Skin Care Sunday

Today I have what may become an occasional series on my beauty routine beyond of my hands and nails, but first, I need to thank all of you who voted for Locavore. It won! It's coming back! It'll be several months at least before I can get my hands on it, but I will, and once I do, there'll be an RBL giveaway.

Rather than nail products today, I have skin care ones. I don't plan to change the focus of this blog but thought it might be a fun change of pace to mix in other beauty stuff once in a while. Today it's my current skin care routine. I say "current" because I like to try new things and switch it up at least a couple times a year (or when I run out of something). Because I'm in my late 40s, you'll see a lot of anti-aging and wrinkle-fighting stuff. I don't feel as old as my birth certificate says I am, and I'd just as soon not look it, either, if I can help it.



Above are the things that go on my face most mornings. (I have a different assortment in my gym bag so use those on the days I workout on my way to the office.) I wash with Purpose soap (not shown), and then the CVS Firming Lift Eye Cream goes on under my eyes. I'm in CVS a lot hunting for nail polish, so I picked this up on one of those trips. The Garnier Nutritioniste Skin Renew Daily Regenerating Serum goes on next, all over my face and neck. I won this in a raffle so figured I'd try it. While the CVS eye creme does seem to firm like it promises, I don't feel like it hydrates very well, so I went looking in my cabinet for a second eye cream to use on top of it and found this sample of Peter Thomas Roth Mega Rich Intensive Anti-Aging Cellular Eye Cream. I like it, but rather doubt I'll get a full size when this runs out since it's $65 for .76 ounces, and that's not in my budget right now. My last step before makeup is to apply the Eucerin Everyday Protection Face Lotion. I bought this when I was on vacation and ran out of the moisturizer I'd brought; the small town near the ski resort doesn't have chain drugstores so I couldn't get an exact replacement for what I'd been using (Aveeno Ultra-Calming SPF 30). I like Eucerin, and this had the right SPF, so I got this instead. It's fine, though it does take some rubbing to get it to sink in and not look like white cream sitting on top of my skin.



And here's what I'm using at night, though most nights I only use two of three of these depending on how my skin's feeling and looking. The Stridex pads might seem out of place; they're sold as an acne medication, after all, and at my age breakouts are not my main skin care concern, but salicylic acid also works as an exfoliant, and I do want to encourage my skin to turnover new cells regularly. My undereye area gets CVS Retinol Eye Cream every night; it's cheaper than the name brand retinol cremes, so that's more money left over for nail polish. I alternate the ROC Retinol Correxion Deep Wrinkle Night Cream with the Garnier Nutrioniste Overnight Regenerating Cream (part of the same raffle prize as my daytime serum) because my face can't quite handle retionol every night without getting overly red.

All this skin care leaves me looking like this in daylight, without makeup:



There's some redness and blotches I'd just as soon not have, but overall I think I look pretty good for my age. I could look better if I never went outside or used my face to express emotion, but that's no way to live. I'd much rather ski and laugh than sit inside looking pretty. Not that I'm without vanity, of course; my hair in this picture is covered in dye to cover my greys. I might give that up one day, but not while I'm working with many people that I'm old enough to be their mother.