What's in my Travel Skincare Bag?

If you read my last post, you will know that I'm currently in Italy. This is one of those ever so fancy scheduled posts, I still get confused by them. Today I shall be sharing with you what I've taken with me in my travel skincare bag. I thought whittling down makeup was hard, but then I realised that I had to shrink down my excessive skincare collection to fit into one small bag, what a task that was *wipes brow*.

Cleansers and Face Washes

This was by far the hardest 'category' to cut down. In terms of cleansers I'm only taking one and that is my Simple Kind to Skin Purifying Cleansing Lotion as it does a great job of removing both face and eye makeup and it isn't drying on my skin at all. For face washes I've packed my Soap and Glory Peaches and Clean Purifying Cleanser, as although it's marketed as a cleanser, I use it as a face wash/mask. I've also packed my Simple Kind to Skin Refreshing Facial Wash and my Tea Tree Exfoliating Cream Wash.  

Toner and Moisturisers

In terms of toner I'm taking my good ol' Simple Kind to Skin Soothing Facial Toner as it's what I've used for years, and it does the job perfectly. I'm taking a few moisturisers but I do need them all as the sun does dry out my skin, so I end up with oily skin that is dry at the same time, confusing. I've packed my Simple Kind to Skin Hydrating Light Moisturiser, my mini No7 Protect and Perfect Night Cream and my mini No7 Protect and Perfect Day Cream as it has SPF 25 and I want to keep my skin protected from the sun.

Treatments

Having super duper oily skin means that I do get my fair share of spots and blackheads so I'm taking as many treatments as possible with me to keep my skin healthy and spot free whilst I'm away. The first item that is a must in my bag is the La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo +. This is just a miracle in a tube and if you want to read my full thoughts on it, I have a review here. I'm also taking my beloved Witch Blemish Stick (review here), a bottle of tea tree oil and the Neutrogena Visibly Clear Spot Treatment.

So there you have it, my 'whittled down' skincare that I'm taking with me to Italy. I'll have already taken it by the time this post goes up though, ah the confusion of scheduled posts.

My Bedtime Skincare Routine

Whoaaaa, 2 posts in one weekend, what's going on? Well in all honesty I wasn't really happy with yesterday's post and I was itching to write a blog post with my own pictures etc so I thought, why not treat everyone to two posts in the space of 2 days? And that is exactly what I'm doing. I also thought that this could be a little '600 page views' surprise post.

As you can probably already guess, today's post is going to be about my bedtime skincare routine (the routine I do every single night). I don't know about you, but I personally love reading blog posts and watching YouTube videos about people's skincare routines so I'm hoping you'll enjoy this post.

Firstly before I do anything else, I remove all my eye makeup using my Nivea Daily Essentials Double Effect Eye Makeup Remover (wow that was a mouthful).

This is actually a relatively new addition to my skincare routine as when I went into Boots a couple of weeks back to get my usual Garnier one, they didn't have it so I picked this one up, and oh boy I'm glad I did.

This is one of those eye makeup removers that you have to shake to mix the 2 solutions together. 

I have 1 word to describe this; incredible. I seriously couldn't believe how quickly and effectively this took my eye makeup off the first time I tried it. I wear a lot of eye makeup, mascara, eyeliner, eye shadow and all the other shibazz (new word there oooh), but this just removes it all like a dream without leaving an oily residue (as some have done for me in the past). A little really does go a long way as I've had this for 2 weeks, I use it every night and there's hardly any product gone. I am so impressed with this and it will continue to be a staple in my routine. I would recommend this to anyone who wants an affordable, really effective eye makeup remover.

After removing my eye makeup I remove my face makeup. For this is use my Simple Kind to Skin Purifying Cleansing Lotion.

I have used this cleansing lotion for about 3 years now and I don't plan on changing any time soon. It's just so soothing and calming on my skin, doesn't irritate it and removes all makeup fantastically. I used to use this on my eyes but it wouldn't always remove all my mascara and I would usually wake up with panda eyes, it would also irritate my eyes a little bit. 

This is, as the name suggests a lotion. It has no scent and as Simple products are suitable for all skin types, I would recommend this to anyone who wants an affordable, gentle, effective face makeup remover.

Next, I wash my face. On a Wednesday and a Sunday night I use an exfoliator and on every other night, I use a regular face wash.

The exfoliator I use is the Tea Tree Exfoliating Cream Wash. 

This face wash has tea tree and peppermint in it and is an absolute joy to use. It also has added aloe vera in it so after use you're not left with stiff, tight skin, but soft, smooth skin. 

