#theSOproject // Week 1 Skincare

It stands to reason that the first post in the #SOproject is skincare as it is literally the starting point. If you don't look after your skin you will pay the price and without prepping the skin no amount of fancy make up tricks will work to their full potential. That said and despite my collection of skincare goods above it is only the last couple of months I have really started paying attention to my skincare and that is in large part from reading Caroline Hirons blog and my subsequent skincare consultation with her which you can read about here.

Halfway through writing my post I found it was getting to long as there is so much to learn about double cleansing and so on and each step is a blog post in itself. I found myself constantly referring back to Caroline's blog posts and advising you read her cheat sheets on the various steps that it made sense to start again and simply say read Caroline's blog.

I hope no one finds that cheating but part of sharing wisdom is to share the resources you use and defer to those that really know. I wish I'd had such a blog to read years ago so I didn't rely on removing my make up after a night out but rubbing my face into the pillow!

Having done my reading here is my regime and some products I use

Eye Make Up Remover

Despite Caroline saying you don't need to have an extra step in removing your eye make up with something other than your cleanser I like to do so. I've suffered a number of eye infections over the past year and like to remove the eye make up in the first instance and also prefer that than seeing a wash of black on my cleansing flannel. Remover of the moment is L'Oreal's offering, Liz Earle's eyebright is washed over my eyes in the mornings to help wake me up when all I want to do is hit the snooze button and the one I stay away from, Clinque - that one stung dreadfully.

Cleansers

I've never been good at a full cleansing regime and here I am with an array of products and double cleansing! Micellar waters are for my lazy days and I always ensure I have one by my bedside with some cotton wool pads so I have no excuse when I'm too lazy to walk to the bathroom! My Rodial cleansing balm is absolutely luxurious and a dream to use (and a bargain price if you saw yesterdays post here)

Toner

Toning has long changed from being the forgotten step, an afterthought to simply remove last traces of your make up. I was even told at Kiehls when I started taking my skincare seriously that I didn't even need to use toner - read about that here. As well as double cleansing I'm double toning, an exfoliating toner; Pixi Glow Tonic and one for Hydrating, Nude Purify Toning Water. Another favourite for hydrating is Liz Earles Skin Tonic and I've recently been swapping out Cadaulie Beauty Elixr.

Moisturiser

This month I was going to treat myself to Origins Ginzeng moisturiser but having gathered my stash for this photo I don't really think I can justify it. I am still playing around with moisturisers trying to find one I like. Currently I'm swapping between the L'Occitane Ultra Rich face cream and Clinque's Youth Surge which the latter of I'm not too keen on. I am very happy with my night time treatment of Kiehls Midnight Recover Concentrate. This smells divine and is the prefect step of an evening. I'm not a fan of oils as can't bear my skin feeling greasy but this one is just the right balance. Pricey this may be but I'm using it nightly since April and I'm not even half way through the bottle as you only need a small drop so initial outlay is costly but on a price per use basis it's very fair.

Serums and Eye Creams

Serums etc are an area I'm still looking into. Ultimately there are no wonder treatments and at 34 I've left things a little late and am extremely lucky to show too many signs of ageing. I've been using the Balance Me Facial Expression* filler for some weeks now and much prefer it to Kiehls Line-Reducing Concentrate which I had such promise for. Bare Minerals Multi-Wrinkle* is a product I've yet to try so stay tuned for a review on that.

Hydraluron is a blogger staple new to my arsenal. It's not the nicest product to use as it's quite tacky on the skin but if it locks in the moisture I will continue using. Clinques Even Better Eyes is another new product so I can't comment on that too much as yet.

Masks

And finally my two masks of choice at the moment. Clarin's HydraQuench Cream-Mask which I use as an overnight treatment or now I've finished my GlamGlow Mud mask (read a review here) it's the turn of Origins Charcoal mask of which a review will come soon.

I hope this post wasn't too long for you and if you've stuck it out and you're still reading; thank you! I'd love to hear any of your skincare recommendations and if you try any of the products I've mentioned I'd love to know your thoughts.

