An easy, affordable skincare routine for normal skin

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My sister asked me last year to suggest a skincare routine for her. Her skin isn't like mine (combination on the oily side, prone to breakouts); instead, she has that elusive "normal" skin. Not too dry, not too oily, rarely breaks out. The only issues she specifically wanted to address were wrinkle prevention, pore reduction, and occasional redness. She has this great skin in her early 30s despite never having to do much to it--usually just cleansing with water and sometimes moisturizing when she feels like she needs it. It's also useful to know that she doesn't typically wear a lot of makeup and never wears a base (foundation/tinted moisturizer, etc.).

I recently asked her how the routine was working for her, and since she reported that she's happy with it, I thought I'd share it here, in case someone out there is in a similar situation. I actually think this routine would work well as a starter for someone with oily or combination skin, and maybe even dry skin, since these products will address a variety of concerns. All of the products I've recommended are either things I've tried myself or have been recommended to me by trusted, knowledgeable friends. You don't need dozens of shiny, $50+ bottles to look after your skin! Each product is $20 or less. and most of it is closer to $10, but I've provided alternatives in case one item isn't easy for you to access, or you prefer certain qualities of one over the other. The main exception is the Paula's Choice 2% BHA Liquid, which holy shit, I didn't realize it had gone up to almost $30 now! I'd really like to see a graph charting the price increases of their core products vs. inflation, because that seems like a lot. Definitely buy that shit on sale--I've also provided an alternative below.

There are three products in the photo above, but it's actually a (minimum) four-product routine, split into one-to-two steps in the morning and three at night. I just don't personally own all of the things I recommended at the moment.

Here's what I suggested (I added links to previous reviews):

I'd recommend only introducing one new product at a time and using it for a few days before adding anything new. That way if your skin responds poorly to it, you'll know what caused it. 

Morning:

1. Just rinse with water. (If you feel like your skin needs more cleansing, see Night step 1.)  

2. Sunscreen. It's best to use this even on days when you'll mostly be inside, and especially when you're driving to work. You'll get lots of sun through the windows of the car and probably in your office, and sunscreen is the most effective skincare product out there to prevent "signs of aging." It's worth trying to find one that's comfortable enough to use every day. I really like the one linked below--it's light and not greasy. It's better to use SPF 15 that feels good enough to wear every day than to buy SPF 30 or 50 and only use it once or twice a month. 

$10 Simple Light Protecting Moisturizer SPF 15 (reviewed here and here)

But if you do want to go with a higher SPF, which is never a bad idea, this is my favorite:

$20 Kinesys Performance Sunscreen SPF 30 (reviewed here and here)

Night:  

1. Wipe your face with a cotton pad/ball soaked in micellar water, instead of using a cleanser. The bottle will say that it doesn't need to be rinsed, but it does contain a little cleanser, so it's better to splash some water on your face afterwards anyway. If you want to be extra eco-friendly, I use little rectangles of flannel that I cut up and folded in half instead of disposable cotton balls (more info here). I put them in a mesh lingerie bag and wash and dry them in the machine. Baby flannel is really soft and you might be able to get a small piece for cheap at the fabric store, or just cut up some old clothes you have. 

$5-10 Simple Micellar Cleansing Water; $15 Bioderma Sensibio Micellar Water (pink lid) 

2. BHA exfoliant to get rid of dead skin that makes your skin look dull or clogs pores (and makes them look larger). It can also soothe redness and make your skin feel smoother. You can wipe this over your whole face (avoiding eye area) or just on places that you think need it. Leave it on for 10-20 minutes while you brush your teeth or pet the cats or do whatever else you do while you get ready for bed. 

$4 Stridex Alcohol-Free Maximum Strength Acne Pads (red box); $29 Paula's Choice 2% BHA Liquid

3. Moisturizer with anti-wrinkle ingredients. Apply it on top of the BHA after you've let it soak in a little. Since you don't have dry skin, use something light, and don't feel like you need to use a lot--just as much as feels comfortable. Make sure to use it around your eyes too. It will also get rid of the sticky feeling from the BHA, if you use the Paula's Choice option. The moisturizers I've listed below have vitamins and antioxidants in them so that you don't need to add extra steps like serum etc. (unless you want to!). 

