My Skincare Routine (Oily/Combination Skin)

Over the years, I have tried and tested, tried and tested and tried and tested. Some products have worked wonderfully, some horribly wrong and some haven't worked at all.
Since I have had oily skin ever since I can remember and acne ever since I was a teenager,  you would think I have had my fair share of time to test products and finally come to a good set of products that are best for my skin right? Wrong.
I don't know if it's just me(?!) but I have tried some amazing products that work amazingly well the first time round and whenever I have repurchased them the second time around, I am disappointed 99% of the time. This means I have to change around my skin routine quite often (so expect an updated blogpost on this a few months down the line!)

So since my skin has been feeling quite nice and healthy and looking comparatively clear (touchwood!), I thought this would be a great time to tell you what products I am using at the moment.

Morning routine:
Cleansing:
I don't like to use any harsh cleansers in the morning since my skin doesn't have much product on it, So I start with a product that isn't so popular but had definitely worked wonders for me: The Raw African Black Soap. Now this is a completely natural product that I got from a lovely lady here in Saudi who sells and makes natural skin products at home. You can learn more about this soap here. It helps reduce blemishes, acne marks, age spots etc.

Toning:
For toning I use - and have used for a long long time- Breath of Fresh Air from Lush. They describe it as "The sea breeze captured in a bottle" and it is just that.
A little story about this product though, I once got a really bad allergy on my face with the Neutrogena face wash (grapefruit) and this is the only product that would calm my skin down!

Moisturizing:
So over the years I have experimented with more than a dozen different moisturizers, some of which have worked well, but I still change this up a little bit. Right now I am using the Olay beauty fluid for oily/combo skin and I think it's the most basic, safest, tried and tested product out there. Other great ones that have worked for me are Dermalogica active moist and Elemis.
I am also using Kiehls's Avocado eye cream and I think its such an amazing light formula.

Afternoon:
After I get home from work, the first thing I do is take my makeup off. This is so so important specially if you have sensitive and acne-prone skin.
I double cleanse use my (amazing) Bioderma Sensibio to take the makeup off and Breath of fresh air. If you want to know what double cleansing and its benefits are, Hafsa's Muslimah Beauty blog is an amazing source, this is where I learnt it!
I then go ahead and moisturize and apply eye cream.

Night:
My night routine is pretty similar to the morning routine but I make sure to use my trusted Dalacin-T topical solution on any active acne I may have.

And thats it!

I hope you enjoyed this post but I would like to know what kind of products you guys use? what is working for you at the moment.?What is your holy grail product that your skin can't live without? Let me know in the comments below.

S.

Product Review: Origins Super Spot Remover

For the past couple of months I have been more open to new skin care products since the ones I was already using were just not doing it for me. I have used, loved and recently repurchased the Dermalogica range (promise I will find time for an in depth review since it is pretty amazing!). I discovered this little beauty just browsing in an Origins store back in Jan/Feb and have used it ever since for acne breakouts.

I use this over night for fresh and well as upcoming spots and it actually dries them up either over night or in two nights. Since my acne is pretty much under control most of the time (broken out all over my face as we speak!) this is the most perfect size (and the only size they sell it in) to just keep with me while I am travelling etc.

This product contains 1.5% Salicylic Acid which is a proven cure for acne and breakouts.
So far I have found this little product to be VERY helpful, infact this bottle in the picture is a repurchase! The previous bottle actually lasted me about 4-5 months.

Sadly, I have not seen this or other Origins products in Saudi Arabia or anywhere else in the Middle East yet. Would love to know if anyone sells them here.

Have you used this product before? I would love to know how it has worked out for other people. Let me know in the comments below!

Saman x