Morning Skincare Routine

The day starts much better when the morning has begun with a good facial cleanse to wash off the sleepiness and start a fresh for the day ahead.

Whether you are starting a new routine as part of your 2014, or love to see peoples products and methods (yes I am with you...) lets get started. 

The morning cleanse is just as important as the evening - knowing this mantra is the first step to a good routine. Morning cleansing removes any product from your night time routine and gently refreshes the skin ready to absorb more wonderful products properly. You'll feel more awake too! 

I keep things simple in the mornings;

I take my Image Skincare Vital C Hydrating Cleanser, squirt a 10 pence sized amount on my fingers and massage into my dry face. Sometimes I add a little water, because my skin does drink this cleanser in - but for the most part I gently distribute this round my face, really giving the product time to work. I like to leave this cleanser on for a couple minutes if I have the time, so will brush my teeth in between or something. 

Once ready to be taken off, I take an Emma Hardie clean flannel (pictured) and dowse with warm water. I use the muslin side of the flannel to give my skin some mild exfoliation whilst removing the product. Once I have been over my face, confident that all cleanser is removed and my face feels soft and ready to go, I grab for a towel and dab dry. 

If you suffer from irritated skin such as rosacea or have sensitive skin - never apply an extreme temperature of water to your face, ie. use a hot flannel and then go to freezing water. 
A happy warm medium is what your skin is most comfortable with, and for that your face won't go burning red! Also be sure to dab and pat the skin dry, your face will show irritation if pulled about.

Time for a powerful serum to combat the day with. I like to use Indeed Lab's Hydraluron or the Silver Serum, from the Skin Shop. I find alternating between products ensures your skin will never get complacent (ideal if you have a lot of products!).

The Hydraluron contains hyaluronic acid from the Netherlands that can attract 1,000 times its weight in water and draws moisture from the atmosphere ensuring hydrated skin. This is super affordable and a huge impact on the market in 2013. 

The Silver Serum is a newer product which I purchased from Victoria Health and it seems to work well. Like a probiotic drink for the digestive system the Silver Serum promotes good skin flora great if your skin is susceptible to bacterial break outs. 

I pop either of these on my skin, and wait a couple of minutes until I feel the product is no longer tacky to touch. 

The final step for this routine is to apply moisturiser. I have a love hate relationship with moisturisers. I know the importance of a good SPF, but always find the texture too much on the skin and my eyes are very sensitive to getting SPF near them, (looking like your crying in the office on a day to day basis is not a good look). To combat this problem I am currently swapping between the IMAGE Universal Moisturiser (I think this has been replaced by the linked product) and the Estee Lauder Day Wear, which is quite thick in texture and smells like cucumbers both have SPFs of a good factor in them, but the IMAGE i would say as it has a higher SPF, is thicker and the SPF's texture is more prevalent.

If I won't be wearing makeup then I slather either on, but if I am going to go ahead with foundation etc then I apply moisturiser sparingly (so my face foundation won't just roll of on top of the moisturiser) and then apply my favourite primer ready for foundation. 

I hope you enjoyed this routine, and for those with sensitive skins this has really worked for me over a good period of 6 months. If you would like to read a review on any of the products do let me know. 

Watch out for an evening skincare routine that will be up on nlmorgan.com later in January! But in the mean time what makes up your morning routine?