Current Morning Skincare Routine — A Gemini's Lookbook

Good morning!

Today I want to share my current morning skincare routine which consists of seven products all listed with direct links below. Before I share all of them with you I should share my skin type. I have dry skin and during the winter season it’s even more dry and essential for me to moisturize.

Every morning I like to get up, shower, do my hair first, mascara after and skincare routine right before selecting my outfit. I normally don’t wear make up, the only things I cannot live with out are mascara and skincare.

Why do you put your mascara before your skincare? You may be wondering...I’m not very good doing my make up, I try but mascara has to be the one that I love the most but mess up every single time! I always get it on my eyelids because I love to put many coats on; and to avoid taking all of the skincare from my eye area when cleaning the excess of my mascara, I prefer to put my mascara on first and skincare last.

Okay, before I continue to digress let’s talk about skin care!

Step #1 Cleanse

One of my favorite cleansers is the St. Ives Apricot Scrub, but I try to use it only 3 times a week to avoid damaging my skin. On the other days I switch in between the Aveeno Radiant Cleanser or a Mexican bar soap, I’ll try to link it below as well. The bar soap is also one of my favorites, I love love the smell and how clean my skin feels right after, it is also gentle on the skin; great for sensitive skin. This soap is great for battling acne or blemishes, it is a rattlesnake oil soap, I have linked it below. You can find it in amazon or small Mexican stores. I have been using it for many years, as well as the St. Ives Apricot Scrub.

Step #2 Summer Friday’s Jet Lag Mask

This is a fairly new product in the market, but if you haven’t heard of it, where have you been? I bought it as soon as it came out and although it is a mask, I use it more as a primer or moisturizer, I guess. I use it as the first step after cleansing and I have seen amazing results. I use it in the morning and night.

I put a thin layer on, about the same amount as my moisturizer and I let it absorb for a bit before going to my third step. Unlike using it like as a mask, when which they recommend to wipe it off I just let it absorb in my skin.

Sometime between the end of last year and beginning of this year I started noticing a few fine lines around my eyes and forehead (the ones on my forehead are more noticeable to me). I started being more strict about my skincare as I wouldn’t always put sunblock or eye cream. I started noticing A more dramatic reduction of fine lines when I started using this product on a daily basis. I stopped for a few weeks and again I started noticing more fine lines being more apparent, so I bought it again! I’m hooked!

I also love this product because, when I don’t sleep well, which is often. I wake up with a puffy face but specially puffy, swollen eyes. This mask is perfect for depuffying my eyes, I see a noticeable reduction in the look of tired eyes.

Okay, last thing about this product, I want to share it because I loved that someone shared this with me and it actually helped a lot. I am a very emotional person, and although I would love to control it, sometimes I can’t. Whats worse is that my eyes get red and swollen after just a few tears. I never knew how to fix this. I don’t like to share my stuff and I hate when people ask me why I was crying, so before this I would always hide in a bathroom or my room until the swelling went away. Sometimes it was a few minutes, other times it was more. I would air my eyes and tried putting cold water on them but let’s be honest that never really worked. This was really annoying! I tried putting Jet Lag Mask one morning after having cried a lot, voila! It worked! Yes it took a few minutes but it helped so much. In cases like that, when I had cried a lot the night before it would take hours the next morning before the swelling was gone. This time it was gone so much faster. I’ve tried it more than once and it has always helped. Just sharing because it helped me and I hope it helps anyone else that may need it. This is a product I love and nothing in this post is in any way sponsored just sharing for the sake of it.

Step #3 Vitamin C Brightening Face Serum

This is my first time trying this Serum and I’m close to the end of it. The consistency is more on the thick, sticky side; and to be honest, at first I wasn’t sure I liked it but I’m definitely going to buy it again. After a couple of days I realized I should let it absorb for a few minutes before putting on my moisturizer. This serum definitely brightens the skin, it gave me a nice radiance and decreased the dark spots I wanted to target.

Step #4 Vichy Aqualia Thermal Mineral Water Gel

This was also my first time trying to this product, and as soon as I opened it and tried it, I knew I was hooked to this one. I love when my moisturizer is very light weight and thin in consistency, yet it leaves your skin glowing and moisturized for a very long time. I have used moisturizers that as soon as they dry your skin looks dull, and I feel that with this one your skin feels and looks moisturized a lot longer.

Step #5 Acure Eye Cream

I have been using this and the Jet Lag Mask about the same amount of time. Together, I noticed a significant reduction in the appearance of a few fine lines that were starting to be more noticeable. I like this eye cream; before this one I had only bought one other eye cream but I wasn’t pleased with it. I am excited to try one I just bought but so far this one has been pretty good to my eyes. I’ll keep you updated about other ones I try both here on the blog and in my instagram account.

Step #6 Tarteguard

Last but not least, sunscreen! Since my current moisturizer doesn’t have any spf I added this one to my routine. I have to be honest, never really liked wearing it but I’ve noticed the sun can do so much damage to your skin and age your skin so much that not wearing sunscreen is no longer an option. I liked this one but I have to be careful with the amount I apply, a little goes a long way. For my trip to Utah, I wore this to Arches National Park; that day it was super hot and the sun was so strong (if you want to check out my Utah Travel Diary click here). My boyfriend decided not to wear any sunscreen and came home red and burned from his face. I realized I was wearing tartegaurd and no signs of sun damage to my skin. I was so happy I started wearing this on a regural basis weeks ago. I got him to start wearing this sunscreen after that.

I almost forgot, I loose my chapstick so often but once it’s in my skincare bag I wear it daily. I realized I just lost it , but my favorite is Burt’s Bees don’t forget to make chapstick or lip balm part of your daily skin care routine.

Now that you know my skin care secrets I can tell you that I learned the importance of a daily skincare routine from my mom. She is a skincare junkie and will not go a day with out moisturizer and eye cream. I am super excited to try a couple of other things I already have just gotta finish these. I will continue to share my skincare routine as I find new products that work well with my skin. Would love to know if you have skincare favorites, share them with me below.