Two New Serum Additions

As I get more and more into my twenties, I put more effort into making sure that I am really taking care of my skin as best as possible. Of course, I’m still incredibly young relatively speaking, however I have always believed that prevention is always the best method when it comes to skincare. Since your skin is the biggest organ on your body, it seems prudent to take good care of it sooner rather than later.

I’ve always been interested in serums, but have never fully known where to start with them. For one, there are so many serums on the market, all made with very specific concerns in mind. And two, serums are often some of the most expensive skincare products, because of the concentration of ingredients is so high, which is great if you have specific skin concerns, but that can be harder to justify spending big money on if you’re using them more as a preventative measure. I have dabbled in serums before, mainly with the Glossier Supers, but honestly they left me unimpressed, especially considering how quickly they run out and the relative high price tag for how simple they are. I considered taking The Ordinary route, but after reading several reviews, I decided that it would be better to spend more money on a couple of multi-ingredient serums, rather than 3+ single ingredient serums, with a relatively cheap formula.

I have begun using two serums in the past couple months, for the morning I use the Aesop Lucent Facial Concentrate and for the evening I use the Drunk Elephant B-Hydra Intensive Hydration Serum. The Aesop serum’s main ingredients are Niacinamide, an anti-redness and anti-acne ingredient, and Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate, which is one of the most popular forms of Vitamin C. As someone who is very senstive to sun exposure, I am obviously very careful about using SPF but I really wanted to have a Vitamin C specific serum to also fight against free radicals and UV damage. This serum is really nice for the daytime because it is so lightweight and easy to layer under a moisturizer and SPF.

At nighttime I’ve been using the Drunk Elephant B-Hydra Intensive Hydration serum. If you have ever tried the Glossier Super Bounce serum, the Drunk Elephant offering is very similar in terms of ingredients and feel but with an even better formula and delivery system. While the Glossier serum is ok if you want a basic hydrating serum, I find the Drunk Elephant version to have a much better formula, in that it full sinks into the skin and doesn’t feel at all tacky, and it has more of a calming and restorative effect because it has added ceramides in the ingredients. Because this serum is so lightweight it works perfectly under a thicker night cream, without making your skin feel heavy and clogged. If you are more oily this is a perfect serum to check out if you use lightweight moisturizers as well because, again, it will give you the hydration without feeling like you’re adding tons of heavy oily product to your face!

Skincare Routine | The Treatments

I love a good night-in pamper evening filled with a nice hot bath, a beefy skincare routine, and an at-home manicure. More and more I’m finding that I just don’t have the time to do a full pamper evening anymore. However, I do still prioritize giving my skin an extra boost when I’m feeling especially drained and stressed, which is when my skin is at its worst anyways. Given that I shared my daily skincare routine not too long ago, I figured I’d share my favorite treatment-based skincare products that get pulled out for special skincare needs.

Peter Thomas Roth Pumpkin Enzyme Mask ~ I’m not a big PSL fan (in fact I think they are pretty vile), but I do love pumpkin pie and that is exactly what this mask smells like! Besides the fact that it smells incredible, the PTR Pumpkin Enzyme Mask is also very effective and really helps to turn around my skin when it’s in crisis. Because it’s an exfoliating mask (it has both a light physical exfoliator and chemical exfoliators in it), I tend to use it most when my skin either looks dull or is in desperate need of a more intense exfoliation. Not only does this mask help with the texture of my skin, but it also clears up congested skin and little spots much better than any other mask I’ve tried.

Glossier Moisturizing Moon Mask ~ Especially in the wintertime my skin gets dry. I don’t know if it’s the dry air, central heating, or just the likelihood of feeling ill during that time of the year, but whatever the cause my skin always needs a constant stream of moisture during the colder months. The Glossier Moisturizing Moon mask does exactly what it claims to do: moisturize. The texture is a very thick cream, that has an almost retro feel (think Pond’s Cold Cream), you leave it on the skin for a minimum of 20 minutes and then rinse it off. Because this mask contains ingredients like hyaluronic acid and squalane, the mask hydrates deeply without leaving a residue or feeling clogging on the skin.

Aesop Parsley Seed Mask ~ I don’t know if I could talk about masks without talking about the Aesop Parsley Seed Mask. I’ve had this mask in my rotation for a solid five years and it has never let me down. It’s my go-to when my skin is breaking out or feeling congested because it’s a clay-based clarifying mask. There are a load of clarifying clay masks (try saying that five times fast), however a lot of them can feel very drying and stripping, which the Aesop version does not. There’s also just something about the scent that is so spa-like and calming, which is usually a welcome relief given that my breakouts tend to coincide most with me being stressed out.