Beauty Post - The Daily Routine

L'Occitane Shea Butter gentle toner and Ultra Rich face cream

For my first post I wanted to talk about my daily skincare routine. The importance of a good skincare routine was drilled into me from a very young age. More importantly the importance of a good skincare routine using quality products was drilled into me.



My first ever routine was using Clinique 123 system. I then progressed to the legendary Liz Earle hot cloth cleanser and toners once our family got satellite TV and my mum discovered QVC. I used these until I was deemed old enough to provide for myself (around 22 years old) and I decided to try and get a more "reasonably priced" skincare routine.

For a few years I flip flopped from Lush moisturisers to Simple toners and Boots Botanics cleansers. While all of these products were great, they were only usually great for a limited time. As soon as I would try a new routine my skin would initially see the benefits and I'd be raving to everyone, however after a time my skin would become blemished and blotchy (a regular problem for me) and it would being to bring me down. Eventually last winter, after an extended period of red blotchy and dry flaky skin I decided I'd have to go for some luxury products for a long term solution.

Enter L'Occitane. My mum and sister are big L'Occitane followers and I was recommended their shea butter skin care routine by them to overcome my dry skin problems. It has been a complete revelation, and not as costly as one might believe.

My routine currently is as follows: I wash my face with L'Occitane's Shea Ultra Gentle Face Soap (£12) first. This some is beautiful and creamy, and as the name suggested very gentle on sensitive skin.

 I follow this by using the Shea Butter Gentle Toner (£17). This is nice and refreshing on your skin and leaves a pleasant tightness to your face. I sometimes carry this about on hot days to just spritz on my face to cool down as it's so refreshing. To apply the toner I use these washable cleansing pads from Love the Planet (£6.50). These are a fabulous, environmentally friendly product which you can just pop into the washing machine. I got mines about a year ago and they are still lovely and soft.

I finish with the Ultra Rich Face Cream (£32) which is hands down the best moisturiser I've ever used. This is a must have for those with dry skin. I've found myself in the past slathering this on extremely dry areas and leaving it to soak into my skin. It is extremely nourishing and leaves my skin feeling extremely soft and supple, and you only need to use a tiny amount.

From an economic point of view this entire skincare routine will initially cost you £61 to get going which could have been considered extremely expensive if it wasn't for the amazing lasting power of these products. I do my routine twice a day and I've only just had to re-buy a toner and moisturiser. I started in January and my toner and moisturiser lasted me seven months, my soap is still going strong. That means my entire routine is only costing me £2 a week, not that bad in the grand scheme of things.

The free gift I received.

Overall I'm still seeing brilliant results. My skin is less blotchy and prone to blemishes and I've had lots of compliments about the clarity and even tone of my skin.

 I'd completely recommend L'Occitane face care products. I'd also recommend joining their mailing list as they often do free gifts offers, and always give away free samples with each purchase. With my purchase I got a free gift of their new Verbena range worth £19. First Christmas present sorted!

I hope you all found this helpful.

- Sullenhearts