Hello readers! Before I go to bed, I would like to share my nightly routine with you inspired by fellow blogger Debbie from Shapes and Sizes who wrote a similar post last week. Unlike a lot of things in my life, my nightly routine tends to be low maintenance. Usually by the end of the night I’m too exhausted to do anything more than wash my face and moisturize (and of course, blog post). Because this routine is made up of only 3 steps, it’s easy to remember and commit to (I’m horrible at sticking to routines as it is!), and it’s easy to pack when you’re on vacation. So without further ado, here are my steps:
1. Cleanse skin with Yes to Carrots Daily Cream Facial Cleanser using cold water. This is probably the best cleanser I’ve ever used. Prior to it, I used St. Ives Green Tea Cleanser until I noticed it contained sulfates (nooo thank you!). Sulfates, commonly worded as sodium lauryl sulfate on beauty products including shampoos, are actually skin irritants. It seems counterintuitive for it to be an ingredient in the majority of facial cleansers, but luckily, the Yes to Carrots line contains many SLS-free products. This cleanser is gentle and effectively removes dirt and the majority of my makeup without drying or irritating my combination skin.
You may be wondering why I cleanse with cold water. For a long time, I used hot water, figuring it was good for my skin. Turns out that was completely wrong! Hot water removes the essential oils responsible for moisturizing skin. That’s why your skin feels dry after washing with hot water. It took a while to adapt to cold water rinses, but now I look forward to splashing cold water on my face every morning and night. Afterward, my skin feels rejuvenated, significantly less dry, and most importantly, brighter in complexion. Tl;dr: use cold water.
2. Remove makeup residue using Yes to Blueberries Cleansing Facial Towelettes. Back when I used a waterproof mascara, no amount of water or soap could remove my eye makeup. I’ve since switched to a non-waterproof mascara and my eyes have thanked me. However, there are times when I still need to remove some stubborn mascara still lying beneath the surface. That’s where makeup remover towelettes come in. These towelettes are gentle on my eyes, have a blueberry scent (as you could have guessed) and don’t contain sulfates or parabens. I feel like a paid advertisement mentioning Yes to Carrots twice in a row, but I promise you I am not. I truly love this line.
3. And now for the final step – moisturizing. What I seek in a moisturizer is anti-aging elements and sufficient hydration without being oily or clogging pores. As I mentioned earlier, I have combination skin that occasionally breaks out but is mostly normal-dry. Lumene Pure Radiance Night Cream provides all of the above including vitamin C for collagen production and brighter skin in the morning. What’s more is that it’s a sulfate-free formula that won’t sabotage my skin.
And if you’re wondering…at least once a week, I will use an exfoliating scrub, mask, and retinol treatment. I try not to use retinol and exfoliating scrubs excessively because they can strip skin of good bacteria, causing dryness and hindering healthy collagen production. My favorite exfoliating scrubs are Burt’s Bees and Suki Exfoliate Foaming Cleanser, both of which are gentle on the skin. However, I’ll save this discussion for another post.
I hope this has been helpful to you! I would love to know your nightly beauty routine in the comments. For now, goodnight!
