Skincare routine? More like *tumble weed* amiright?! Skincare routines, or so I thought, belonged to people who had their sh*t together. And thus, as someone who clearly had NOT her sh*t together, I waved every aspect of it away and left it for what I perceived it to be: just another scam to get me buy useless lotions and potions to display on my dresser and gather dust until it starts to 'smell funny'.

I decided that the bare necessities were good enough for my potato peel. You know, a bit of moisturiser here 'n' there when your skin starts to flake of your skull and using a random Lush face mask once every decade until you realise its waaaaaay past its expiration date and you cross your heart, hope NOT to die. Meanwhile I comforted myself with the thought that any day from now nature would kick in, do its thing and everyone would live happily ever after.

More damage than good

However slowly but steady I realised what I was doing -or rather: what I wasn't doing- did more damage than good. "WHY", I asked myself dramatically while examining my dry, flaky but also sometimes greasy, spot prone skin, "am I not blessed with a squeaky clean marble surface?". Till this day the answer stays unknown but, as it turns out, nature doesn't mind a lotion or potion or two (or more) to stimulate its miracles.

And so my quest for marble started. Naturally rubbing whatever onto your skin, crossing your fingers and hoping for the best doesn't cut it. There are so many other factors like what you eat, drink, how you sleep or stress about everything, that influences whether your skin resembles a rotting shrimp or a Greek statue. However besides the general advices of eating your greens, drinking enough water and practising mindfulness, there's still enough to be said about rubbing some mixture onto your skin and a few hail marys to proceed the process.

Lotions and potions

The past couple of weeks I ventured out into the world (wide web) and searched for products suitable for my sensitive, mixed but generally dry skin. And *touch wood* at the moment my skin indeed has cleared up tremendously using the products I've selected. So here goes nothing...

Morning routine

I wake up in the morning feeling like P. Diddy, splash my face with some water and hit 'the city' with The Body Shop's Aloe Soothing Day Cream. It's a light formulated moisturiser, suitable for vegans (v) and fragrance-, colour-, preservatives- and alcohol free. It's perfect to wear under your make-up as it's quickly taken up by the skin and doesn't leave it feeling greasy. And that's it! Only a bit of Lush's Ultrabalm (v) on the lips and 'problem areas' and the morning routine is in the bag; besides, you know, a quick grab and go make-up panic. And don't get me started on the desperate wardrobe dance...

Evening routine

I first clean my face with Ultrabland from Lush, the only cleanser I've tried so far that doesn't leave my skin feel like a trampled sand castle. Then I clumsily try to apply The Body Shop's Tea Tree Anti-Imperfections Daily Solution (v). It's advised to use it twice a day, but my skin ain't having it that frequently. I highly recommend it though to anyone who wants to deal with their blackheads, but will warn that it's thus a pain to apply and quite strong stuff (don't take a sniff straight from the bottle or you'll start hearing colours and seeing sounds).

To top it all off I use Lush's Celestial moisturiser (v). I've been using this moisturiser on and off since 2016. I love it but the formula is rather greasy and made my make-up melt before I even put it on, so I skipped it in the morning. Which made me skip it in the evening, which made me forget about it, which made me -eventually- flake to the bone. But we've made commends now and it works magic as a night cream.

Special additions

Besides these daily wonders I also use The Body Shop's Aloe Soothing Cream Mask twice a week. It literally works while you're asleep. Therefore it's a perfect match with all us busy/lazy people who like the idea of putting our feet in the air, cucumber slices on our eyelids, trying to not scratch our nose, but always find they're running out of time (watching the so-manieth Sebastian Stan and Anthony Mackie funny moments compilation on Youtube).

HAVING SAID THAT I took this moment of skincare-revelation to further experiment and try out a Lush mask hoping the Tea Tree fumes inspired some brain cells to get their act together. I went with the Mask of Magnaminty which, as the name suggests, is very minty. Its smell will prevent an upcoming cold and its substances will get rid of dead skin, spots and other unwanted blemishes. Highly recommend!


Compared to many other skincare routines, mine is a bit meagre. However this is no 'who can smear, rub and scrub the most' competition. And I think we can all agree that for someone who did next to nada, this already is a HUGE improvement. My skin looks so much more healthier and -dare I say it- happier. *looks into mirror and does finger guns*

Do you have a skincare routine? If yes: Which product do you mourn when you scoop up its last remainings and you're faced with the abyss of an empty container knowing it'll take at least a day before you can replace it? For me it must be Ultrabalm, that stuff is tha multifunctional bomb.