Updated Affordable Skincare Routine, Minimal Ritual, Two-Step Routine

Hey guys. It's been a year since I've made a skincare ritual post. I've cut down a lot from my ten-step routine from about four years ago. All I do now is cleanse with a whipped foam and spray my face with toner. It's a two-step routine now lol. Well, more like a three-step routine to be honest, because we can't forget sunscreen. But when I'm at home and the blinds are never drawn, I really only do two steps when I stay indoors. When I do have to leave the house, I apply sunscreen, but the only thing that has changed for me is the application. I used the heel of my palm (the fatty side, sorry I don't know the term for it), and use it like a cushion sponge and bounce it around my face. I used to pat before using my two hands after swirling the sunscreen in between, but recently my eyes have been super irritated when I get sunscreen near my eyes. So now, I bounce around and try to get close to the perimeter of my eyes but generally avoiding being too close to it. I already have a water-based sunscreen from Biore as a backup, but I'm currently trying to finish up two sunscreens that I have opened at the moment.

When I'm feeling like my skin is extra dull, something I do for my weekly skincare routine is adding 1) an emulsion (lighter than a moisturizer and doesn't clog up my pores) at night or in the morning after my toner and 2) using a physical powder exfoliant with no added enzyme or acid before using my whipped foam cleanser. On really bad days, where there's one spot near my chin during that time of the month, I use a chemical exfoliant or hydrocortisone (dermatologist prescription because I have a skin condition and it flares up once in a while // found it to work well with blemishes as well as it heals redness/irritation near my face and neck area // avoid the eyes!) to get rid of a break out the next day or in the second day. I've also noticed that I can no longer use most mud masks for exfoliating. I don't know why. I feel like my skin is already balanced and if I try to do a mud mask it breaks me out. I may still be able to use fresh face masks like Rosey Cheeks by Lush (my favorite), but that can get kind of get expensive to get every three weeks. If I find a physical mask exfoliant that works for me, I'll add it below, under the Sunday Skincare category. I may just also opt for using the matcha powder I have at home and use that with the silicone spatula too, but I'm currently happy with my skincare routine without adding this step.

So in total, I use about ten products on my skin. But I don't use them all at once, consecutively every day. That used to be super overwhelming. The last thing I'm going to mention is a tool that I have been using recently: Gua Sha. More affordable dupes are using a spoon and storing it in the fridge for ten minutes or using the small plastic soup ladle that you use when you eat ramen or pho. Now, I'm almost thirty, and I've noticed that while my skin looks great and plump, I've started to notice a bit of sagging around my neck. I don't know if that's just my body changing (weight gain) or if it is due to aging. Either way, it doesn't hurt to give my neck more attention, as I've never really focused on it before in practicing my skincare routine. I use the emulsion to give my skin a bit more slip when massaging around the areas of my face. I hope they update the packaging for the Calendula emulsion though. Because while I really do love it because it's glass and everything, but I wish it came with a pump instead of a regular stopper. It gets hard to squeeze out the product at times.

I hope you enjoyed this post. Chat with me in the comment section below what changes you've made in your skincare routine :) I've listed the products I've used for you below. I really like these products as they are very affordable and it always lasts me six months up to one year before I have to make another repurchase.

☛ ESSENTIAL DAILY ROUTINE: AM & PM

✦ Skin Food Rice Daily Brightening Cleansing Foam $12

✦ Arovivi Hatomugi Toner $15 (500 ml) // I decant this into a smaller Rilakkuma travel spray bottle for ease of use

✦ Murad Essential C-Day Moisture Broad Spectrum SPF 30 PA +++ // Currently decanted in a LUSH sample pot. I do this every time I cut the tube in half and to keep the rest of the product sanitized, I transfer it over to a different container. I got this sample from Allure which I think is about $10/month. I generally stick to $11 - $20 sunscreens, but this sunscreen is really good. It's $65 but I'll grab it in a heartbeat if it ever goes on sale. Btw, it's a very tiny sample, and I still haven't used it up and it's been more than a year.

✦ Missha All-Round Safe Block Essence SPF 45/PA+++ // $11. Also in a LUSH pot. Currently switching between these two sunscreens. I know sunscreens sort of expire within a year, and I would've used these two items by now, but all we did this year was stay at home, so that's a big reason why it's still not empty. I don't think sunscreens essentially become ineffective once a year has passed, you just get less protection than if you were using it before it's best before date. So I'm still using these two, and I've been trying to use these not just on my face, but on my hands and neck as well.

☛ WEEKLY ROUTINE: SUNDAYS

✦ The Face Shop: Calendula Essential Moisture Emulsion $16

✦ LUE by Jean Seo - Erase Exfoliating and Brightening Powder $15

✦ The Body Shop British Rose Fresh Plumping Mask $28 // Holy Grail

☛ EXTRA ROUTINE: ANY TIME OF THE MONTH

✦ Hydrocortisone Cream USP 2.5% (I pay $8 at my local clinic - has to be prescribed by my dermatologist)

✦ Laneige Water Sleeping Mask (Part of a sample package from Sephora; It's been a year and I still haven't used it up)

✦ Original Make Up Eraser | Two For $10 @ Costco // I use this whenever I put on makeup and don't wanna bother with an oil makeup remover. I featured this in my September Favorites 2020. The two patterns I got were plain black and cherry.

✦ Klairs Gentle Black Deep Cleansing Oil // $23 I use this to remove really stubborn eye products like mascaras that won't budge. I don't use this on my entire face because I noticed it tends to break me out especially if I use it every day. Maybe during winter when my skin is super dry, I can get away with it, but most of the time I just use it as an eye make up remover paired with the Original Makeup Eraser.