Dealing with Acne: Cleansers

Cleansing is the most important step in my skincare routine, and it should be the most important step in your as well! You should cleanse every night (no matter how late you get in from the pub) and every morning. Face wipes don’t count, they’re fine in emergencies, but other than that steer clear.

If you have acne the temptation is to immediately go for something oil free, that will just strip your skin of all it’s natural oils, and inflame your skin. I got stuck in this cycle a few years ago and my skin just got worse.

When my acne was at it’s worst, and during the hormonal flare ups I still get, I avoid anything that foams (I always avoid SLS anyway) and anything that is at all drying.

The first step in proper cleansing is to get all your make-up off. I get my eye make-up and the majority of my face make-up off with Bioderma, but if you prefer you can use a balm or cream Cleanser to remove most of your make up, my favourites are Liz Earle’s Cleanse and Polish and REN’s NO.1 Purity Cleansing Balm. I use either of those on dry skin to remove every last bit of make up, they are both fine to use around the eyes, I remove with a hot muslin cloth or a flannel.

I always double cleanse, and when my skin is behaving really badly I will use RENs ClearCalm 3 Clarifying Clay Cleanser or Metique’s Hygienic Skin Wash, either with my Clarisonic, or if my skin is feeling very sensitive without. The REN is a clay based cleanser that is great for dealing with a lot of excess oil without stripping the skin, and I love using it when my skin is feeling oily but I don’t have time to use a face mask. Metique’s Hygienic Skin Wash is a lovely non-foaming face wash that contains 5% Tea Tree Oil, a great natural anti-septic and natural Vitamin E so it won’t dry out your skin.

If you have acne prone skin cleansing properly is so important, don’t sleep in your make-up and don’t use face wipes. If you cleanse properly, anything else you use will work a lot better, and be way more effective.

What are your favourite cleansers? Are you guilty of relying on face wipes?

Dealing With Acne: Vichy Dermablend

I couldn't resist picking this up when the current skincare 3 for 2 at Boots started. Vichy are a French pharmacy brand and the Dermablend line is a range of high coverage foundations, and a setting powder. I got the stick foundation in shade 11 Porcelain. Vichy say these have double the pigment of a normal foundation with 40% pigments (the liquid version has 35%. I have mainly been using this as a concealer but it works well if used lightly as a foundation, and asti is a pan stick it blends really quickly when used with a buffing or kabuki brush.

It has a quite dry texture, but as lot as I use a moisturiser or primer before I use this it doesn't cling to dry patches. The coverage of this really is amazing, one application covers the worst of my scarring. So long as it is used correctly it doesn't feel heavy on the skin or look cakey. I find it is applied best with fingers and then buffed into the skin with either an Elf Powder Brush, Real Techniques Buffing Brush or Sigma F80. You don't want to use a paddle brush with this, it won't blend it properly.

I haven't had any issues with break outs from this, and as Vichy are a skincare brand, I do feel more confident that it isn't going to block my pores. The main downside with this is the shade range. If your any lighter than NC/W15 you will struggle to find a match, as for darker shades, they aren't really there. The range only really caters to fair - medium skins, but does have both warm and cool undertones. It seems fairly pricey at around £19, but you do get 12 grams of product, and I doubt I will need to repurchase this for a very long time!