Naturalla Beauty

Where my morning skincare is all about quick and easy products, night is when I like to invest a little more time in my skin.  Just a few years ago, skincare felt like a chore, but these days, I really enjoy the whole process.  One of the biggest changes I've made - and one I'd recommend if you struggle at all with nighttime skincare - is doing the majority of your routine earlier in the evening.  For me, sometimes that means as early as six or seven at night, but at a minimum, it's a couple hours before bed.  The benefits are twofold: if you're using heavier products that take time to sink in, you're less likely to lose them on your pillowcase, and you're also less apt to go to sleep without washing your face due to sheer exhaustion.

In terms of products, the skin does a lot of regenerating when we sleep, so I like to use products with nourishing, reparative ingredients that aid in those processes.  Here's my current lineup:



Badger Seabuckthorn Face Cleansing Oil* / Weleda Soothing Almond Facial Oil*
My favorite way of removing makeup is with an oil, since I've not found anything else as effective at breaking everything down.  I take a couple minutes to thoroughly massage it onto my dry face and then wipe it away with a warm, damp facecloth.  I love the clean, fresh feeling Badger's Seabuckthorn Cleansing Oil gives my face, but because the menthol in it sometimes irritates my eyes, I prefer to use a separate oil to remove eye makeup.  Usually I'd just use almond or jojoba oil, but since running out of all my plain oils, I've been using the Weleda Soothing Almond Facial Oil.  It's a gentle blend of almond and plum kernel oils with blackthorn extract and it works just as well to remove makeup as it does to soothe and moisturize the skin.

Andalou Naturals Citrus Kombucha Cleansing Gel
I like to follow the oil cleansing step with a gel cleanser.  The Citrus Kombucha Cleansing Gel is part of Andalou's Clarifying line for oily and acne prone skin, but it also works well on my normal and generally non-acne prone skin.  The smell reminds me of cutting into a fresh grapefruit, and although the cleanser foams up a moderate amount, it doesn't dry out my face.

On days when I'm not wearing makeup, I skip the oil cleanse and just use either the Cleansing Gel or Andalou's Apricot Probiotic Cleansing Milk, which I talked about in my morning skincare routine.

Nonie of Beverly Hills AHA! Skin Tonic*
Toners aren't a skincare item that really gets me excited, but I do like the AHA! Skin Tonic, which is one of the few products I use both morning and night.  It's gentle and non-drying and I've noticed a visible difference in the appearance of the pores on my nose and cheeks since adding this into my routine.

Nonie of Beverly Hills AHA! Brilliant Moisturizer*
With 5% alpha hydroxy acids from natural fruit sources, Brilliant serves as both a moisturizer and a gentle chemical exfoliant.  In the beginning, I experienced minor tingling from the acids, but after using it on and off for several months, my skin has gotten more used to it and I don't feel anything on application.  This is a great formula because while the acids are pretty gentle, they are still quite effective at resurfacing the skin.  I haven't noticed much difference in terms of fine lines, but my overall skin texture has improved and my skin is the softest I can remember it being in a long time.  

Balance Me Wonder Eye Cream / Holiskin Revitalize Eye Serum*
Like I mentioned, I like to do bulk of my nighttime skincare a couple hours before bed, at which point I'll use the Balance Me Wonder Eye Cream.  I find, no matter how conservatively I apply them, eye oils always manage to seep into my eyes if given the time, so I wait to apply the Revitalize Eye Serum until right before going to sleep.  Holiskin's serum is a light-textured blend of organic apricot kernel, camellia, rosehip seed, and evening primrose oils, plus non-GMO vitamin E, organic calendula extract, and essential oils.  I haven't been using it long enough to remark on its effect on dark circles or fine lines, but it feels very nourishing and does a great job moisturizing the eye area.  I'll update once I've used it for longer.

