Weddingbee Blog

What’s that, hive? You want to know my Swiss skincare secrets? Well, okaaay, but only because I love you.

I’m actually sort of a rookie at this whole “skincare routine” thang. (Yeah, I said “thang”…) Up until a few months ago, I had a pretty simple routine: Rinse my face with water in the morning, wash it briefly in the shower with face wash at night, and run some lotion over my face as I lotioned post-shower, using zit cream as needed (which was every day).

Then I started a new job. With lots of women. (Pretty women!) You know, the kind who wear stylish clothes, high heels, and makeup. Cue vanity insecurities!

I was getting along fine, starting to wear makeup much more often, when one of my colleagues commented over lunch that I needed to exfoliate. “Huh?” Yes, exfoliate. A second colleague agreed that I needed to exfoliate more, and suddenly I was very self-conscious about how I was taking care of my skin. Perhaps my lazy wash-and-lotion cycle wasn’t enough to combat all the makeup I was wearing lately.

Around this time, Mrs. Macarons mentioned the Clarisonic in a post, and after reading reviews on Weddingbee and skincare sites, I took the plunge and ordered the pro model. I decided that at the ripe age of 24, I had too many pimples for someone supposedly past puberty and that I needed to rethink my skincare regime. Now my skincare routine has developed into this lengthy ordeal over the past two months, and I’m still not sure if it’s worth all the extra effort.

Here’s the breakdown!

Morning:

I start the day by rinsing my face with cold water. I still can’t be bothered to wash my face in the morning, but I might have to reevaluate this later.

(Image from Swissline)

After I put my contacts in, I use Swissline De-puffing Eye Moisturizer under my eyes to calm the grog down before breakfast.

(Image via Skincarerx.com)

Before I put my makeup on, I use Murad Oil-Control Mattifier SPF 15 to moisturize and prevent oily breakouts during the day. After Murad I will typically put on Mrs. Rainbow’s cocktail of Mac foundation, Monistat chafing gel, and Dove moisturizer.

(Image from Skincode)

Sometimes I skip the Murad and just use Skincode Protective Day Cream SPF 12 before some mineral foundation if I’m in a hurry.

Daytime:

(Image via Head-Fi)

During the day, I make sure to drink at least two litres of water from my Radiohead Sigg bottle at work. I actually have a little Post-It tally, too, because I am really horrible about drinking water and I need to make sure I remember to drink by marking my progress.

Evening:

(Image from Swissline)

In the evening, I start by removing my eye makeup with Swissline Gentle Bi Phase Eye Make Up Remover. It’s great and I love using it way more than my previous baby-oil removal method.

(Left image via Clarisonic, right image via Carrefour)

After I remove my eye makeup, I hop in the shower and at the end I use my Clarisonic with the same face wash I’ve been using since 2007. Shokubutsu is not a groundbreaking cleanser, but I got it from Singapore and using it reminds me of my best guy friend who lives there. I make sure to rinse the Clarisonic brush head and handle out both before and after I use it.

In case it’s helpful, for the Carisonic I usually do 20 seconds on my chin/nose first, 20 seconds on my forehead, 10 seconds on each cheek, and then I restart it and use 20 seconds on my neck/under chin, 20 seconds around my hairline edges, and 20 seconds between my nose and in between my eyebrows for a deep clean. If I don’t use it that long on my nose, I end up coming out of the shower feeling like it’s still full of clogged pores. I use the sensitive brush head on pro speed. If my skin is feeling sensitive, I knock the speed back to low or normal, but I’ve worked up to using the pro speed and it seems to suit my skin OK.

(Image from Swissline)

Once or twice a week, I put Swissline’s Force Vitale Mild Exfoliating Refiner on the Clarisonic and use that to wash my face.

(Image from Skincode)

After the shower, I pat my face dry and use a cotton swab to dab Skincode Cellular Revitalizing Toner over my skin. I was skeptical about toners in the past, but with all this new schooling on skincare I thought it was an important step to remove any residual makeup and prep the skin for the rest of the skincare routine. (Namely, serums!)

