With my recent cold and that time of the month (tmi?) my skin hasn't felt like my skin. Usually it's pretty easy to maintain with very minimal spots, a bit of dryness here and there but nothing I can't handle. Last week wasn't a great skin week, aside from having a huge under the skin spot on my chin, my skin in general felt dirty and greasy which is the opposite of how it usually feels. I was craving clean feeling skin but I didn't want to use anything harsh and abrasive as it was still feeling quite sensitive.
I used this as an opportunity to try the Sunday Riley Ceramic Slip Clay Cleanser. Clay cleansers are usually aimed at normal to oily skin types and I always have one stashed away for spotty days as they work really well to clear up my skin. This cleanser uses French green clay which is a super expensive ingredient but one that really does the trick. The texture is a bit like a gel but it turns milky once it's worked into the skin. Once removed with a wet muslin cloth it leaves the skin feeling clean, detoxed and thoroughly refreshed.
I also used the Liz Earle Deep Cleansing Mask twice that week and this mask works really well for me. I've run out of my favourite Aesop Parsley Seed Mask, but in the meantime this green clay and honey mask helps draw out any spots and soothes the skin. Liz Earle products are really gentle so unlike some clay masks this one isn't too intense for my skin.
For my little spot friend I used a Sarah Chapman Spot Sticker. Now when I first received these I thought it was a bit of a gimmick. As I'm sure you can expect from Sarah Chapman products, they're not cheap and the idea is you use the applicator to place a clear circular sticker onto the spot to both protect and treat it at the same time. The stickers are "infused with salicylic acid, P Refinyl, retinol-like Sytenol and Vitamin C which release over time to help calm and reduce redness" (taken from Space NK website). I'm still not sure if it's something I would purchase but I can tell you that it worked. I've tried this twice now and both times when I removed the sticker the spot was less inflamed, less red, less sore and it healed soon after.
All of these products are aimed at oiler skin types, which mine usually isn't, so I finished with the Sunday Riley Luna Sleeping Oil to add back in the moisture and to repair my skin overnight. This oil feels really comforting on the skin and when my skin is playing up I prefer to use an oil alone rather than layering serums and moisturisers on the skin.
These expensive, but very effective products seem to have done the trick and I'm back to my old predictable skin. Let's hope it doesn't play up again anytime soon but in case it does I'd like to know, what do you use when your skin is playing up?
