Updated Fall Skincare Routine

Hi beauties! 
So I know that this is one of my favorite things to see; I figured I would post mine for all of you...my fall skincare routine! As the weather gets colder my skin gets crankier, being that my dry spots get drier and my oily spots break out. Lately, the updated products I've been using have been keeping my skin feeling smooth and looking happy and healthy.
Some of these products are old favorites, but the rest are brand new and I'm absolutley loving them.

Morning:
1) Cleanse! I've been using the Caudalie Instant Foaming Cleanser. I take 2 pumps of this and smooth it all over my face and neck, then I use my Clarisonic to give myself a really deep clean. This stuff doesn't have any soap content to it, which is great for my sensitive skin and keeping it from drying out, but the foaminess gives you that squeaky clean feeling. It foams when you pump it out of the bottle, so you don't have to work it into a lather, potentially irritating your skin. Basically, this stuff is magic and it's fabulous and I recommend it to anyone with combination skin like myself.

2) Treat! I've been using the Peter Thomas Roth Gentle Complexion Correcting pads for about 8-9 months now...I feel like they get rid of any bacteria stuck in my pores. They have one exfolating side and one smooth side; the smooth side is meant to cleanse while the exfoliating side is made to tighten pores and loosen up debris. They smell like peaches (yum!) but have a 1/2% Salicylic Acid  and 10% Glycolic Acid to keep acne away and fight signs of aging. 

3) Tone! I've been using LUSH's toner waters for about 2 years now. I've tried all 3 in my skincare routine, but my personal favorite by far is Eau Roma water. It's basically just rose water and lavender water, so it's an astringent (super effective in keeping pores nice and tight) but it's very soothing. I suffer from lots of redness in my skin, so this stuff keeps it from being blotchy, too. I keep the big size around because I like to use it to refresh my face during the day as well!

3) Moisturize! I've been loving the Mario Badescu Aloe Moisturizer with SPF 15. It's oil-free to keep me from breaking out, and my skin loves aloe to keep it healthy. This stuff leaves me feeling hydrated but never greasy, and it has SPF which is necessary all year, so my skin is protected against the elements.

Night:
1) Remove makeup! I use LUSH's 9 to 5 cleansing lotion religiously to take off makeup forever now. It's dove orchid and almond oil, so it's super light and antioxidizing. It's great for all skin types, so while I use this as a "precleanse" so to speak, it won't clog my pores in the meantime. I just take a little bit of this on dry hands and rub it onto anywhere I want to remove my makeup. It's gentle in the eye area, too!

2) Cleanse! I switched back to an old favorite, LUSH's Herbalism. I had strayed away for a long time and went through a long, long search for an amazing cleanser that I could fall in love with, and I decided nothing worked the way this one did. It's got rice vinegar to mop up oil and rosemary to antibacterialize. It also has ground almonds for a very gentle exfoliation that you can do every day. It keeps my skin from flaring up, I've found that my skin tone is more even, smoother, softer...I don't have enough good things to say. It kind of smells like teriyaki sauce...but hey, you win some, you lose some.

3) Treat! I use the Peter Thomas Roth AHA/BHA Acne Clearing Gel. It's a lot like the complexion pads I use in the morning- it's said to have the same effects, it's just focused more on clearing up blackheads, whiteheads, and clogged pores. I use it at night because it feels much stronger than the complexion pads...it has a 2% Salicylic Acid so it's a little bit more potent than the pads I use in the morning. I swear by this stuff. My pores look so much better every time I use it.

4) Tone! I use the Eau Roma Water again. Holy grail. Love forever. Ugh <3
5) Moisturize! I had a love/hate relationship with the Ole Henriksen Nurture Me moisturizer for a while. I thought that was what was causing my awful breakouts on my forehead and sometimes cheeks, which had never happened to me before, but I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt and continue using it for 2 weeks (that's how long it's recommended you use a skincare product to determine if it really works for you) and my skin is feeling fabulous. It's cushiony soft because it's more like a gel than a cream, so it absorbs really easily. It's awesome on my sensitive skin; it keeps it feeling hydrated but never, ever greasy because of the gel consistency. The only thing I don't like is the smell- it smells incredibly artificial...like a creamsicle. Don't get me wrong, it smells good...but I could see the scent in a body wash, not a facial moisturizer. Regardless, it feels great, so I'll probably repurchase it.

6) Eye Cream! I've been using the Tarte Maracuja C-Brighter Eye Treatment for  a year now and I love it. It doesn't make my eyes burn, it's velvety, it's smooth, and my skin around my eyes feels stronger and more hydrated. I suffer from very delicate, dry skin around my eye area, and this stuff has been beautiful. I'm sure there are other eye creams out there that are great, but I trust this one!

7) Lip Balm! I'm a lip balm junkie. It's a sick, sick obsession I have to find the perfect lip balm. So far, I have found 2. The Bite Agave Lip Mask, which I put on at night and leave it overnight OR before lipstick (then I blot with a tissue)...but my tried and true is always my Rosebud Salve. This is my go-to whenever I have a doubt in my mind about how my lips are handling the weather changes.
I also love the Soap and Glory A Great Kisser lip balms, but they're very sticky. I have to make sure I wear them when my boyfriend isn't around.

Thanks for reading, beauties! Let me know about your skincare routines, I'm a product junkie as you can all tell, so I love to try new things! Until next time!

Soap and Glory A Great Kisser Review

Hi beauties! I've been on the hunt for an amazing lip balm for as long as I can remember. No, really, one of the first "beauty staples" in my bag was actually a Burt's Bees original lip balm. Which didn't work for me. Nothing against Burt's Bees, I love most of their products, but their lip balm was just not my cup of tea...my lips are so chapped 24/7 and that mint flavoring made the cracks burn like nobody's business.


Cut to a few years later; I have advanced my beauty collection, and with that, my lip balm drawer. (No, really, I have a lip balm drawer. I probably have about 30 in there.)

So clearly I have been around the block with my share of lip balms. There has never been one that I love more than I love the Soap and Glory A Great Kisser balm.

A close second would be the Rosebud Salve you see on top there also, you can get that one at Bath and Body Works and/or Sephora for $6, I believe.

Let's talk about Soap and Glory though...

This lip balm is magic. My lips are chapped beyond belief 24/7 no matter what I do. I scrub, I keep balm on them all day every day, and yet still, within a few hours, they're feeling like someone took a hairdryer on high to them. (That was a horrible visual but it's true) Cracked lips are so not cute.

I've been checking out Soap and Glory for a little while now, I picked up their Righteous Body Butter and their Hand Food, and I decided that since I'm always looking for a good lip balm, why not? Let's grab one. So I got A Great Kisser in the flavor Juicy Peach.

There are options now, you can also get Vanilla Bean and Peppermint (which I will be ordering as soon as I finish this post)...Vanilla Bean is a pink balm with gold shimmer and Peppermint is clear; Juicy Peach (which Sephora has been carrying as long as they've had Soap and Glory) is a pretty, sheer pink balm.

It is a tiny bit stickier than I would like, and I prefer lip balms in tubes, but with the quality of this one, it doesn't matter at all, I'm willing to sacrifice sticky fingers for fabulous lips.

I put this balm on before I go to bed at night and I wake up and it's still on! My lips feel so pillowy soft and hydrated...it's like nothing I've ever felt before. The cracks are virtually gone, and any that are left are dramatically diminished.

I'm rating this a 9.5/10, only taking off the .5 for packaging and a teeny bit of stickiness. It's totally worth it though, I promise. Just try it out and let me know how much you love it!