5 Skincare Tips

Skincare has always been rather important to me, it's an awful thing to say but as a society we pretty much judge on face value and more often than not your face is pretty much the first thing someone will notice about you. When I have breakouts, spots or bad scaring it really knocks my confidence, it shouldn't as let's face it who really cares what others think but it has always got me pretty down. However over the years I've tried my fair share of products/lifestyle changes and although this may run the risk of sounding big headed I think I've pretty much reached a point where I'm happy with my overall skin condition. Yes, I still have flaws (a little patch of eczema under my skin and pigmentation) but I feel much happier with my skin and I finally feel like reoccurring spots are under control. Here are a few tips that I really wish I'd listened to or taken on board sooner-

1. Oily Skin Doesn't Need More Hydration
Wrong. I'll be honest I've read so many articles that claim oily skin needs cleansing three times a day, only use products with Salicylic acid, use light/gel moisturisers. Now I'm not saying run out and buy the thickest cream you can find but talking from experience the best thing I ever did for my oily skin was add in hydrating products. Salicylic acid stripped my skin which in return made it more oily, cleansing my skin more than twice a day also stripped my skin which again created more oil. More often than not oily skin is often dehydrated, this may not always be the case but if you feel like you've tried every product aimed at 'oily skin' and haven't had any luck this could be where you're going wrong. Incorporating hydrating masks, facial oils and creamy cleansers has to be one of the best choice I ever made in terms of skincare.

2. Water and Diet Are More Important
Listen ladies (and gents) you can spend a whole load of money on skincare but if your diet is poor, and your daily water intake is non existent you really won't notice a difference. I've always been rather sceptical on the whole water intake stuff, but after religiously drinking two litres daily I must say my skin has improved drastically. Everything just looks clearer, brighter and more radiant so much so that I haven't found the need to wear a base product in weeks. Diet is something I'm still working on, although there are no links between fatty foods and spots I must say my skin always looks a little more congested after a diet of Domino's Pizza and cookies (no shame we've all been there.) Upping the fruit intake and cutting out sugar/greasy foods can make the biggest difference to the skin.

3. Consistency
Skincare and consistency in the same sentence who am I. For years I chopped and changed my skincare I convinced myself that if I used a product or brand for a long time my skin would become used to it and in return the product would become ineffective. What utter crap! I complained so much about never noticing a difference in my skin but truth be told I probably wasn't even giving the products a chance to truly work. Once you find a cleanser, toner and moisturiser that work with your skin stick with it, I did and I must say my skin reaped the rewards. It loves consistency, if your skin is more on the sensitive side this will definitely help too. Changing your serum/treatments still adds a little excitement/something new to try in your skincare. But, I noticed not changing the basics improved my skin so much.

4. Don't Follow the Crowd
My purchases are often swayed by my favourite bloggers. When a product pops up in someones favourites, or reaches HG territory you can't help but get that twitchy feeling to purchase and try. Here's the thing though everyone's skin is different. Before buying that new skincare product that's received a lot of hype ask yourself, does the blogger have a similar skin type to me? Have I tried a product similar before? Have I tried any other skincare recommendations by this blogger? If the blogger doesn't have a similar skin type, save your pennies. If you've tried something similar that hasn't worked, save your pennies. If you haven't tried/liked previous recommendations why try this one? After reading all the hype surrounding the Emma Hardie cleansing balm I convinced myself it was going to be my skincare hero. I read countless reviews from bloggers who had dry skin types (mine isn't) I had tried previous oil/balm textured products that hadn't worked for me yet I still convinced myself to go ahead and purchase (I didn't like it.) Listen to your gut feeling as after all only YOU truly know your skin and what works well.

5. Keep It Simple & Don't Pile On The Products
The less is more approach to skincare is something I've adopted over recent months. I've cut treatments back to once a week and limited the amount of face masks I use (one every two weeks.) My skin has loved this simple approach. I cleanse, tone and moisturise daily but without the added layers my skin seems to be a lot less congested. When you do have breakouts or pigmentation the obvious approach can often be to pile on the products however I've found skipping on the foundation/concealer has done my skin the world of good. Although it will sound cheesy I also feel like my confidence has grown so much. I can skip makeup all together and still feel confident, which is something I've wanted to be able to do for years.

Finding skincare that works for you takes time, effort, research and quite often money. When shopping for skincare always listen to your gut instinct, read countless reviews and remember that expensive isn't always best.

Do you have any skincare tips that you wish you'd known sooner? Have you tried any tips above?

P.S Here is my make up free selfie, by sticking to a routine and following my tips above I've finally reached a point where I'm happy with my skin maintaining it will be the hard part!