I've been following Caroline Hirons' blog for a while. And this weekend I spent a solid few hours browsing posts. Her blog is an amazing resource for skincare advice and I find myself hanging on her every word. If you haven't checked it out, you should! (Here). She also has done a video with Pixiwoo recently (YouTube makeup extraordinaires, whom I also love) on their Body Talk channel. It's very good. Watch it here.
"The Mouth" talks so much sense and she is incredibly knowledgable. She mentions lots of things I knew already (e.g. face wipes are the work of the devil, double cleansing in the evening is a must if you've been wearing makeup or SPF during the day, and you must always cleanse morning AND night). But I've also learnt lots of new things, and I've had lots of other important points hammered home. So I thought I'd give you a run down of the top ten things I've learnt from the Hirons' blog:
- Oil and balm cleansers are the best way to go whether you're dry or oily. I tend to get quite oily and sometimes get dehydrated. Like attracts like, so a cleansing oil or balm will draw the oil from your skin without stripping it. I also find that when I use an oil or balm cleanser it forces me to spend longer cleansing because I spend time massaging it in and then removing it carefully with a cloth. It's easy to slap on a foaming cleanser and splash it off in 10 seconds. I used to use Eve Lom, which I liked a lot, but it contains mineral oil, which is now on my "ingredients to avoid list" (more on that later), so I'm now desperate to get my hands on Emma Hardie Moringa Cleansing Balm, which comes highly recommended by, like, everyone.
- Take fish oil supplements (or flax if you're veggie). Apparently this is a great place to start if you have problem skin too. Caroline also recommends a number of other supplements in this post. Also this post gives lots of details on why we should take Vitamin D supplements too.
- Keep a number of products on rotation. Don't just buy one cleanser and use it forevermore. Get to know your skin and what it needs each day. One day it might be dry and need products that are more nourishing, the next it might be looking dull and need a pick-me-up. I often get stuck in one routine, but it does make sense to tailor the products I use to my skin's needs.
- On a similar note, two toners are better than one: an exfoliating one and a hydrating one. Exfoliating toners prep your skin so that they are optimised to absorb whatever creams and serums you apply next. Hydrating toners help the skin to absorb moisture, which helps to prevent dehydration.
- STILL on that note, spend money on quality skincare. Of course we can only afford what we can afford. So buy the best you can afford, rather than skimping. I agree that you only have one face, so you should look after it.
- Micellar water is over-hyped. My beloved Bioderma might not be all it's cracked up to be after all... I use it to remove eye make up, but with a good quality balm cleanser I shouldn't need to. I would never use it all over my face to remove my base though and definitely NEVER EVER without a second cleanse.
- Use a separate SPF and moisturiser. This is because SPF is a dominant ingredient, so UV protection will be the main benefit of a product containing it. SPF doesn't have to be extortionately expensive though, better to save the pennies for a good moisturiser sans SPF. For more info on SPF check out Caroline's cheat sheet here and this post.
- Cheap white Primark flannels are just as good as expensive muslin cloths for cleansing. This is one place you can save! Use a fresh one every day though (this I knew!). Easy one.
- I need more facials. Well I'm not arguing with this advice! Ideally you want to find a facialist who isn't affiliated with one high street brand, because they will have experience using lots of different products from a number of brands, rather than the fixed product range from one brand. This means they will be able to give a more tailored experience.
- Mineral oil is the root of all evil and should be avoided at all costs. It's a cheap ingredient that provides no benefit to the skin. Some people find it clogs pores and breaks then out, but it also stops the skin from absorbing moisture properly. Moisturisers containing mineral oil won't actually prevent dryness or dehydration in the long term. They only provide very short term relief.
So there you go... my Caroline Hirons Top Ten Tips! Here are two more for luck! These ones aren't new, but they're always worth reminding:
- Never wear make up to bed. But even better, remove it as soon as you get home so that you remove the dirt, pollution and grime of the day sooner, and you gets the benefits from the products that feed your skin for longer.
- Drink water. A lot. I feel hydration, inside and out, is not focused on enough.
So my skincare wish list has now tripled... In length and in price. But it's all good. I'm allowed.
xx