The crushed walnut shell (as you can see in the photo above) exfoliates my skin really well without scratching my face and without making my face feel like I'm rubbing sandpaper all over it. I much prefer this to any other exfoliators I've ever used. The morning after using this I also notice a huge reduction in the number of spots I can see forming under the skin (them little bumps). I have also noticed a reduction in blackheads on my nose, I'm seriously impressed by this and I would recommend this over any other exfoliator I've tried, and believe me, I've tried A LOT. Also it smells amazing, so that makes me love it even more.

The face wash I use every other night is Clean and Clear Fast Action Daily Wash. This is my favourite daily wash ever and I don't plan on changing any time in the foreseeable future.

This is just my holy grail face wash. It does everything it says on the tube and I just can't praise it highly enough. It definitely helps keep spots away and helps clear them fast, and it most definitely doesn't dry out my skin. It's seriously amazing. 

The face wash comes out as a gel like consistency but it lathers up to a foam on your face. I would highly, highly recommend this to anyone that has spot prone skin or is suffering from acne. This is the best product I have ever tried from Clean and Clear. 

Once I've washed my face I pat it dry with a clean towel and move on to toning my face. 

For this I use my Simple Kind to Skin Soothing Facial Toner. I love this toner. It leaves my skin feeling really refreshed and removes any dirt or anything that may have been left on my face, even after washing.

I don't exactly know what a toner does, but I do know it makes my skin feel really nice and clarified. I've been using this for about 3 years and I don't think I'll stop using it as it's served me well and it's just a great addition to my skincare routine. As it's Simple it has no unnecessary perfumes, no alcohol or anything to irritate your skin and is perfect for all skin types.

I then move onto moisturising my face, because everyone wants baby soft skin right?

For moisturising I use my Clean and Clear Dual Action Moisturiser. This moisturiser is meant to prevent spots and blemishes but I really don't know if it does or not. The main reason I use this is because it is oil free and is amazing at moisturising. 

This moisturiser has something like 0.2% salycilic acid in it (don't quote me on that) which is one of the best spot fighting ingredients you can find. As it has such a small concentration I don't know how effective it is but I certainly don't experience any irritation when I use this. I've been using this for about a year and I've been loving it ever since I got it. If you have very dry skin though, I would look for a more moisturising moisturiser as this does moisturise just not as well as some.

If you have oily, combination, normal, or spot prone skin I would recommend this moisturiser as it's oil free and it does make you feel a little better that it does have something in it that helps fight spots, even if maybe it actually doesn't, it's nice to have that there.

Finally I use my Witch Blemish Stick. This is just my favourite thing ever ever ever and oh my word I just love it so much. I love it so much that I actually did a full blog post on it here.

This little savoir has literally changed my life. No more foundation, and only concealer under my eyes. I seriously can't believe I never found this sooner. I just dab it over any spots that are appearing/have appeared and by the morning, you usually would never have known they were even there. I could ramble on about this for ages but just check out the whole post where I declared my love for it;)

Once I have done all of this, I jump into bed and watch YouTube videos, why not?

I hope this post has been helpful and has maybe encouraged you to buy some new products to add into your skincare routine? I hope everything was explained clearly and I'd like to thank you all again for 600 page views, it means the world.

Witch Naturally Clear Blemish Stick

Today I'm going to be reviewing the Witch Naturally Clear Blemish Stick. This product, I have to say, has changed my life. Seriously. 

I bought this product around 5 weeks ago, and to be perfectly honest, my skin has never ever, EVER been better. It comes in stick form in small, compact packaging which I find perfect for throwing into my schoolbag and keeping on my bedside table.

As you can see from the above photo, the packaging is very dainty and cute. I love the colours used on it almost as much as I love the product itself.

For your money, you only get 10g of product. I'd say this is okay, but you do use the product very fast. I am on to my second one in the space of 5 weeks, but it's so good that I'm willing to forgive that.

To use this, you just rub it on the affected area it sort of melts onto your face. It doesn't leave a sticky film or anything, most of the time you don't even know it's there. It also smells really nice and refreshing.

Witch claim that this product gets to work 'immediately' and I 100% agree. As soon as I apply this I can feel it tingling and working away. In around 4 hours the spot has noticeably reduced in size and redness. I usually dab this onto any spots I can feel developing or any existing ones and it works like a dream. Please be warned that if applied to a freshly popped/picked spot, it will sting, a lot. But for the record, you really should not pop or pick spots, no matter how tempting it is. 

I would definitely recommend for anyone with spot prone skin, or acne, to try this. It has honestly changed my skin, I now do not need to wear foundation and my confidence levels have shot up. I love love love this and it is now a staple in my skincare routine.