The past cold winter months have been a doozy on my complexion and have made me feel less than cute. I mainly blame the lack of sunshine on my skin and how pale I also get during the winter! It’s true for most of us, that winter skin needs a bit more TLC and help to bring it back to life and give it a healthier-looking complexion!
So if you’ve glanced in the mirror lately and thought, “My skin sure could be a tad brighter and more radiant,” I got you…
Keep reading for some of my favorite products and steps I use on myself to achieve my most healthy-looking complexion as we happily move into the spring and summer.
Skin first, Makeup second.
When touching on skincare for glowing skin, and what has been working for me, it’s important to know what I personally have in terms of skin type at my current age of 44.
- I am pretty normal to dry (drier in winter for sure),
- I have light to medium skin tone (I can tan, just not well!),
- I am not particularly sensitive to any ingredients that I know of yet, so I’ll try anything!
Having a consistent daily skincare routine is a must.
It can’t be said enough and truly makes a difference in how good your skin can really look. Kind of like getting a flatter stomach – you won’t get flat abs WITHOUT the DAILY situps and DAILY practice of a good diet. Stronger abs are next on my list…
We all want glowing skin, but most don’t want (or have the time) to do the K-beauty 10 step skincare routine at night. But there are a few MUST-HAVE SKINCARE STEPS that I do almost every night. I am not perfect with this by any means, but I do know that consistency is KEY and I feel like it shows.
Here are my 5 non-negotiable steps in order and the products I rely on…
(01) CLEANSE. Goes without saying, we gotta wash the day away even if we wear minimal makeup. Nighttime is key, and I do not wash a second time in the morning. When I used to do that, it just dried my skin out more. If you’re sleeping on a clean pillowcase after washing at night, you should be good the next morning to just splash with cold water and toner.
I am really into the double cleansing method of cleansing balm (or oil) first, then regular face wash. Here’s a great why you should double cleanse for cleaner bouncier skin if you’re curious what it means. Personal fave products right now are the ELF Holy Hydration Cleansing Balm or the ever popular DHC Cleansing Oil and Olay Revitalizing Foaming Cleanser.
SHOP MY Go-to Cleansers :
(02) EXFOLIATE. Such a KEY step in getting a glowing complexion because you need a smooth skin surface to reflect light! I could not live without (and this is not an exaggeration) my Paula’s Choice BHA Exfoliant liquid I use every day in the evening. It is something I constantly repurchase bc it makes a noticeable difference in the surface texture of my skin. If I want to go super deep, they also make an AHA + BHA exfoliant peel that I only use once or twice a week and omit the exfoliant liquid that night. A really spectacular exfoliant cleanser is also the Dermologica Microfoliant that’s been around a while and is truly incredible and you can feel the difference immediately after you’ve rinsed it off. I usually try to buy it when it’s on sale though 😉
SHOP MY Go-to Exfoliants :
(03) SERUM. Oh how I love using serums! I must have 20+ right now sitting on my bathroom counter! They range with main ingredients from retinols, hyaluronic acid, to Vitamin C + niacinamide serums! But if I had to choose my top 3 most used (and I switch them out, I don’t layer these together FYI) I’d go with the following.
1st, the fairly new L’Oreal Age Perfect Cell Renew Anti-Aging serum because it clearly WORKS after only using for one month – my skin feels bouncier because of it! Think of it as the affordable version of the iconic Estee Lauder Night Renewal serum. 2nd, the Kiehl’s Micro Dose Retinol because retinol is such a key ingredient in the fight against aging skin for dark spots, acne, wrinkles, and this one is powerful for an over the counter one. And 3rd, the L’Oreal Revilatlift Derm Intensive Hyaluronic Acid Serum – it’s got almost a 5 star rating for a reason. It’s AH-mazing, and HA is the ingredient found in facial filler injections because it helps to plump up skin that has lossed volume – creating a more youthful skin look.
SHOP MY Go-to Serums :
(04) MOISTURIZE. I did a YouTube Short HERE on my current fave moisturizers for my dry skin that you can quickly watch and hear why I chose these! It’s really short – hence the word “shorts.” I’ll link them below too. Don’t forget to follow along on my YouTube Channel too while you’re there 😉 * Thanks in advance *
SHOP MY Go-to Moisturizers :
(05) SUNSCREEN. Also, burnt skin will never GLOW because you mess up your skin texture (bumpy, flaky, etc). But, here are two very popular sunscreens that give added face protection + anti-aging properties.
Most of the time I choose moisturizers with sunscreens (like two of the above) and I’ll pick makeup/foundation that includes SPF because the sun is SO damaging and can age you very quickly. The one with 12K ratings and almost 5 star review is this one from Elta MD and LaRoche Posay SPF 60. Also, I haven’t tried this Watermelon Glow Niacinamide SPF 50 one yet, but will SO be getting during the Sephora sale April 1-11th because I love the Glow Recipe brand!
SHOP THE Go-to Sunscreens :
This will be part ONE of TWO for my glowing complexion guide! The next one will focus on the makeup products that I add after my skincare to give me that glowing skin! So stay tuned. How many skincare steps do you do in a night? Do you do all 5 of mine – or more or less? I’d love to hear in the comments below.
