beauty routine.

V.

You know that feeling when you're at home, lying in bed and rehearsing your speech for the presentation you'll hold that week (-yes you guys,- I promise- no more university related posts in the future :)-) and you try to enjoy your giant chocolate bar (of which you've been eating way too much lately due to the high stress factor) .. and then .. all of a sudden your face starts to itch and you reach over .. and .. touch your cheek .. and .. suddenly realize ..

>> dramatic music playing <<

you've got a pimple.

That's actually the time when I personally notice that it would be good for my skin and my self-esteem to start my beauty - or let's say - cleansing routine again, that I've been neglecting for quite a while now. I honestly have to say, that I've been very lucky with my skin lately, since I've had my fair share of acne attacks in the last couple of years. In my case, it often has to do with emotional stress and imbalance,- so you can image how my face looked during the time where there was a gas leak in my apartment in Vienna and all the walls in there had to be broken down to exchange this rusty old gas pipe from the 1940ies that had more holes than Emmentaler cheese. It was awful! But happily, it all worked out well. :)

Since I am not a beauty expert and could probably use much better products on my face, I still think that I have found my ultimate make-up-removal routine that works best for my skin. First I'd like to say that I absolutely detest those manifactured goods that you can find at every drogstore in the city, since it makes my face and eyes itchy and they turn red really fast. So, I will now lead you through my 4 steps of makeup removal: :)

To start off, I daily use LA ROCHE-POSAY's LIPIKAR SYNDET, which is a washing gel/cream that you simply apply on your face with a little bit of water. Within seconds it turns into foam and works its way deep into your pores. Since it contains no parabens, scents and soap it's a mild but extremely effective treatment for my skin.

Removing make-up from your eyes is also a very important step! Some people are too lazy or sometimes forget to do it, but believe me- it's never good to look like a racoon in the morning and find half of your already broken off eyelashes on your pillow.

Since I can't use any of those pre-fabricated make up removal-lotions, I adopted my mother's routine.- Simply put NIVEA creme on a cotton pad or just cotton and you can start mission mascara-removal! :) And of course, it can never hurt to rub NIVEA creme on your face as well, just to add moisture to your skin.

Something one always needs to do in order to get really soft skin is to peel it! That picture up there shows one part of the ridiciously expensive Dead Sea skin-peeling-care-set that Esther and I got in the Westfield San Francisco Shopping Center last year. You've all at least once experienced those really annoying and persistent salespeople in a mall that stand in front of small booths right next to the actual shops and try to sell their products to you, right? And normally, you would try to not look at them, grab your wallet and run for the hills, right? Well, normally we would have done the same,- however this time there was this really nice Israeli student who just stood there in front of the booth smiling. Not saying a word. Not pushy and insistent at all. We immediately fell in love with her and the products she was offering- which were - as I already mentioned - skin peeling products from the Dead Sea! 

Of course she immediately tried the products on our skin and we instantly adored them! The big can on the bottom ist the salt scrub that you should only use on your body, since it would be too rough-grained for the face. So, if you want to buy an exfoliating scrub for your face, always make sure that it really is for the FACE only!

The scrub we bought can be used on whatever body part we want and I assure you,- you will instantly have skin like a babys's bottom after you've used it. :)

The last step I like to conduct is putting the content of the second can on my face, which is a gelatine-esque substance that you need to put on totally dry and oil-free skin. Shorty after you've applied it, you can almost feel how the gel works its way into your pores and brings out all the impurities and filth! Literally! :) 

Well and of course, you should always try to nurture your skin with body creams (-preferably unscented if you have irritable skin like me)! 

And that is it. That's all the information I have to share. On the one hand you'll probably think "thank god, she's stopped talking about her skin care", and on the other hand some will say "total nonsense, I've got a much better skin-care routine". If you do, why don't you share your experiences in the comment box below? 

Other than that, I wish you guys a nice start into the new week! And never forget to cherish your skin. :)