I have had so many of you requesting an affordable skincare routine. I have found a treasure-trove of medical grade, cruelty free, vegan, and AFFORDABLE products for you.
Decide What You Need
When you are looking for a skincare routine you essentially have to figure out what your problems are with your skin and go from there. For me, some issues that my skin has are hyper-pigmentation and skin aging. I have freckles and redness on my face and I have premature wrinkles on my forehead. The wrinkles are admittedly from taking selfies when I was in junior high and raising my eyebrows. Why did I think that was cute?
Anywho,
Figuring out what your problem areas are allows you to be able to treat them. I started feeling like my skin was looking 8+ years older than it really is. That definitely was a scary realization, so I decided it was time to really invest in my skin. Part of investing in your skin is doing your research. You truly have to put in time to understand what skincare will actually work and how to best apply your skincare. Cassandra Bankson is a woman I have been watching on youtube for forever. She does a complete breakdown of The Ordinary’s products and why/how they work.
The Ordinary
The Ordinary is a skincare brand that is cruelty free, vegan, medical-grade, and most importantly, affordable.
IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A LESS EXTENSIVE AND SERIOUS SKINCARE GUIDE, SKIP DOWN TO “SKINCARE FOR EVERYONE”
The Ordinary has many skincare guides directly on their site to direct you to what you should use for your issues. When I began this skincare journey I went a little overboard and bought about 15 different skincare serums, toners, moisturizers, etc. This is absolutely not necessary. The Ordinary recommends that you only use 2-3 of their products at a time. (I have never had any negative side effects for using more than that). Here are some examples of skincare routines that target specific issues.
Click HERE to view the other example skincare regimens on The Ordinary.
As you can see, not only do they direct you as to what to buy, but they also tell you what to use in the morning and in the night.
Ordering The Ordinary
Once piece of the puzzle that you have to figure out is what order to apply your skincare in. The Ordinary directs you on this as well. For example, lets say you have pigmentation issues. You would navigate to THIS page and look at the different types of skincare substances and read the information associated with them. This is what you would see:
So, If you have pigmentation issues, in the morning you should use these in the order of Alpha Arbutin 2% + HA, Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%, and lastly Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate 10%.
USE CODE SS20 FOR 20% OFF OF YOUR PURCHASE
Skincare For Everyone
If you would rather use less serious and more universal products, I would HIGHLY recommend Dr. Brandt products. Specifically, I can see these products working and they are amazing. The only downside is that this skincare is on the expensive side. It is worth EVERY penny, though.
My two most favorite items honestly rank above any of The Ordinary’s products that I use. First off is the Dr Brandt Microdermabrasion skin exfoliant. This exfoliator is has super fine grit to it and exfoliates my skin better than anything else I have ever tried by a long shot. It makes my skin so soft and my pores are considerably smaller and I just look healthy and young. Click the photo below to shop this item.
The second item that I love is the Dr. Brandt Hydro Biotic Recovery Sleeping Mask. This moisturizes my skin more than anything else I have ever used. It smells amazing and it makes my skin plump and hydrated and just beautiful. I use this at night and in the day, as well as under my makeup. It does not make my face greasy in any way. It is amazing. Click the photo below to shop the Dr. Brandt Hydro Biotic Recovery Sleeping Mask.
Grow Your Eyelashes
Another aspect of skincare for everyone is growing your lashes. I have been using the GrandeLash-MD Lash enhancing serum for about 6 weeks now and I have noticed a considerable difference. You are able to purchase the full size (12-week supply) or you can purchase the travel size (6-week supply). This allows you to try it without paying full price. You just brush this on your eyelashes like liquid eyeliner and that’s it! Here are some amazing before and after photos.
My Updated Tanning Routine
If you haven’t read THE BEST SELF TANNERS: RANKED + MY TANNING ROUTINE yet, it is definitely worth a look. Since I wrote that blog post, Bali Body reached out to me and sent me some new products to review. The first product I tried was the Bali Body Self Tan Remover. I am not going to lie, I was skeptical that this would work. But, it worked SO well. It is a white foam you apply to your skin and leave for 5 minutes. In that 5 minutes, the foam dries and then you are instructed to remove the self tan and the remover with the exfoliating mitt. I even tried this in the shower and it worked there. It takes all of your old tan off and it takes so little scrubbing. I was truly astonished when I realized that I did’t have to scrub my skin so hard. Here are the before and after photos.
I do not usually let my tan look like this. I purposely did not put lotion on my feet and ankles before I applied tanner. Also, I applied a few times and then let it wear away specifically so I could properly test this tan remover. The verdict? This remover works so well. Like I said, I’ve done it with dry skin before the shower and I have also tried it in the shower and it worked well both times. The exfoliating mitt is amazing too. You can actually get the tanning mitt for 20% off when you purchase the mitt and the tan remover together. Click HERE to shop the tan remover and click HERE to shop the exfoliating mitt.
