2019 Beauty Favourites: Skincare

Welcome back to the second of my 2019 Beauty Favourites. On Monday I shared with you all my make up favourites and today I'm going to share with you all the skincare that I discovered and loved this year. Now there are some missing catergories but that's because I haven't discovered anything new that beats previous favourites and I don't want to bore you by repeating everything all over again.

Cleanser: When it comes to cleansers I am by no means loyal to just one. I'm always on the lookout for new cleansers to try, especially if they can be considered dupes or replacements for products that cost the earth or have sadly been discontinued and this year's cleanser favourite is a latecomer but definitely worth the wait. The Sanctuary Melt Away Cleansing Oil is an amazing replacement for my much beloved but now discontinued Loreal Extraordinary Oil Cleanser. It's lightweight but effective and easily breaks down the most long wearing of mascaras and base products. I honestly didn't think I was going to find a product that worked as my well as that particular Loreal Cleanser but this does and it doesn't break the bank. It's something I'd been looking at for a while but I'm so glad I took the plunge and finally brought it.

Toner: Now if you've been around here for a while, you'll know that I am a big fan of the Pixi Toners. I've featured both the Glow Tonic and the Retinol Tonic in previous Yearly Favourites but this year both have been replaced by a toner I didn't even know was a thing until late last year. The REN Ready Steady Glow Daily AHA Tonic. Instead of containing Glyclolic Acid, this contains Lactic Acid which is gentler on skin but just as effective. I've been using this daily for over a year now and my skin has never looked or felt better. There is literally no texure, my redness looks reduced and my skin feels softer to the touch. I'm so impressed with how this changed my skin from the first use, plus the pump style bottle has meant I haven't wasted a drop. The first bottle lasted me a good six months and I've already had my second bottle for around four months and I've still got half of it left. If Glycolic Acid doesn't agree with your skin, I highly recommend giving this a go.


Mask: This year has been the year of chemical exfolitants over physical exfolitants. I've much preferred using AHA based products to exfoliate my skin over using harsh sugar or salt based scrubs which do nothing to irritate or oversensitise my skin. And my favourite this year has been the Revolution 30% AHA + 2% BHA Peeling Solution. It's a sure dupe for the same style product from The Ordinary but works just as well and is a lot more easy to buy. This is red in colour and works to chemically exfoliate any dead skin cells or texture from your skin. It's not for the faint hearted but if you've got skin that loves a good AHA product, this is for you. I love how baby soft my face feels after using this but I only reach for it only once every fortnight so that I don't disrupt the balance in my skin or irritate it in any way.

Serum: If you've been reading my posts for about the last year you'll know that I've been raving about the Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair. This is a weird yet magical hybrid of a product that acts like a serum but contains the benefits of a serum, moisturiser and mask all rolled into one. This is not cheap so I've been sparing with it but it's become my go to when I've got those horrible under the skin blemishes that come to nothing but look horrendous and disrupt how everything sits on your face. A little bit of this mixed into my nightly serum or even applied alone works to reduce any redness, inflammation and the next morning any blemishes that have been hanging around have been severely diminished or disappeared completely. This is definitely going to be my skin saviour going into 2020.

Moisturiser: Moisturisers can be a fickle thing. One minute they work and the next they aren't doing anything for your skin and instead are causing your foundation to ball up in the most unattractive way. I started the year with one of these moisturisers that cost me a pretty penny and I was beyond disappointed that stopped working after a month of use. So I stuck to serums and SPF's until the Autumn brought back my dry, rough to the feel skin. And that's when Liz Earle's Superskin Moisturiser came into my life. Rich in texture but light on the skin, this moisturiser has changed how my skin looks and feels as well as working to help it retain moisture for longer. It doesn't affect any make up applied over top and it's stopped my skin from feeling the rough effects of the colder weather.

Eye Cream: Eye creams and me have been on a journey of sorts but I have finally found my holy grail eye cream and it's all thanks to last year's M&S Beauty Calender. The Balance Me Wonder Eye Cream is a rich feeling eye cream that works to hydrate and reduce the signs of dark circles but isn't that rich in texture that it disrupts anything you apply over top. A little goes a long way and ever since I started using it at the end of last year, I have noticed that my under eye area has looked the best it has since my teens. I don't know how many of these I've gone through this year but I know that I'm going to go through many more in 2020 and I highly recommend checking it out if you're in the market for a new eye cream.

Facial Oil:  And lastly I discovered a new facial oil in 2019. The Botanics Overnight Facial Oil gave me major Garnier Miracle Sleeping Cream vibes when I discovered it, just in oil form. And it works in the exact same manner. It works overnight as you sleep to hydrate skin as well as working on improving the rate of cell turnover in your skin. It's like a good night's sleep in a bottle and whilst it's thick, somewhat greasy texture means you can't put it on and go straight to bed but you can easily let it sink in as you enjoy a chapter or two of your book or a good scroll through Twitter.