New skincare routine

I've never been the greatest skincare geek/lover/goddess, but since I've started my new job, I decided my teen years were officially over and it was time for me to embrace the fact that I needed to take more care of my skin (before it's too late?). 

A friend of mine has always been so much into skincare, that I took some of her advice and along with that, some of her skincare products. She uses them religiously and has flawless skin. We also have the exact same skin type so I set as a goal to never have pimples again and try to achieve a similar beautiful skin as my friend. 

This Vichy face wash is from the same Vichy Normaderm line as all my previous skincare items, and I really have been loving it. It cleans better than my Biotherm cleansing sample and leaves my skin feeling very fresh. 

I used to use La Roche-Posay products back in high school, so it was a trip down memory lane to pick up this Effaclar Mat moisturizer. So far so good. I've noticed that my skin is producing less oil.

I'm pretty scared to try this night cream from Vichy. Right now I'm still using up the night cream from the Vichy Normaderm line, even though I don't like it anymore. But this one has the word Aqua in it, which worries me... I hope I won't wake up shiny-faced every morning when I start using this *fingers crossed*.

I've been using this Lancôme Cleansing milk for a while now as well. It takes off my makeup very nicely, but does leave a greasy-looking residue on my face which I dislike. This means I'm still in the market for a cleansing milk. Anyone got any recommendations?

Of course, Bioderma Micellaire cleansing water. I've used up a tiny bottle of this before and really like that it takes off any residue of my Lancôme cleansing milk and any makeup that is left on my face.

I still have to try out this scrub as well, since I'm still using up my previous one - that I very much dislike, I'll fill you in later. Excited to use this!

I've been using my Tea Tree Toner water from Lush for almost a year now and still love it. It leaves my skin feeling fresh and hydrated without feeling oily!

This is my new skincare routine, which skincare products have you been trying out?

Xoxo,

Anine

Empties #1

It was about time for a first empties post! Empties are the products you use up. Since you've used them all up, you know quite well if you like them, if they work like they're supposed to and if you'd repurchase them.

I've collected these empty items in the last months:

  

Let's start off simple. The first item I used up is this base coat from the Dutch drugstore Hema. It's cheap and it worked just fine. Since I've never used anything besides this, it's not relevant to compare this.

I also ran out of my MAC Oil control lotion, that I use as my daily moisturizer. I started using this about a year ago and it definately helps to control the oil in my skin. I always thought I had oily skin, but since I started using the MAC Oil control lotion, I know that actually I have a combination skin since only my T-zone gets oily. This is probably my second bottle of it, and I've already used a fair amount of my repurchased one. It's still going strong!

 This Maybelline the Falsies Volume Express Mascara has been gone for a while and I've had several tubes of it. It's the best mascara I've used so far, but I won't be repurchasing it for a while, since I'm testing out a lot of new ones. I do think I will eventually go back to this one.

My Vichy Normaderm exfoliating gel has gone too *snif snif*... I loved it, it left my skin pretty much spotless (which is extremely rare for me). I have a lot of samples and exfoliators I need to try out, but after that, I will definately be repurchasing this.

The Vichy solution micellaire is from the same Normaderm line as the exfoliator. I liked this, but tried out the Bioderma one afterwards and simply liked that better. I still have a second bottle of this have to use up though. 

So naturally, here is the small Bioderma Sensible H²0 Solution Micellaire bottle. I tried it out and loved it. On my trip to Paris I will be stocking up! This is the one for sensitive skin and it worked perfectly, but I know that there's also one for oily skin in this line. However, from the online reviews it seems to be less effective. Have you tried both? What do you think I should try?

I also finished this L'Oréal Elnett Satin Hair spray for extra volume. I love it and have been using it for a long time. It doesn't make my hair crunchy, it gives it that extra *Ooomph* that my hair needs in the morning. Will be repurchasing this.

And last but not least, I've used up this Urban Decay Naked skin foundation in color 3.0 a few months ago. I liked the light to medium coverage and easy application very much, but was disappointed by the staying power. This shouldn't be the case when you buy a more high-end foundation. I am very interested to see if the Revlon Nearly Naked (which is supposed to be the drugstore dupe) stays on longer? They don't seem to be selling it in Belgium, though. But I won't be repurchasing the Naked Skin foundation.

Have you used any of these products? Which ones did you like and dislike?

Xoxo,
Anine

Winter favorites: skincare

Baby, it's cold outside! Western Europe is covered underneath a blanket of snow, so what better time to choose some winter favorites?

My skin has never been so dry as now. This might come as a surprise, since my skin has always been very oily. Because of my stay in the UK, my eye skin even got so dry, that it got itchy and it was impossible for me to wear any eyeshadow (what a nightmare!). I returned to Belgium last week and my skin luckily has already recovered a bit from its dryness. Because of this weird skin issues I tried some new skincare products and ended up liking them very much:

The Vichy Normaderm Line: 

Vichy Normaderm Scrubgel

Vichy Micellaire Purifying Lotion 

Vichy Normaderm Night

These three products work so good for me! The scrub is perfect for my skin, not too drying, but rough enough for my oily T-zone. I use it every other day. I use the toner every morning and night and it feels so fresh and calming for my skin and it takes of any make-up that is still left on my skin. Then there's the night cream, which is the biggest surprise to me. Over the last six years I've tried night cream over and over again, and no night cream was good for me. They usually were too oily and I woke up with skin so oily that I reflected the sun like a mirror! The Vichy night cream dries in about two minutes after application and becomes very matte-feeling and soft. I certainly have seen an improvement on my skin. I have less blemishes and they also heal quicker. I'm a big fan of this skincare line!