(Image from Skincode)

Once my skin is prepped from the toner, I pump out some Cellular Wrinkle Prohibiting Serum from Skincode and work it into my face.

(Image from Skincode)

I’m not sure if the wrinkle-prohibiting serum is too rich for my young skin, so I am now also trying out Cellular Perfect Skin Capsules by Skincode and Force Vitale Moisture Revitalizer Serum by Swissline, and I may switch to one of these in the near future. The perfect skin capsules make my skin feel ridiculously smooth and the revitalizer serum is a very light moisture serum. I just might love both…but I’ll get back to you after more testing!

(Image from Swissline)

(Image from Swissline)

After the serum (or sometimes before) I dab some of Swissline’s Corrective Eye Moisturizer around my eyes to reduce dark circles and prevent crow’s feet.

(Image from Swissline)

Alternating, I sometimes use Cell Shock Eye Zone Lifting Complex by Swissline to tighten and lift the skin around the eye, but in general I prefer the corrective eye cream because it’s more moisturizing to the delicate eye area and I don’t need that much tightening. The eye zone lifting complex is more liquid, so I just use it a couple times a week in the evenings if I feel like it.

(Image via Citrine’s Blog)

If I have any breakouts, I whip out my trusty Clean and Clear Persa Gel 10 Acne Treatment for some acne spot treatment.

(Image from Swissline)

Finally, because my cheeks are more prone to drying out than the rest of my skin, I finish my routine by lightly moisturizing with Cell Shock Total-Lift Light Cream and focusing around my mouth and cheeks, while avoiding my forehead.

Tool Maintenance:

Once a week (or once every two weeks if I am lazy) I clean all of my makeup brushes with soap and water and let them dry overnight. (I am meaning to get a proper brush cleaner!) I clean the Clarisonic brush head with soapy water once a week and always take the brush out of the shower and let it dry in the charging cradle away from the shower steam.

Results:

Except for a couple camping trips, I have been religiously following this skincare routine for about six weeks. I am still on the fence about the Clarisonic. It is a huge change to my skincare routine and, in general, I think my skin looks cleaner, healthier, and maybe even more radiant. But it’s not SO amazing (at least by now) that I would be recommending a $100–$180 facial brush to my friends and family. It does do a pretty great job of taking off my makeup effectively.

I am still getting pimples, but they are a different kind of pimples now. I am the type of person who picks digs at their face whenever they get a pimple, and since buying the Clarisonic I have noticed I am not popping pimples every night and morning and during bathroom breaks at work. (Because I was totally doing that before!) I am getting smaller pimples (papules and pustules) and more smaller bumps. But in addition to those smaller bumps, I’m also getting more deep-rooted cysts.

Now in general, it’s easier for me to avoid the urge to pop a painful cyst on my chin because it hurts and because there is no visible whitehead to pop. But on the other hand, I don’t really like that I’m getting more of these painful cysts, even as small as they are, so I need to check my Clarisonic settings, how often I wash (the lack of washing in the morning!), and what kind of makeup I use during the day, because this is all affecting my skin.

I’ve noticed that I am getting smaller pimples, less pimples, and pimples that go away more quickly than before I had the Clarisonic. While I have a new problem with the deep pimples, I have noticed that I have literally no pimples around my jawline/neck anymore. I used to always get annoying, painful pimples under my chin and on my neck a few times a month that I would pop and re-pop for days. No more! I also use less Clean and Clear cream these days, where before I was using it every day, but I still don’t think I’ve gotten my skin routine down 100%. In fact, while writing this post I got two fairly big pimples on my chin, which I am unhappy about because I couldn’t help popping them. (I have a problem!) Maybe I need to change my face wash. Maybe I need to tone down or increase the Clarisonic use. Or maybe I should stop wearing so much makeup during the next month?

Anybody have any Clarisonic tips? Did you make any changes to your skin routine before your wedding?