Holy Grail - Skin Care

Does anybody else remember their first ever pimple? Because I do. It was in my last year of primary school and it was a big bugger right in the middle of my nose. I remember my friend saying “thats a pimple on your nose” and me covering my nose saying it wasn’t and running away.  I’m 23 now I’m I’m still struggling with pimples! It feels like never ending puberty tbh. I’ve tried all sorts of products for my skin – drugstore cleansers, more expensive products from other beauty therapists in my area, more natural products, African black soap, Michael Todd... The list goes on! My mum is a beauty therapist and even the $100 dollar a bottle cleansers she says “are the best” don’t even work for me. I’ve been on the contraceptive pill since I was around 15 or 16 to help with my skin as well.

With most skincare I find a lot of products will only help my skin for a certain amount of time before it starts flaring up again. So I thought I would share with you my Holy Grail skin care that actually works for me and might work for you too. Even better, they’re on the less expensive side! My skins not perfect at all but it’s still a lot better than it was and the texture has improved too.  I’ll include prices too – just note everything is in New Zealand dollars xx

Cleanser - Coal Face by Lush Cosmetics

I always find myself going back to this cleanser! It works amazing for me. I really gets in there and cleans off your make up (always do a double cleanse when wearing makeup ladies!) and leaves your face feeling  clean and fresh without leaving that tight (over drying)  feeling some cleansers do. Coal Face is made from ground up charcoal which helps to absorb excess oils from your skins surface  – perfect for people with oily skin like me! It smells like liquorice which at first I was unsure of but now I actually love the scent. The charcoal also works like a mild exfoliator :) When my skin flares up from trying out other cleasners, I always get bumps all over my forehead. Once I use this they all disappear, my spots clear up and hardly any pimples pop up!

$17.90 / 100 g   

Coal Face cleanser by Lush

Exfoliator – Seaweed Pore Cleansing Facial Exfoliator by The Body Shop

I have always struggled to find an exfoliator that actually feels like it’s doing something to my skin, but this one from the Body Shop is awesome! My face feels a lot smoother after using it and when I look in the mirror, I can really notice that the texture of my skin has improved. The jojoba beads and little granules really help to clean out the blocked pores I tend to get around my nose. I also love using this in the mornings after I cleanse when I want my foundation to go on extra flawlessly that day.

$26.50 / 75mL

Mint Julep face mask + Seaweed Exfoliator 

Mask –  Mint Julep Masque by Queen Helene

This stuff is the bomb diggity guys! I bought this mask of iHerb.com and it’s the best mask I have ever used. I was originally using the Mask of Magnaminty by Lush Cosmetics which I felt wasn’t reeeeeally doing anything for me. This mask is 10000000x better anda lot less messy to apply. After using this my face feels fresh and my complexion overall looks better. The Mint Julep mask is perfect for oily/acne prone skin and again, won’t dry you out! It’s so affordable and you get A LOT of product for the price. I have the discount code JVC767 for first time iHerb buyers which will get you $10 off on orders over $40  - shipping only takes around four days all over the world!

$4.00 / 227g

Toner - Witch Hazel

Basically every toner I have ever tried, dries out my skin and causes me to get eczema. It’s taken me years to find something that works for me and it turned out to be just plain ol’ Witch Hazel. This stuff is amazing and getting off any excess make up and cleanser still lurking on my face and helps to reduce the size of my pores. It also helps to clear up any spots that pop up. There’s so many other uses for Witch Hazel too! You can find this at any pharmacy/drugstore. The one I use is by a brand called “Home Essentials” but there will be billions of other brands that sell it too.

$7.99 / 100mL

Witch Hazel + Tea Tree Lotion

Moisturier / Treatment – Tea Tree Skin Clearing Lotion by The Body Shop

Now when it comes to mositurier I still haven’t found my holy grail. Even things that say ‘oil free’ tend to make my face go super oily L

But I have this Tea Tree lotion which I use more as treatment than anything. I saw some YouTubers saying this was perfect for acne prone / oily skin types. I cant actually use this all over my face because it makes my skin so dry and I ended up getting eczema on my face which took months to clear up. I do however use this on any break outs I get and leave it on over night. My skin does get a bit flaky in that patch but the tea tree works as an antiseptic and gets rid of those face demons. If anybody has any recommendations for oily skin – please help a sister out! I’m getting kinda desperate haha.

$22.95 / 50mL

I know these products won’t work for everybody because everybody is different.. But I always find it interesting/helpful to see what other skincare is out there and what people recommend. 

Hopefully this was helpful to some of you! xxx