#am regimen

[tcobeauty]

I love planning out a full day's worth of skincare in advance! This is also a function of me having planned out a routine and leaving it out in the bathroom for several days in a row, much to my husband's very patient chagrin. I'd been need some exfoliation and some brightening, and there's nothing like some galactomyces to get that job done.

For daytime and night I went with the Mizon Rice Real Cleansing Foam – it’s a great deep-cleanser with scrubby bits that isn’t too drying. During the day, I followed it up with CosRX Galactomyces Toner, Secret Key Starting Treatment Essence, and the CosRX Galacto Whitening Power Essence, and firmed and brightened up my undereye area with Benton Fermentation Eye Cream. Slapped on some Dr. Jart BB Beauty Balm with SPF 45, and I was ready for the rest of my makeup and to take on the day.

For that evening, I upped the rice quotient for added exfoliation. The Botanic Farm Grain Ferment Cleansing Sherbet gets that spackle of makeup off in a jiffy, and then the Daltokki Sticky Rice Facial Scrub gets down in there to pick up any other bits that the first two cleansers might have missed. Spritzed on the toner and slapped on the essence, and then it was time for the Tosowoong Rice Paper Pack, which is super fun to put together and put on, even if it is a little sticky and tough to maneuver. It dries fairly quickly and firmly in about 15 minutes, so I followed that up with the Ramosu Galactomyces Ferment Ampoule to give the treatment one last final boost.

Finally, I decided to switch up my final regimen step, which I think everyone should reserve the right to revise their regimen at any given moment, depending on how your face is feeling; I went with the J.One Jelly Cream instead of the Botanic Farm Sleeping Pack. I wanted to seal things in a bit more and I didn't think the light pudding-y gel of the Sleeping Pack would really smooth everything out as well as the slightly more emollient Jelly Cream. I know there’s no way to objectively tell whether my skin is brighter in the morning, but I always feel refreshed and bright after a good exfoliating routine, so do with that what you will... 

[tcobeauty]

Night to Day: Simplified/Slacking

In case you haven’t noticed, I've been really slacking, especially on my nighttime routine lately. As much as I want to do a lovely, long, 10-step regiment every night, there’s only so much I can manage to do after long days at the office and hours on the commute. So I've been trying to really make an effort to simplify my routine while still covering all the basics in order to make it easier on myself to get it done and take care of my skin even especially when I'm exhausted. 

A good double-cleanse, no matter how basic or simple, always seems to get me in a better headspace and just enjoy the process of washing off the day and preparing my skin for sleep. Even though I usually prefer a cleansing sherbet- or balm-type first step cleanser, Shiseido’s Perfect Cleansing Oil does a great job of gently clearing off all the rest of the makeup and SPF that makeup remover wipes tend to miss. I’m underwhelmed by the Benton Honest Cleansing Foam, if we’re being perfectly honest, but it is nice and gentle and gets the rest of the job of cleansing done well enough. 

Y’all already know I love my Lagom and The Lotus, and this toner and essence in particular pair really well together. Following those up with the Lotus Leaf Extract Sleeping Pack adds another layer of simple luxury that really helps smooth and soften my skin in addition to helping me continue to relax before bed. It’s not as heavy as a lot of sleeping packs I’ve tried, and being from one of my favorite brands with my favorite ingredients makes a big difference too. Being tired all the damn time makes me really cognizant of my eye area looking droopy too, so I’ve been sealing the deal with Mario Badescu’s Hyaluronic Eye Cream to help de-puff and un-crease a bit while I snooze.

Mornings are a little bit easier, to be honest, primarily because I need to take a shower to feel like a human being, so that takes care of at least a morning double-cleanse. Which, I’m not sure if that’s actually a thing, but I’m making it a thing because I kind of love starting out with the Lagom Gel to Water Cleanser to clear away overnight treatments (and more often than not, take care of the cleansing I was too tired to do the night before) before a frothy second foaming cleanse. I’m of the school of thought that a lot of foaming cleansers are kind of similar, but because I’m a brand snob, I’m currently loving the Lagom Cellup Micro Foam Cleanser to pickup whatever else might be left behind and prep for daytime tone/treat/moisturize.

My daytime T/T/M has been varying lately, but I pretty much always will do a toner, an essence, and some kind of moisturizer. I’ve been a bit clogged lately due to slacking, which I will readily admit is my own damn fault, so the Mizon AHA & BHA Daily Clean Toner has been doing a good job of adding some extra exfoliation to get rid of excess gunk. The weather has been weird this summer (hm, wonder why?), so it’s been a challenge finding a balance between moisturizer that won’t make me greasy and makeup that won’t dry me out. Belif’s Hungarian Water Essence and True Cream Aqua Bomb are a pretty good balance when the weather goes from 200% humidity to dry and toasty. With this particular type of daytime regimen, SPF is usually courtesy of my makeup, so it’s an inside-day kind of routine.

And yes, I know Neutrogena’s Hydro-Boost line is a shameless American-market ploy to capitalize on Kbeauty gel moisturizers (much like Belif), but I needed a good, light daytime eye cream and this one was available via PrimeNow. This line is not going to replace or usurp Belif in any way, but this Hydro-Boost Gel eye cream is a pretty decent drugstore product that gets the job done by absorbing quickly and not feeling filmy or greasy.

So this has been my regular late-summer routine lately, and I always find that when I take good care of my face, the rest of the day always seems a little bit easier. I have some products on deck that I’m thinking will work well when my favorite, glorious season of fall finally arrives, but until then I’m going to keep it simple and easy, if only for the sake of my own sanity.