At Home Facial: Skin Pampering While You Study

Sorry for the quiet spell on the blog last week but I'm still learning how to be a student again! How do people balance work, school and the rest of life?! But I've snuck away from my text book, made a hot chocolate (there may be more than a smidge of Bailey's in it...) and curled up with my lap top to bring you this weeks addition of shenanigans.

While time is short I've had to figure out how to keep my skin from showing all the long nights and early mornings of late, but who has time for a proper facial these days, certainly not me, I'm lucky if I find the time to brush my hair and clean my teeth these days. So here is my at home facial that I do while studying, but any of you lovelies with a busy life can put this routine to use!

Step 1. Remove any make up.

I am currently on the last legs of my Shu Uemura Cleansing Oil that you may have seen in my Evening skin care routine post, but this is a quick and easy way to remove your make up from the day. I then use Bioderma Sensibio Micelle Solution to make sure every last stitch of make up and grime is gone!

Step 2. Clay Mask Time!

Any time I put this mask on I feel slightly racist, can anyone say black face? Awkward social aspects aside, Origins Clear Improvement Active Charcoal Mask is seriously the bomb, it draws all the gunk from the week out of my skin; that being said it can sometimes result in little blemishes so I tend to do this mask a day or two before my day off from work so that if I get a blemish I can treat it with B. Kamins Blemish Gel and be back to work and no one is any the wiser! While this mask is drying hit the textbooks for the next 20-30 minutes!

Step 3. Cleanse, Cleanse and then Cleanse Some More...

Using a warm damp muslin cloth, gently remove the charcoal mask and then massage a generous amount of Oskia Renaissance Cleansing Gel (which is so amazing it got its very own post right here!) into the skin. Next comes my favourite part: Clarisonic time!

Step 4. Another Mask? Another Mask!

 Collagen sheet masks were my gateway drug to all other skin care, let's be honest. This is where I pop on a sheet mask, what I use varies from week to week depending on my skin needs for that week, for some of my favourites check out this post. Once I've popped on one of these bad boys I usually return to my desk to study for the next 45 minutes- 1 hour while my skin absorbs all the serum-y goodness.

After the full face sheet mask I like to use a separate eye mask (all these late nights of memorizing are no friend to my already shady under eyes!) and let that guy buck while I study; I found the bit that goes on top of my eye irritated my sensitive eyes so I trimmed it so that it fits the under eye and outer corner only and I can leave these guys on until they dry out now. 

Step 5. Concentrated Goodness

Here is where the serums come in; two drops of Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Serum and two drops of Tarte's Maracuja Oil patted into the skin and then BACK TO THE BOOKS!

Step 6. Lock It All In

Alright, so you've made it through an evening of studying and now it's bed time, but you can't let all your hard work go to waste, you got to lock that stuff down! Instead of slapping a thick night cream on I like to use a sleeping pack; equally hydrating but light weight and enhances all the goodness we've spent the last couple hours infusing our skin with. And don't forget your trusty night cream!

Any of you lovelies have any good tips for studying? Or juggling school, life and work? Let's here them!

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IT'S A GIVEAWAY!!

AND THE WINNER IS: Kelsey Anderson! Check your email for further instructions! Thanks everyone for entering and supporting my wee little blog. 


So I'm probably more excited about this than you guys haha! I've been threatening a giveaway for months when the Facebook Page hit 50 likes and as of right now we're still a couple away from that goal, BUT I decided to go ahead and do this as a thank you for the massive amount of support everyone showed to my Food, Beautiful Food post.

I've been collecting bits and bobs for so long I actually have THREE boxes worth of stuff for this giveaway which means that once a winner is selected I can create your own little box of goodies based on your personal wants and needs. I decided to only show you one of the three boxes so that I could still keep some of the surprise.

In your winning box you will find a collection of full size products and deluxe sample sizes of some of the more pricey products I wanted to share with you guys. These products may have appeared in my blog previously (I'd be glancing at my monthly favourites posts for January and February to get some ideas of what you might be seeing...) or may be a completely new surprise!

Brands you may see in your box include:

Fresh

MAC

Sanoflore

Yves Rocher

David's Tea

Kiehl's

My Beauty Diary

Etude House

Bison

FaceQ

Dermal

LUSH

L'Occitane En Provence

The Body Shop

and more...

All you have to do to enter is click the link below and follow the instructions:

Enter the Giveaway!

The Process: Night Time Skincare Routine

It should come as no shock to you by now that my evening skin care routine is more than just a simple two step cleanse and moisturize; it is a bit of a ritual for me. I love the process of thoroughly cleansing and hydrating my skin before bed and I'm not just talking about my face, I moisturize right down to my toes before climbing into bed. While the products I use are constantly changing here is a look at what I'm using right now, some products I've been using for months others I've just added into the routine in the last couple weeks.

The Process:

Step 1: Shu Uemura Anti-Oxi Skin Refining Anti-Dullness Cleansing Oil I've been using cleansing oils as a gentle way to remove my make up at night for several months now but I stumbled upon this particular one at Sephora a couple weeks ago and snagged a sample. I've been using it daily for about a week now and when my sample ran out last night I knew I'd have to splurge and buy one. I say splurge but it's only $44 so it's actually quite economically priced. With dry hands and a dry face take 3-4 pumps of the oil and gently smooth it over your face, wet face to emulsify oil and gently scrub away your make up and then rinse! This one is great because not only does it smell amazing but it contains Moringa and Green Tea extracts to remove environmental pollutants from your skin and promote a bright clear complexion. 

