My Skincare Routine: Under the “Skinfluence”

I’ve gotten into watching “Skinfluencer” videos and now I’m convinced my skin care routine isn’t working. The problem is that I can’t find and stick to a routine. Proactiv was my longest working routine for awhile, but that can be a little too harsh with all the benzoyl peroxide. Aside from Proactiv, I’ve bought and sold numerous sets of skincare because I’m afraid to change.

I want to love Tatcha products, but man are they expensive! Though through Ebay and Poshmark, they can be a lot cheaper. I’m still hesitant to try them because of the cost and my finicky skin. I also have some Murad that I paid a lot for, but it’s the same problem of being expensive and possibly more than someone lacking income should be using.

I know there are reasonably priced products like Cetaphil and CeraVe, but they just don’t appeal to me. Brands like The Ordinary and The Inkey List, on the other hand, are very intriguing. They are very scientific in formulation and simple in design, not to mention inexpensive. Anyways, I still have a ton of product for sale and in unopened form.

My current skincare lineup is extremely random:

1. Noxzema Plus Skin Cream ($3.99 Walgreens) – I just can’t deny this product from my teenage years, it soothes my inflamed broken out skin like none other and I will probably keep using it as long as I continue breaking out.
2. IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Makeup 3 in 1 Cleansing Balm with Vitamin C and Rose Hip Oil ($42 from Sephora) – I got this from BzzAgent and it’s expensive, but works so well at removing makeup and keeping my skin moisturized. It smells nice and has a cool emulsifying formula. However, I don’t think it cleanses as well as it should. I used my gel cleanser to clean it off.
3. Murad Environmental Shield Essential C Cleanser ($42 Murad) – the gel cleanser I mentioned using before that was recommended by a former friend who knew more about beauty than friendship. It’s on the pricey side, though it seems similar to Origins Ginzing refreshing scrub cleanser – less expensive but still kind of a lot.
4. bliss clear genius Clarifying Toner + Serum w/BHA, Witch Hazel, Niacinamide Zinc PCA, Cica ($15.99 Walgreens) – I started using this for my breakouts, which helped a lot in soothing redness. Having a combined toner and serum is a great idea, it’s thicker than a toner but much larger than a serum. I used to think bliss was pricey, but not compared to other stuff!
5. Synergie Skin XCell B Accelerated 21% niacinamide serum ($139AUD Synergie Skin) – another expensive product, but it’s by a lesser known brand from Australia, so I’m hesitant to resell it. This is a night time serum that I use to reduce discolorations after breakouts, which I could easily replace with The Ordinary’s Niacinamide 10% Zinc 1% serum (I have 2 unopened bottles for some reason). I’m just hesitant to open another new product.
6. Pacifica’s Wake Up Beautiful Super Hydration Sleepover Mask ($14.25 Vitacost) – it’s a little smelly, but it keeps my skin moisturized at night. I just finished Olay Masks Overnight Gel Mask with Vitamin C and Brightening because I was breaking out a lot this week and needed something to counteract all the discoloration.
7. Clean & Clear Dual Action Moisturizer ($4.97 Walmart) – an inexpensive product I’ve used since I was a teenager, honestly ideal for my skin when it’s going crazy.
8. Murad Environmental Shield Essential C Day Moisture Broad Spectrum SPF 30 | PA+++ ($68 Murad) – another expensive moisturizer, but for just days when I’m outside and in the sun. Not too often these days, but it does work well and smell nice for a moisturizer with SPF. There’s very likely better and cheaper options, but I already have this.

I kind of mixed up my day and night routine, but I try to keep it simple: cleanser in the day, makeup remover at night, serum at night, sleep mask at night, SPF moisturizer in the day time, etc. No daytime serums yet… I have some Tatcha products and still hesitant to use it… their site recommended to me the Deep Cleanse and Water Cream, but I also got the Rice Wash and Dewy Skin Cream to try. So far, I have tried the Camellia Cleansing Oil and the Dewy Skin Cream. Nothing too revolutionary, but I haven’t committed to either yet.

There are so many products I’d like to try, but I feel like my skin shouldn’t be used to test it all. I recently sold some Skinceuticals samples of their CE Ferulic Acid, which is one of their most popular Vitamin C serums. The Ordinary has a Resveratrol 3% + Ferulic Acid 3% serum, which are both antioxidants and apparently has a similar hot dog water smell. Resveratrol is also found in red wine, as well as grapes, blueberries, raspberries, mulberries and peanuts. Some of my favorite foods!

In addition to Tatcha, I have a handful of other brands I want to try: Urban Skin RX, Kinship, Saturday Skin, dermalogica, The Ordinary, The Inkey List, etc. I have tried the Ordinary’s famous BHA peel and The Inkey Lists Caffeine Eye Cream.  I’m not huge on chemical exfoliation or eye creams, so I think I need to do more research. According to dermalogica’s face mapping, my under eye bags are my biggest issue. They should have seen my face earlier this week – it was definitely my chin breakouts.

This is not a sponsored post and most of the products (aside from the IT Cosmetics balm), I purchased myself. Though I’ve spent a lot on skincare in the past, I’m still early in my journey of being a better consumer and educating myself on what works best for me.