Skincare: Moisturizing

So today, I am sharing about my moisturizing routine, as I said I would.

• After cleansing, in both the morning and evening, I use Shiseido's Brightening Softener, from their White Lucent Collection. Like I mentioned yesterday, I do have some hyperpigmentation and scarring, which I am trying to ameliorate, so I like that this product is supposed to be brightening. I've been using it for just 2 months now, but I have noticed a difference. The directions say to apply with a cotton pad but I just sprinkle a few drops into my palm and then slap my hands together and then just pat my face, concentrating on the areas where my skin tends to dry out the most. It definitely plumps up my skin and gives it a more youthful texture, which I definitely appreciate. Then, I let it soak into my skin for at least 5 minutes before applying anything else on top.
• Why use a softener/toner? I'm no dermatologist, but this is how I like to think about it: I visualize my skin as a sponge, the toner as water, and moisturizer as food coloring. If I took the food coloring and dropped one drop onto the sponge, there would just be a spot of color. However, if I took the sponge and soaked it in water first and then added some food coloring, the dye would spread. I feel like the toner gives your skin more moisture and softens it a bit so that it'll be easier for your skin to absorb any moisturizer or creams you want to use.
• In the morning, I prefer a lighter moisturizer and one that will work well with my makeup so I use Philosophy's Take a Deep Breath. It is unscented (it's really unscented, no smell at all), light, airy, and glides on easily. It also soaks in really quickly and gives me lovely soft skin.
• In the evening, like with my cleansing routine, I have a slightly more extensive moisturizing routine.
• I use a slightly heavier moisturizer, but one that is still light, Shiseido's gel moisturizer, again from their White Lucent Collection. I tried the cream moisturizer but it was just too thick and my skin took too long to absorb it and it felt heavy and greasy on my face. The gel is still an effective moisturizer but it's much lighter and soaks into my skin quickly.
• Then, I use DDF's Erase Eye gel on my dark circles. I bought this product on Hautelook earlier this year but only just started using this a month ago. It has definitely brightened the skin around my eyes, so if you are in the market for a dark circle brightener, I recommend this one.
• After I let the eye gel soak into my skin for 20 to 30 minutes, I use Sundari's Chamomile Eye Oil, which I received free from Sephora as a sample gift, all around my eye. I like using this to moisturize that delicate skin, which tends to dry out so easily. Keeping that skin moist will help prevent future wrinkles (or at least I hope!).

Thanks for reading. Tomorrow's post will be about other useful products that I don't use on a daily basis but help maintain my skin.