Step 2: Bioderma Micellar Solution I bought into all the hype of this product while I was over in the UK and I now understand why it's such a cult favourite because I've used it every single day for the last three months and can't imagine my life without it. A little too dramatic? Maybe, but this stuff is the bomb! I use it mainly as the second step of my evening routine to make sure that if I missed any make up the first time around it's gone now, but when I used to work at the bar and get home at 4am exhausted I really didn't feel like scrubbing my face so I'd splash some on a cotton pad and lay in bed and remove my make up as I was already on my way to sleep, not the greatest I know but at least it's better than nothing! I also love that they have a sensitive skin line because my dry skin freaks out with anything too abrasive.

Step 3: MAC's Lightful Marine Bright Cleanser Now that all that gunk is off my face I can properly cleanse it. I love this cleanser and have for a while now, I mentioned it in my January Favourite's post so I won't go too much into it here, but I'm still in love and you can click the link above to find out why!

Step 4: Avène Thermal Spring Water Spray I discovered this during my pre-Paris french skin care googling spree and managed to find it here at home and it's quickly become a staple; I have a large can on my vanity and small ones in my gym bag and purse. I took this with me when I flew and it was a great refresher during my 9 hour plane ride, I also keep one stashed in my gym bag to refresh my skin after a heavy lifting session. I use this morning and night during my skin care routine because somewhere along the lines I once heard someone say your creams absorb better when your skin is damp, whether or not that's true it feels great and my super dry skin loves it!

Step 5: Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate This is one of the newer additions to my nightly routine, I was looking for a serum and saw this particular one pop up in quite a few blogs. I went into the Kiehl's store to take a better look at it and the girls there were beyond helpful. Telling me all about this specific product, offered me a couple of samples to try it first (it should be noted as you only use 3 drops a night one sample pack will last you like two weeks!!) to make sure my sensitive skin didn't freak out. After the first night I woke up in the morning and I'd couldn't believe what a difference one night made; I mean seriously, there was bursts of light and a chorus of angels singing from my face, well not really but pretty damn close! 

Step 6: Kiehl's Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado When I was chatting with the girls at Kiehl's they recommended giving the Midnight Recovery Serum a couple minutes to sink in before applying your night time face cream so in the meantime I like to dot on my eye cream. I was using L'Occitane En Provence's Imortelle Precious Eye Balm and quite liked it as it didn't irritate my sensitive eye but it wasn't quite as hydrating as I'd like so when I finished my tub the other day I figured I'd try something new for my scaly eyelids (gross right?!). I've only got a little sample of this Avocado eye cream right now and this is night two of using it and I quite enjoy it so far, but a few tips from the girls at Kiehl's on application: 1. only use a very small amount. 2. Warm it up between two fingers before applying. 3. Lightly pat it onto your ocular bone, don't rub it it! I like this cream because it's a nice thick texture that absorbs well, I'll keep you posted on whether or not it fixes my crocodile eyes.

Step 7: Bath and Body Works Lavender Chamomile Sleep Aromatherapy Body Lotion After my face is taken care of I make sure to slather a decent amount of this on the rest of my body to keep it hydrated over night, I also find the scent quite relaxing which helps my restless mind calm down and get ready for bed.

Step 8:NUXE Reve De Miel Ultra Comfortable Face Cream (Night) So you've listened to me sing the praises of the Nuxe Reve De Miel lip balm for ages (totally not done singing them yet!) and I tried the day cream and loved it but was unable to find the night cream anywhere in Canada (until recently YAY BAY! Thanks for having my dry prairie girl's back this winter, see link above to order yours!) so I stocked up while in France and it's amazing! I'm having a hard time putting it away to try out some of the other night creams I bought. It is super moisturizing, not at all irritating and delivers a powerful punch of over night moisture.

Step 9:Reve De Miel Lip Balm Told you I wasn't done singing it's praises yet! Before bed I exfoliated with my DIY lip scrub that you can find the recipe to here and then apply a generous layer of lip balm. This stuff is seriously so good that when I wake up 8 hours later there's still some left keeping my lips soft!

Step 10: The Body Shop's Africa Honey and Beeswax Hand and Foot Butter and last but not least keeping my feet from becoming scaly monsters is Essie Button to the rescue with her recommendation of this amazing foot lotion. It's not pictured above because unfortunately I'm all out but will be running to the store to replenish my stocks soon!!!

Step 11: This one is a once a week treat for my dry skin. In place of step 8 I will apply a thin layer of Glam Glow's Thirsy Mud and leave it on overnight for some intense hydration. This stuff smells amazing, probably due to the fact it's packed full of raw honey, ginger root and coconut; it leaves my skin feeling super soft and looking great in the morning, I wish I could bathe in this stuff!

This may seem a bit excessive but I love my skin care and my skin has never looked so great in my life! I also love the ritual of it and find it a quite relaxing way to wind down before bed after a hectic day. What are some of your guys' favourite night time skin treats, let me know in the comments below!!