My 30 year old skin

Here’s the low down. I have great skin. It glows naturally and I breezed through my 20s without much help from the  beauty industry. How breezy? Confession: I have never gotten a facial.

This year, I started regular manicure and pedicures. I am yet to get my first facial.

Over the last year, I saw my skin change.

From normal to combination with a slightly oily T-zone, I am now dry and sensitive.

This is BIG, because suddenly I was thrown into panic mode, where I didn’t really know what went wrong, or what happened. Everything was changing at rapid speed this year, and like everyone may I say, 2015 has been a rollercoaster, and even if my lips were sealed, my skin spoke loud and clear.

“Why do you look so tired?” Everyone asked and I had no answers.

Here is my new and improved routine. If you are 29, I would suggest you understand that a new era of your life is unfolding, and your beauty drawer will never really be the same.

Here’s the skincare breakdown:

Try for a mix of drugstore/Sephora products but choose as much as you can, products without parabens and chemicals. Your skin is now 30 years old and it needs a little bit of pampering.

 

Currently this has been my beauty over haul and I am pretty happy with the way my skin has been feeling. This post will be about my night time ritual. But it’s pretty much the same in the morning  + sunscreen.

1. Exfoliation: Choose something with small granules, not too rough. I love the Caudalie Deep Exfoliation. It does the job, without making you feel like you just ran sandpaper through your face. Get it at Sephora.
2. Mask: Again, Sephora comes to the rescue with Philip Thomas Roth, I picked up the Cucumber Gel Mask and it is like magic.
3. You can use pretty much any facewash, though currently I am using Nivea and I don’t really like it.
4. Toner is crucial. It is. Don’t ignore it. I use Nivea but when I find something I love, I will let you know
5. Serum: This goes on first, always. Find a great one, invest in it, I love Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery but I finished it, so now I am back to my old favorite, Soundarya Serum by Forest Essentials. I won’t lie, good serums are expensive, but so is your skin.
6. Moisturization: Avene: One great word, fabulous products. I am currently using their Rich Hydrating Cream. But I also bought their hydration mask and got a repair cream free
7. Eye Cream: A good eye cream, means lesser wrinkles and no puffiness. I got the Benefit eye cream as a Christmas gift, and who doesn’t love Benefit?
8. Vaseline petroleum jelly on the lips!
9. This is a sunscreen I will re-buy all my life. When it comes to sunscreens, Neutrogena knows it. Their Dry Touch Ultra Sheer SPF 55 disappears into the skin in seconds unlike other sunscreen that remain like sticky thick layers.

If you are still with me, you will notice that despite having dry and sensitive skin, all my products are water based, not oil. All are enriched with thermal water or aloe, or something hydrating. This is important, dry doesn’t necessarily mean oily creams and vice versa.