Last updated on June 21st, 2023 at 05:32 pm

What do I do to take care of my skin? I can’t stress this enough – WASHING YOUR FACE is key in my go-to everyday skincare routine! If you’re wearing makeup daily or not, it’s so important to go to bed with clean skin. If your face is dirty, while you sleep all of the makeup and bacteria will get trapped and cause a whole host of problems – like wrinkles, zits and enlarged pores. 

My Morning Skincare Routine

Because I go to bed with clean skin, I don’t need to cleanse my skin too much in the morning. Plus, my skin is on the dry to combination side, so if I washed my face every morning it would dry my face out even more. 

Cleanse

I like to use micellar water on a cotton round to gently cleanse. But if you do have oily or acne-prone skin, it might be better to wash your face so it’s nice and clean. 

If your skin is damp, it’s going to absorb product better and be more moisturized. I used to splash some water on my face, but I felt like it was just making all the product I just put on run down and off my face. 

Products

I started using Evian Facial Mist – I know, I know, very extra, but it gives my skin a lot of moisture in-between different steps. 

I’ll spritz my face, wait 20-30 seconds, use The Ordinary “Buffet” serum and let it sink in briefly

Next step is sunscreen. I don’t know if a 110 SPF is overkill, but what’s the harm, right? Since I sit in my house most of the time lately, I’ll skip this step since my face sees zero sun. Plus, around this time in Michigan, I’m working during the only hours of sunlight. By the time I’m done working, it feels like midnight. 

While I’m letting the sunscreen sink into my skin, I’ll put on my eye cream. I have terrible bags and dark circles, and eye cream doesn’t do much for me in terms of improvement. So, I focus on making sure my under eyes are hydrated so my concealer looks better. 

For me, I find when I use heavier eye creams during the day, it makes my eye makeup run underneath my eyes. The Sephora brand is light, plus it’s affordable. Plus, I haven’t had any issues with my makeup running under my eyes!

Now that I have my eye cream on, back to moisturizer! I like the Neutrogena Hydro Boost moisturizer – the gel consistency works well for my dry-ish skin. It layers well with my other products, and doesn’t bunch up when I go to put on my makeup. 

Now my face is ready for makeup! I usually let everything sink in for a couple minutes before I start, just to make sure everything works well together. For the most part, this is my everyday go-to skincare routine, but I will mix it up occasionally!

My Evening Skincare Routine

For nighttime, my routine gets a little more “intense”, but still not too crazy. Otherwise, I’d never do it! 

Cleanse

If I didn’t wear makeup that day, I’ll use my micellar water again to cleanse my face and neck. Chances are, if I wasn’t wearing makeup, and I didn’t go anywhere, my face won’t be too dirty. 

If I did wear makeup that day, I’ll start out using my Makeup Eraser. I get both the Makeup Eraser and my face wet, and take off a majority of my makeup. Even however many layers of mascara, which is fantastic. I used to use eye makeup remover religiously, but it was so much rubbing and tugging on my eyes to get everything off. 

Then I actually wash my face –  and because my skin is usually pretty dry I like to use the Hydro Boost cleanser. I used to use a more expensive cleanser from Sephora that people rave about. And I liked it, and used it for a long time, but I realized it was probably stripping more from my skin than I wanted, and made it drier. 

I once read somewhere that your face wash doesn’t have to be expensive or high end, because it’s only on your face for such a brief period of time. It’s better to put your money toward products that are going to sink into your skin! 

Treatment

Lately (or 60 treatments worth), I’ve been using the Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Universal Daily Peel. It’s a two part treatment – you rub one peel pad all over your face and neck until the pad is dry. Wait two minutes, and then use the other pad. Ta-da! 

It’s great for exfoliation, and my face always feels really soft afterward. You don’t have to use these peel pads every day too, every couple of days is great. Make sure you don’t over-exfoliate your skin, that’s not good either!

These peels are definitely my go-to skincare, but not part of my everyday routine!

Products

I really like products from The Ordinary, so this is where we get into The Ordinary part of the routine! 

When it comes to the order of putting on different products, I tend to think about the type of product, what I want it to achieve, and what I want closest to my skin to work the hardest. 

My first layer is a Retinoid emulsion to help with fine lines and dullness. Like in the morning, spritz a little water on my face, and wait a minute. Because this is the rare time of day I get to be alone, I usually draw it out more than I really need to and play around on my phone while I’m “waiting”. 

Next up is The Buffet again, another means to combat fine lines, dullness and dryness. Another spritz and another wait (or Insta scroll). 

Last but not least, is The Ordinary Hyaluronic Serum. Hyaluronic acid can hold up to 1,000 times its weight in water, so it’s AMAZING for helping to keep your skin moisturized. But what’s REALLY IMPORTANT to remember, is your skin needs to be DAMP when you put it on. Hyaluronic acid needs water to help draw the product into your skin and do its job. If your face is dry when you apply, you’re going to get the exact opposite effect you want. The hyaluronic acid is going to look for moisture, and will get it the only way it can. Drawing it from your skin. 

Can’t forget eye cream too! Since only my husband and bed are going to see me, I’ll use a thicker eye cream. This one is from Olay, but a little higher price point because it has retinol in it. I’m really grateful to not have many crow’s feet wrinkles, but I still want to prevent them if possible!Not much is going to help me for bags and dark circles, but let’s keep wrinkles FAR away! 

If I’m Feeling Lazy

I have fond and hazy memories of coming home after a night out with my husband (but he was probably boyfriend back then), and being so proud of myself for washing my face before I inevitably passed out. If it was an especially fun night and the thought of washing my face seemed like torture I would wet the Makeup Eraser to get off as much and I could and then use micellar water and a cotton round. Is it the best? No. But, way better than sleeping with makeup on. 

Sometimes, if I’m feeling especially lazy at night I’ll really simplify my nighttime routine. Or, if I’ve had one too many glasses of wine and don’t have the energy to do much! 

While I haven’t over-indulged in a long time (having a toddler who wakes up at 7am makes it really hard to “party” and “survive the next day”), no matter what I will always wash my face. Do not sleep with your makeup on! One more time for the people in the back – DO. NOT. SLEEP. WITH. MAKEUP. ON. 

And there have been times since becoming a mom that I’ve been so tired and might die if I don’t go to bed rightthissecond, that I’ve literally used a baby wipe. Who needs a makeup wipe? Pampers Pure baby wipes are 99.99% water, and if it’s good for my baby’s butt, why not my face in the rare instance? Plus, baby wipes aren’t in short supply around our house. 

For me, having a clean face is a non-negotiable, but the paring down comes after the fact. 

The Extras

If I want to give my face a good dose of moisture, I’ll just use a Rosehip Seed Oil. There’s so many benefits to it that it probably deserves its own post. I used to put it on my baby bump too, to try and prevent stretch marks! 

If my face is looking and feeling like some zits are coming on, I’ll do a thin layer all over of Salicylic acid to try and keep anything lurking at bay. I won’t do this every day so my face doesn’t get dried out, but once a week or so is good! 

Do you use any of these products? What’s your everyday go-to skincare routine? I’d love to know! And if you’re looking for a “little more mature” skin care routine, check out Dianne’s Skin Care Routine.

Check out more beauty-related posts here!