*PR Sample

My appointment with Caroline Hirons

Rodial Glamtox Cleanser // Pixi Glow Tonic // Nude Purify Toning Water // Liz Earle Eyebright // Kiehls Rosa Arctica Cream // Kiehls Midnight Recovery Concentrate

Helena Rubinstein famously said 'there are no ugly women, only lazy ones' and whilst I won't be so hard on myself to say I'm ugly I'm definitely one of the lazy ones. As I've expressed before, I've lacked a skincare regime for most of life and part of the reason for bringing beauty posts to my blog is a way of encouraging myself to put a skincare regime in place, make an effort with a bright lipstick occasionally  and my mum is over the moon I'm now wearing mascara on a daily basis.

The biggest problem with reaching 34 without much knowledge of what skincare I should and shouldn't be using and slight spendaholic tendencies is that reading so many beauty blogger recommendations of the latest products I could quite happily go crazy. The only thing holding me back is wondering is this product even for me and secondly thinking, hang on I have a good 10 years on many of these bloggers, won't my needs be different?

My first step into a regime was visiting Kiehls. I was open and honest about my laziness and lack of regime and walked away with a bank balance breaking bag of goodies but whilst products such as the Midnight Recovery Concentrate were a pleasure to use I didn't actually notice any difference than when  I managed a swipe across my face with a flannel in the shower.

Then my blog reading led me to straight talking skincare guru Caroline Hirons and suddenly she was saying things that completed went against what I'd been told by Kiehls. Er yes you do need to cleanse in the morning, er yes toner is important (so important we have two!). Everything she said made sense, phrases like putting your make up on without a skincare routine is like Picasso spending thousands on paints and throwing them at a brick wall was logical to me.

Shortly after my discovery Caroline announced an opportunity to make appointments with her were to be announced and I decided if I was going to get the advice I wanted and needed then this was it. Not only did I have confidence she would tell me like it is there was also a slight chance I'd be too scared not to do what she advised!

It's no surprise I was one of the lucky few who took a stroll down to Fortnum & Mason a couple of weeks ago having actually been one of the first emails received as I was sitting hitting the refresh button on my computer waiting for the details to be announced.

I expected Caroline to take one look at my face and be horrified at what she saw but surprisingly considering the lack of care and attention I've given my face we deemed I was in pretty good shape.

The biggest issue I have is I'm a smoker (yes I know and we agreed we both know how bad it was so we moved on!) and that leads to a number of blackheads on my face. Ignorantly it had never occurred to me that this would be the cause. She recommended I get regular facials making sure they include extraction. This little gem alone allowing me the knowledge I need when making appointments at salons.

Rather than walking out with an extensive list of products Caroline recommended she asked what I already had and how I needed to use them, alternatives and other things I could look to. The main recommendation (after giving up smoking!) was a clay mask, something I'd not yet added to my arsenal. 'Clay is clay' so I could spend what I felt comfortable with and she provided two different priced products to investigate.

I asked about add on products such as the Pore Refiner I'd recently purchased from Clinque and another Caroline Hirons gem 'pores aren't doors' was the response. I hadn't noticed any particular difference from using this product and when she explained that you can't close pores these products just enlarge the areas around them to disguise I knew the pore refiner was being disposed of as soon as I got home.

We discussed supplements and then there was time for a bit of advice on the long haul flight I'll be taking in October and my time was up with the parting words, you look good now but you've about 5 years and then you'll look like a 40 year old smoker if you don't give up - now theres a scary warning!

My advice to anyone reading this, if you have any skin concerns and the opportunity to have an appointment with Caroline do so or at the very least check out her blog and You Tube talks, you will learn so much.

I'm lucky in that I have no major skin concerns but I firmly believe that my hour with Caroline has put my mind at rest that I don't need to be sucked into sales pitches from beauty counters on wonder creams and will save me a fortune in the long run.