Rachel's Plan Bee Facial Oil*
Similar to in the morning, I haven't been using face oils every night recently, but on nights when I want a little extra moisture, I'll add in a few drops of Rachel's Plan Bee Facial Oil.  The oil, which smells like a warm vanilla cookie, has just enough weight to it to thoroughly moisturize the skin without any heaviness or greasy feeling.  It works well either applied alone as an additional step or mixed into my moisturizer.

And there you have it!  I've got one more post coming with masks, treatments and occasional products, but day-to-day, this is what I use.  What are your favorite nighttime skincare products?

My relationship with skincare has come a long way in the last few years.  When I first started blogging, I was much more interested in makeup and my skincare routine basically consisted of soap, moisturizer, and an occasional scrub.  I'm not sure exactly when things changed, but I've become quite the skincare enthusiast and my routine is a good bit more involved these days.  

That said, mornings are still all about quick and effective skincare for me.  Whether I'm heading out early or spending the day working from home, I generally don't want to mess with anything too slow or complicated in the morning.  If my skin is acting up, I'll add in an extra product or two, but I'm going to save talking about those for a dedicated post.  On an average day, my morning routine consists of three basic steps: cleanse, tone, and moisturize.   

I do tend to change things up fairly frequently, but - with the exception of one product that you'll see in my night routine - I've used everything in my current rotation for a minimum of three weeks.  



Andalou Naturals Apricot Probiotic Cleansing Milk
As part of Andalou's Age Defying line, the Apricot Probiotic Cleansing Milk is a gentle cleanser designed for dry and sensitive skin.  It's more of a thick cream cleanser than a cleansing milk, but it rinses away clean and doesn't feel overly heavy on my skin.  It leaves my skin feeling clean and extra soft, and it also smells yummy - like peach yogurt.  

Nonie of Beverly Hills AHA! Skin Tonic*
Contrary to the name, the AHA! Skin Tonic is not an exfoliating toner with AHA's, but instead a gentle, witch hazel-based tonic that serves to refresh the skin and prepare it for the next step.  It feels very light and non-sticky on the skin and I love that it doesn't contain any glycerin, as my skin sometimes reacts badly to toners with high amounts of glycerin.

Trilogy Line Smoothing Day Cream
My skin has been doing a lot better with cream moisturizers than oils this winter, so after repeatedly coming across this Trilogy moisturizer on super discount at Winners, I had to try it.  As the name suggests, the Line Smoothing Day Cream is intended to restore hydration and smooth lines.  With a blend of hyaluronic acid and avocado, olive, acai, and evening primrose oils to hydrate and nourish, and botanical hydroxypoline (an amino acid) to stimulate collagen production, improve elasticity and fight free radical damage, it sounds like a moisturizer with a lot going on.  After using it for about a month now, I haven't  noticed any dramatic line smoothing (not that I have a ton of lines/wrinkles to begin with!), but it's a good moisturizer.  The scent is light, it feels very gentle, and it does a good job hydrating the skin.  I don't know where to buy Trilogy products in Canada regularly, but if I come across it at Winners again, I'll definitely pick up a backup.

Balance Me Wonder Eye Cream / La Mav Anti Dark-Circle & Ultra-Firm Eye Gel*
I use these two interchangeably and out of everything in my routine, this is the one area where I'll be happy to switch to something else once these are finished.  Neither are bad products, they just haven't given me the results I was hoping for.  If you're very dry around the eyes, the La Mav - in spite of its seemingly light, gel consistency - is fantastic for hydration, and if you want an eye cream that you can immediately apply makeup on top of, the Balance Me is great in that regard.  Both do also help with minor puffiness, I just wish one of them had been able to do more for my dark circles. 

Badger Sea Buckthorn Face Oil* / Karooch Hazelnut Oil
Most mornings I use the Trilogy moisturizer and call it a day, but if my skin is feeling extra dry, I'll top the moisturizer with a couple drops of these two oils mixed together.  The Badger is super hydrating and the hazelnut oil - my absolute favorite face oil - lightens it up slightly and helps to speed up absorption.  

