The pomegranate scrub has finer beads and is therefore more gentle. I exfoliate with the St. Ives scrub on Sundays to clear my face completely of dead skin cells and use the Queen Helene as a kind of gentler maintenance step in the middle of the week.

Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque
At around $4 a tube, this masque is a really inexpensive way to pamper yourself and improve your skin. Every Friday night I apply this green masque to my face, most generously in my problem areas, and allow it to dry for 15-20 minutes. It has an incredible cooling sensation, and when it dries, you can see where it has sunken into pores and removed any impurities. I also use this as a spot treatment when I have a breakout mid-week; I apply a small amount just to that area, allow to dry and rinse off. It works wonders!

Jergens Natural Glow Revitalizing Moisturizing Lotion
I purchased this at the end of the summer because I didn't want to bid adieu to my summertime glow. I used to apply this nightly to my face, neck and upper chest area but have since kind of fallen out of the habit of using it. It has a small amount of glitter in it and very faintly has that distinctive self-tanner smell, which is why I avoided using it for daytime. I purchased the Revitalizing formula for Medium Skin tones, and now think that for a more pronounced tan, I could have gone with the version for darker skin.

Up & Up Facial Cleansing Wipes
I picked these up for a few dollars after hearing a makeup guru on YouTube give them the thumbs up. This is the Target brand, but the package claims these wipes were designed to mimic the Ponds Clean Sweep makeup wipes. The scent is fantastic and they do a great job at removing foundation and eyeshadow. They definitely do not effectively remove mascara, so I just follow the wipes up with my usual nighttime facial cleanser to get that off. Generally I cut the wipes in half and only use one half - it's enough to remove my eye makeup and all my face makeup before I cleanse my face.

Planning on trying: Cetaphil Daily Moisturizing Lotion