Nightly Skin Care Routine

Let's talk skin care. I'll start by saying I'm definitely no expert in this department but I'm learning. This last year I've really been trying to take care of my body from the inside out. I've been working out consistently and trying to find a great skin care regimen that works for me. 

I haven't ever really taken good care of my skin in the past. I tanned in tanning beds all of my teenage and college years, which is incredibly horrible for your skin. I wish I could go back and listen to all the people who told me that... all I cared about was being tan. Just like every other teenager and college kid I knew, we laughed at the thought of putting on sunscreen... pass me the baby oil! 

Fast forward a few years and here we are. Wishing we would have listened ... but it's not too late. I'm only 27 and really wanted to start a good regimen now so that I age like a fine wine.... haha no but really it's very important. I'm pretty sure you're supposed to wear sunscreen every single day. I'm going to be real with you and say I do not wear it every day. I do use a moisturizer after I wash my face that has 30SPF in it so I guess that's better than none. A lot of things factor into your skin and ways to take care of it. Genetics play a huge role. If stretch marks, dark circles, puffy eyes, and wrinkles run in your family then you need to help yourself out as much as you can. 

I will say that if I look half as great as my mom does at 50 then I won't have to worry as much but once I had Ellie, I really wanted to get a good skin care regimen down because I definitely wasn't sleeping with a new baby... but I wanted to look like I was. *wink wink*

I didn't know double cleansing was a thing you were supposed to be doing, but I apparently just happen to be doing it. Whether you use 2 face cleansers or a makeup wipe and then a face wash, it all counts as double cleansing. This really helps to make sure your face is clean before going to bed. I personally have always preferred to use makeup wipes. So I usually start by using a wipe to take off my makeup, then proceed with washing my face. I don't typically use anything super fancy. My usual go-to is Clinique's mild face soap bar or Aveeno positively radiant brightening cleanser.

After cleansing, I like to use a toner. I've been using Clinique's clarifying lotion. This helps sweep away dead skin and excess oil so your moisturizer can do a better job. I just apply is using a cotton ball and sweeping gently over my face and neck. It says you can use it twice a day but I typically apply this at night. 

I have some serious dark circles. I have had these babies since before I even had a reason to have dark circles. Some people are just more prone to them but the skin under your eyes is very delicate. As I got older, I started to use an under eye cream to see if it would help. I only ever used samples I got in makeup bags so when it ran out I didn't ever love anything enough to buy it. I would just use nothing until I got another sample. That was until I did a little bit of research this last year and really tried to exam what works best for dark circles. 

Pretty much what I found out was that, there are a lot more creams for under eye puffiness than for dark circles.  Most people felt the need to just resort to concealer. Now I'm not saying that what I have found to work will work for everyone but I really seem to like the results. I still need to wear concealer sometimes but I feel a lot more confident about my skin on "no makeup days" since I've been using Ole Henriksen's Banana Bright Eye Crème. 

Some other things that are great for dark circles are sleep (you can't always control this one), vitamin C, cold, vitamin E and moisturizers. Dark circles under your eyes can also be a sign of low iron so if you notice no change after trying these other methods you should maybe reach out to a doctor to make sure nothing else is going on. The Skin under your eyes is incredibly fragile though. You can cause hyperpigmentation just from rubbing your eyes. This can also be what is causing the darkness under your eyes, so when applying under eye cream, you should just lightly pat the cream under your eye and not rub them. 

Then after I have applied my eye cream, I moisturize. I'm not very picky about my moisturizer. I typically lean towards Aveeno's Positively radiant face moisturizer but when I got my eye cream, I also got a gel moisturizer by Ole Henriksen that is called C-Rush Vitamin C Gel Moisturizer. I thought this would be a great option for summer and wow I was pleasantly surprised at how much I loved it. I've been using it the last few months and it's been great. I definitely feel like my face looks brighter after using it.

Tip- You can try the Ole Henriksen's eye cream and face lotion in trial size here before purchasing the full size product. 

The only other product I use at night is my lash serum. I found one on Amazon that I absolutely love and have noticed a great difference in the length of my lashes. It's called Premium Eyelash Growth Serum and Eyebrow Enhancer by VieBeauti. VieBeauti has 2,500 5 star ratings and it did not disappoint. I had previously tried one from Pronexa Hairgenics Lavish Lash- Eyelash Growth Enhancer and Brow Serum that has 27,000 great reviews but I was surprisingly disappointed. I used it everyday for a month and I didn't notice any growth to my lashes. Maybe I got a bad bottle but I've totally loving the one from VieBeauti. 

I will go ahead and link all of my nighttime skin care routine products here on my Like to Know It page. 

Message me or leave a comment below if you have any questions regarding my nighttime skin care routine!