My current skincare regime

Hello everybody, I've been so busy with exams and revision recently so I feel now is the time to finally start up my blogspot. I have one more exam left so it's all good (plus it's only French!)
Anyway, I thought I would start by letting you all know my skincare regime. I was going to post this on my tumblr but a lot of my many thousands of followers don't seem to care for my personal life or personal pictures so I guess on here it would be better responded to? That's why the pictures are water marked with my tumblr URL, don't worry, I haven't stolen the pictures from someone else's blog! They are mine, I just cannot be bothered to re-water mark them again! I hope so, it took a lot of time and effort for me to do all the pictures I got. I'll post the rest later. Anyway....

L-R: Liz Earle Instant Boost Skin Tonic, Dermalogica Skin Smoothing Cream, Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser

My mum recently gave me these Liz Earle starter items which I have been using since last Saturday. Unfortunately due to hormones my skin is in an absolute state at the moment (I've always suffered from particularly bad skin and acne for as long as I can remember) so absolutely nothing can save it at the moment. However at first when I started using this I felt that it was actually causing my skin to be atrocious but I've actually realised that it's just bad timing and I'm clearly due my period soon (sorry, tmi!).

Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser

By the way, if you're wondering why I haven't photographed the muslin cloth that comes with it, it's simply because it needs to go in the wash because it has foundation and black eye make-up marks on it, so I don't really want you to see my grubby cloth!
As I was saying before I was worried that this was actually making my skin even worse but I actually think it's down to hormones and stress why my skin is so bad at the moment.
Anyway, first of all I would like to tell you how divine this product smells. It has "Rosemary, chamomile, cocoa butter and eucalyptus essential oil" named as some of the ingredients so of course it smells heavenly. It's a really nice, non-greasy creamy formula so it's very nice and easy to use. You use one or two pumps, rub it together slightly in the palm of your hands and apply to your face and neck using your fingertips. Your skin should be dry when you apply it and then you use the muslin cloth in hot water which you then ring and begin cleaning the cream off of your skin. The muslin cloth acts as an exfoliator too so once it has all been removed your skin is left feeling incredibly smooth.

Instant effects: I certainly noticed that my skin was left feeling very smooth after the first use which is just what my skin needed after it had been feeling very dry and un-smooth before I had started using it! In terms of whether I've seen my spots etc go down - well I would say my pores appear to be reduced with slightly fewer blackheads though in terms of spots, I haven't seen a difference, it seems to have become much worse!

Liz Earle Instant Boost Skin Tonic

I use this after using the Hot Cloth Cleanser and it's so lovely to use afterwards. It's very soothing and again smells gorgeous, with it's "Organic aloe vera, calendula, rose-scented geranium, cucumber and natural vitamin E". It really tones down any redness you may have on your skin and you just pour a bit onto a cotton wool pad and sweep it over your skin. I think I've actually used it before but it's so lovely to use so I would definitely recommend anyone to use this as part of their everyday skincare regime.  Also, the full sized bottle comes as a spray which would probably be even more soothing to spritz onto your face.

Instant effects: I definitely felt my skin feeling more hydrated and soothed after using this product.

Dermalogica Skin Smoothing Cream

If you're wondering why all of a sudden a Dermalogica skin care product has popped up, this is becuase prior to using the Liz Earle products I have been religiously been using Dermalogica's products, since having special Dermalogica facials and being recommended to use certain products. However I had previously been using the Dermalogica Cleansing Gel but I found that very drying on my skin. Anyway, this is the moisturiser I used along with it and am still using now (especially since this is a new bottle which I don't want to waste by not using it). Before I applied this day and night after cleansing but the Hot Cloth Cleanser is actually so moisturising and smooths my skin so well that with using the moisturiser twice daily too, I actually found my skin to be appearing very shiny, even under make-up. And as I use Revlon's Photo Ready foundation, which is a liquid foundation known for giving a dewy look to your skin and a controversial 'sparkle', my skin was incredibly shiny and I actually had a pretty embarrassing incident when I first realised how shiny my skin was (I was at my college and caught my reflection, realising that a lot of people must have seen my very shiny face...). So I decided to only use the moisturiser once a day and only in the evenings (though I don't know if anyone thinks I should actually use it in the mornings? Comments?). Since then my skin has become noticeably less shiny but still as smooth and moisturised.
With this moisturiser a little goes a long way (on cleansed skin, not dry, unclean skin as you will end up wasting half of the bottle). However at roughly £19 a bottle (I think, correct me if I'm wrong!), I do think it's at least £5 over priced.

Instant effects: You definitely find your skin feeling much more hydrated and moisturised, and smoother after using this product, though if you don't use it for a day or two, you also notice the effects so I find this moisturiser an essential (until I use a different product that is slightly more long lasting on my skin and doesn't need to be constantly used).

I hope you've enjoyed reading this post, apologies for how lengthy it is!

Lucy x