And there you have it: my current morning skincare routine.  I'll have posts on my nighttime skincare and occasional products and treatments I use coming up in the next couple weeks too, so stay tuned for those!

I try to keep my skincare routine pretty simple year round.  Usually it's just soap and moisturizer morning and night, plus the occasional scrub and mask.  This winter, however, I've felt like my skin's needed something more, so I ended up jazzing things up a bit.  I figured I'd share what I've been using lately.



Cleanser: Young Living Valor Bar Soap
I've written about this soap multiple times before, and this step hasn't changed.  I've used this loyally for the last couple years and it's a great basic, no frills cleanser that isn't too drying.  It also removes makeup well and doesn't leave any kind of film on your skin like a lot of bar soaps do.






Toner: Humphrey's Witch Hazel + Essential Oils
Originally I found witch hazel too drying to use all over, so I was using it irregularly and only on specific parts of my face.  When my skin started acting up around the holidays, this is what I reached for first.  I wasn't quite breaking out - it was more like congested pores - but they disappeared completely within the first couple days of using this.  I use straight witch hazel, but I do mix in essential oils to cover up the witch hazel smell, which I'm really not a fan of on its own.




Toner #2: George's Always Active Aloe Spray Mister
When I first reviewed this, I was just using it as a makeup setting spray.  With switching things around, I began using it more often as a toner, and I really like it!  I tone with witch hazel on a cotton pad and then I mist my face with 3-4 sprays of this.  It's refreshing and gives a little boost of extra hydration underneath my moisturizer.








Moisturizer: Young Living Sandalwood Moisture Cream
As I've said before, although this isn't my favourite moisturizer from Young Living, it's less expensive and you get twice the amount of product, so I do rotate between the two.  It's still a great basic moisturizer, I just don't get that "best moisturizer ever" feeling that I do from the Boswellia Wrinkle Cream.  





Facial Oil: Pai Rosehip Bioregenerate Oil
I don't find my skin needs the extra moisture of an oil all over, but I do like to use one on more specific "problem areas."  I also only do this step at night.  I've been struggling to get rid of a couple fine lines on my forehead (frown lines?) and some redness and broken capillaries on the sides of my nose and I'm hoping this will help with both.  I know technically you can't fix broken capillaries with anything topical, but I do notice they're a lot less visible in the morning, if I apply this the night before.  It's still a bit early to tell if it's helping with the lines, but I'm hopeful!



Lip Balm: Balm Balm Unscented Multipurpose Lip Balm/Badger Creamy Cocoa Cocoa Butter Lip Balm
Both of these lip balms are pretty recent purchases, but they're what's been on my lips most often lately.  The Balm Balm is more salve-like and soaks into your lips quickly, leaving them hydrated but almost dry to the touch, while the Badger is creamier.  It smells divine and moisturizes while leaving your lips feeling coated and protected.  The Balm Balm makes a great lip treatment, but the Badger is what I reach for before braving the cold outside! 




Scrub: Nourish Exfoliating Body Polish
I've been exfoliating with Nourish's Body Polish one or two times a week.  I like it and it's definitely gentle enough for the face, but at some point I'd like to find something better.  I recently tested out a sample of Pai's Kukui & Jojoba Exfoliator, which left my skin feeling incredibly smooth, but I'm not sure I loved it enough to purchase the full size.  I'm definitely interested in trying more scrubs with jojoba beads in them though!





Mask: Homemade Clay & Honey
I posted the recipe a while back and it's still what I usually mix up when I'm in the mood for a face mask.  Honestly, this isn't something I do very regularly - probably once a month or so.






This is a lot more steps than my previous skincare routine, but it doesn't actually take very long.  Now I'm wondering...do you change up your skincare in the winter?  Are there any scrubs you love?  I'm also looking for an eye cream - particularly something that will help with dark circles.  If you have any recommendations, I'd love to hear them!