 $15 CeraVe PM Facial Moisturizing Lotion; $12 Neutrogena Healthy Skin Anti-Wrinkle Night Cream/Moisturizer

If you wear more makeup than my sister does, you're probably going to want to go with a traditional cleanser. I think Neutrogena makes some great cleansers, especially their Ultra Gentle Daily Cleanser or Ultra Gentle Hydrating Cleanser. Obviously, you can also add as many additional products and steps into this routine as you like (for example, see my skincare tag), but this is designed for people who feel like doing something for their skin, but don't want to spend a lot of time and money on it.

I'm curious: do you have a minimal skincare routine, or are you more intense about it? Also, if you'd like to suggest alternate products in these same categories, that would be great! I know people like the CosRx BHA, but I don't know if it might be too strong for a beginner.

Summer moisture for oily or combination skin: Review of Simple Ultra-Light Gel Moisturizer

Disclosure: Affiliate links.

I've liked most of the skincare products from the Simple brand that I've tried so far (like the ones reviewed here). They always seem to be exactly as described. No frills, but effective. So when I wanted to find a cheaper alternative to the Paula's Choice Invisible Finish Moisture Gel (reviewed here) that I've been using for about a decade now, this Simple Ultra-Light Gel Moisturizer seemed like a good place to start. I still really like the Paula's Choice stuff, but I'm pretty sure that when I started using it, it only cost $15-18 (Canadian!), and it is now a borderline outrageous $28 a tube. I'll complain about that and other reasons I've been annoyed by Paula's Choice recently in another post, but for now suffice to say that I have been hoping to find a reasonable substitute--reasonable both in performance and price. The Simple Ultra-Light Gel Moisturizer fits the bill at under $10.

Gel moisturizers are wonderful if you have skin like mine: combination, leaning more toward oily than dry, and often dehydrated. My skin regularly feels tight and sort of shriveled while still being oily in places, which is a sign that it needs moisture. (For a really useful explanation of the difference between dry and dehydrated skin, check out this great post from Lab Muffin.) Especially in the summer, traditional lotion or cream moisturizers will feel too heavy and leave my skin greasy as the day progresses. A gel feels lighter and often leaves a more matte finish.

In the winter, however, and as I've got older, my skin has become drier, and I find that lotions are just fine. So when I first tested out this Simple gel moisturizer back in December, I wasn't impressed. Here are the notes I jotted down: "spreads easy, doesn't sting near eyes, very little actual moisturizing--doesn't seem to sink in and hydrate, just smooths a little, skin feels a little tight." So I stuck it back on the shelf and ignored it for several months.

A couple of weeks ago my face started to transition into its usual summer oil slick, and my winter lotion felt too heavy, so I pulled the Simple gel back out. Suddenly it's perfect. Just enough moisture without any greasiness. It's exactly what I need right now. Another thing that is really nice about gel products in the summer is that they feel amazingly refreshing on my skin. Almost like splashing my face with water.

Here's what the Simple gel itself looks like (right), compared to the Paula's Choice gel moisturizer (left). While most gel moisturizers I've tried are translucent like the PC version, the Simple moisturizer is transparent, like hair gel (but not sticky!).

Paula's Choice Skin Balancing Moisture Gel (left) and Simple Ultra-Light Gel Moisturizer (right)

This isn't what I would call a "dupe" for the Paula's Choice moisturizer. The two main things they have in common are the gel formula and the lack of fragrance, which I appreciate. The Paula's Choice moisturizer has a little more slip when you spread it, and it soaks in to create a smooth, matte finish quickly. The Simple moisturizer is just a little tackier. On the other hand, I have to be careful not to apply the Paula's Choice gel too close to my eyes, because it will sting, and I've had no problems like that with the Simple gel. That's a definite advantage.

The Paula's Choice moisturizer has some fancier ingredients like niacinamide,  sodium hyaluronate, and a bunch of antioxidants. The Simple moisturizer does have vitamin E and glycerin, but it's sort of a step down in that sense. Personally, that doesn't bother me too much, because I use other products with more advanced shit in them, and I mainly want my moisturizer to just moisturize. But if you want to limit the number of products you use or buy, maybe a more sophisticated moisturizer is your style.

I also like the packaging of the Simple Ultra-Light Gel, which is a pump bottle. Like this:

Most of the other gel moisturizers I've tried, like the ones from Marcelle and Laneige, come in jars, which I assume is to show off their pretty, translucent texture. I just don't like jars for this type of product. Sure, my hands are clean when I use it, and the preservatives are going to keep it fairly stable, but why not have have as airtight and protected a container as possible? I do actually prefer the Paula's Choice tube, though--it's easier to tell how much product is left, and you can even cut it open to scoop out the last traces if you want to.

