FBFF: Make-up

Makeup free

Full Make-up

So, this week's Visual FBFF was to post a picture of ourselves without makeup. I have a confession to make. Until fairly recently all of my picture except for Sunday church outfits have been of me without makeup. Yikes. Here's the thing - I had perfect skin, until I hit my mid twenties. Then I had a baby. Let me tell you, my skin did not agree with the whole being pregnant thing and it rebelled like you wouldn't believe. Even since it has been incredible finicky and difficult. I have finally found a routine that seems to keep it in line and even found some make-up that doesn't make my skin want to murder me. If you are at all interested in what works for me, keep reading. If not, that's okay. You can be done now. ;)

Alright. So, at night I wash my face with my L'Oreal scrublet and a gentle cleanser, then an alcohol free toner (Hydrafresh by L'Oreal). I have been using L'Oreal's eye defense cream since I was 13 and I love it. I also have no lines around my eyes which is very cool. I recently started using L'Oreal's retinol night cream and it works really well. If you have acne prone, aging skin, retinol is a must. This one is thick and creamy and doesn't irritate my skin like some of the other brands. (If you use retinol, you must exfoliate and use sunscreen and do not wax.) That is it for night-time. In the morning, I just wipe my face with a treated pad (Neutrogena's Stress control acne one's work well) and use my eye cream. Then if I am planning to go out, I use clinique moisture surge tinted moisturizer with a little blush, mascara and eye make-up. If I have no outside plans, I use clinique moisture surge moisturizer and call it a day. The clinique products are a bit of a splurge if you are on a budget, but if it works it is worth the money. I have tried so many lotions and creams and treatments that I am thrilled to find something that works for me. I discovered the moisture surge a while back and have been using it for a while, so I was tickled to death when they released the tinted moisturizer with spf. Perfect. Thankfully, it works for me. (Did I mention that I am also allergic to most sunscreens? and benzoyl peroxide? oh and just about everything with salicylic acid? Yeah, makes fighting acne a bit of a pain.) That's it. Once I found what worked, it is pretty simple and not too time consuming. Even thought most of the products aren't particularly cheap, I know they work and when I buy them that I will use them rather than try it a couple of times then have to deal with reactions and throw the stuff away.

Do you have any fool proof tips for perfect skin?