My Morning Skincare Routine

It's finally here! For those who have commented on my blog and asked me to write a post about my daily skin routine, I apologize for the wait but thank you for your patience! Basically, in this post I'll be talking about the skincare products I use every morning and summarize how the product is effective for me. If you're interested in getting more details or to look at the product description, I've already written a separate review for each of these products and I will provide their respective links below.

I should mention that this is my skincare routine during fall, winter, and spring. During summer, I need to use a whitening line to try to revert my tanned skin back to its original color so my morning routine is totally different.

Before I delve into my routine, let me tell you a little bit about my skin as these products are targeted towards my skin's problems. I have oily/combination skin and large pores. If I ignore my large pores, 2-3 of them like to transform into pimples especially when it is that time of the month. In addition to the pores on my cheek area, I have some dark pigmentation and little bumps from the crazy acne I had 3 years ago. My skin color is very dull and has this jaundiced, unhealthy yellow tan. I also have very dark circles under my eyes and many fine lines under my eyes. As a result, my eyes look much older than the rest of my face.

For those who read the title of this post, yes, I'm gonna split my morning and night routine into two posts because they are quite different and putting them together would be too messy. I'll probably do my night skincare routine next week.

My Morning Routine

Cleanser: Skinfood Egg White Pore Foam

I think Skinfood makes very good and inexpensive cleansers. Both my morning and nighttime cleansers are from Skinfood. This product cleanses my face well; I feel no residue on my face after rinsing and I don't feel like it's stripping all the moisture away from my face, which some cleansers do. This is to target the large pores I have in my cheek area and I think it does the trick. Sometimes when I put on an oily product at night and it enlarges my pores, washing my face with this cleanser will calm my face and return the pores back to the original size. I take it as that this cleanser cleanses deep enough to wash away the impurities that clogged up my pores at night. 

You can find a more detailed review of Skinfood Egg White Pore Foam in my blog post here.

Toner: Etude House Wonder Pore Freshner

Before I found this toner, every month I would have 2-3 pores that would get inflamed, swollen, then become a pimple. Every single month without fail. I'd try to clean it more, put some antibacterial cream on it, put my clay mask onto those swollen pores, but somehow at least 1 pore will prevail and give me a pimple. When I read about this toner and how it does 7 things in 1 I was extremely skeptical. But it really does work. After I started using this toner the whole swollen pore-->pimple cycle stopped. And now I've been pretty much pimple free. I have one every once in awhile but they aren't cyclic and the frequency is definitely less than 1 pimple a month.

You can find a more detailed review of Etude House Wonder Pore Freshner in my blog post here.

Eye Cream: Skinfood Salmon Brightening Eye Cream

I've had dark circles since I was young, even if I get 12 hours of sleep. So when I actually do get LESS sleep, they look hideous. I've tried so many eye creams but finding one that works for dark circles was the most difficult. So I was extremely delighted that this eye cream works. I didn't expect it to perform miracles, so it doesn't take away all the darkness, but it definitely took away a significant amount because I went from using a 3 layers of Bobby Brown concealer to one layer of Skinfood Salmon Dark Circle Concealer Cream. I've explained it in detail in my separate blog post about this product.

The only quirk I have with this eye cream is that it's not moisturizing enough for my eyes, which doesn't help the fine lines under my eyes. Also, later on in the day my concealer looks dry. So recently I've been adding this eye cream with The Face Shop Smim Fermentation Eye Cream. I'll talk more about this eye cream when I do in my night skincare routine blog post.

You can find a more detailed review of Skinfood Salmon Brightening Eye Cream in my blog post here.

Moisturizer: Missha Super Aqua Cell Renew Snail Cream

I love this cream. This cream really helps brighten my face and you can see the results in 5 minutes. That's why I use this in the morning. I put it on and by the time I get to school/work my face is brightened, rejuvenated and it looks like I slept 10 hours the night before. It's actually a bit too oily for me, but I'm willing to put on a primer (see below) to fix that problem because of the brightness this cream gives to my face in the morning. Fortunately, despite its oiliness, it doesn't enlarge my pores.

You can find a more detailed review of Missha Super Aqua Cell Renew Snail Cream in my blog post here.

Primer: Etude House Goodbye Pore Ever Pore Primer Essence

I actually don't put any foundation on my face, so I use this primer more for a reason to give my face a matte appearance and dry out my pores to prevent them from clogging. My day cream, Missha Super Aqua Cell Renew Snail Cream, is quite sticky if left on my face and can lead to mass sebum production on my pores (thus pimples). This primer definitely does the trick in making my face look and feel smooth, matte, non-sticky, and it keeps my pores at bay. It also does have a little color to make my skin tone more even, which never hurts ;)

You can find a more detailed review of Etude House Goodbye Pore Ever Pore Primer Essence in my blog post here.

That's it! Wow writing that took longer than I thought. I'll write about my night skincare routine next week!