If you have skin like mine--not dry, but prone to dehydration--I definitely recommend this moisturizer. I'm extremely happy with it. I just needed to use it during the right season to appreciate it! It's effective, and it feels really fucking nice soaking into my skin on a hot summer day. And it's very affordable. The cheapest I've seen it is on Amazon for $5.56 for 1.5 oz. (i.e. $3.77 per oz. compared to Paula's Choice's $14 per ounce).

Do you find that your skin's behavior also changes pretty dramatically with the seasons, to the point that you have to change products? Any suggestions for keeping the oil at bay would be very welcome!

Drugstore.com has 20% off all skincare right now + extra discounts on brands I like (Simple, Freeman, etc.)

Disclosure: Affiliate links.
I know I've said before that I don't consider 20% off to be a very exciting discount, but since they also have sales on a bunch of brands, the combination of 10-15% off + 20% off makes for some good deals. You have to click through the link to apply the 20% off to your account (either the one they send you in your email or my link there). Then you can add things to your cart from the skincare section of the site and they will automatically be discounted another 20%. Shipping is free over $35.

Here's the full list of current skincare sales.

Here are some of the highlights (for me at least):

Simple is 10% off. I like their regular cleansing cloths. I don't use them often, but sometimes I am too exhausted to properly wash my face, and these are the best alternative. They are soft, unscented, and they remove makeup well without drying out my skin. This sale brings them down to $4 a pack. I also like the Protecting Light Moisturizer SPF 15. Sure, it's better to use SPF 30+, but this is a nice, basic moisturizer that also has some sunscreen, so I like to use it on days when I am feeling too lazy for two steps (moisturizer + sunscreen) and I'm staying in - i.e. most days lately, since I work from home. $8 is a good price for that too.

There are lots of decent rosehip oils out there, but also lots of duds. Aura Cacia's rosehip oil is one I've used before and liked. And this may seem like a weird suggestion, but if you like facial mists but don't like the spray nozzles on the ones you have (or want to make your own mist), the Aura Cacia mist bottles are awesome for creating a really nice, fine spray. I have three of them already, and they are only $2.54 each right now.

Freeman is 15% off. I love-love-love the Avocado & Oatmeal Clay Mask (reviewed here) and the Black Sugar & Charcoal Mask/Scrub (reviewed here) is also great. They're only $2.71 each here.

They also have Glysomed hand cream, which I used religiously when I was working in a bagel store during university. I had to wash my hands and/or use hand sanitizer every 5 minutes, so they would be really fucking red and chapped by the end of the day. However, if I coated them in Glysomed in the morning before work, they were totally protected all day, despite washing, and I had no problems. It's really good stuff. Highly recommended! On sale for $2.39-3.19 a tube here.

Anyway, those are my suggestions, and now my cart is full and I have to figure out what I really need. Definitely some Simple cloths and Glysomed (which I was just talking about yesterday to my boyfriend who complains about his dry hands all the time).

$2 off coupon for Simple skin care items from Amazon

Disclosure: This post contains an Amazon affiliate link.
You can get $2 off any one of the Simple products on this page if you are signed into your Amazon account. I can never figure out when Amazon coupons are going to expire, so if anyone knows the secret, let me know. My favorite Simple product are the Cleasing Facial Wipes (the regular one, not the exfoliating or oil control versions) (not drying, not smelly, effective). I also like the SPF 15 moisturizer (reviewed here).

Those awesome Freeman masks are BOGO free at ULTA right now.

Remember? These ones? (Thanks Stephanie!)

Simple products are BOGO free too, and they are usually pretty reliable.

Quick Review: Simple Protecting Light Moisturizer SPF 15 (good for oily/combination skin)

Disclosure: I got this product for free in the mail. I have no idea why - it just appeared on my doorstep one day. It's possible that I requested it from a free sample site, but I got a full-size bottle. There was no accompanying information with it. No one asked me to review it. This post contains an Amazon affiliate link.

I've been recommending this stuff to friends for at least a month now, so I figured I should probably get around to reviewing it here already. This is a nice, light moisturizer that is ideal for oily/combination skin like mine. Sometimes when I get out of the shower, my skin is a little tight and dry, and this adds just the right amount of moisture. It starts to absorb immediately, and after about 2 minutes, you're left with a completely matte finish and no greasiness. But softer skin. It feels really good.