The Perfect Skin Care Routine for Combination Skin

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I know what you might be thinking: who asked? People all over the Internet put out skin care routines left and right without anyone really wanting to see them. I get it. BUT I have struggled with practically every skin issue for as long as I can remember. I am currently tortured with painful hormonal acne on my chin and cheeks despite having very dry skin in those areas plus a veryyyyy oily T-zone. I’ve had dry, oily, and combination skin all at some point in my life so I am constantly switching up what I use. Given my rocky history with my face, I feel like I have just a little bit of authority to give good product recommendations.

Many of these products I only bought within the past week, so I can’t say what the long-term effects look like. In the five or six days that I have used them, however, I have seen a major difference already. My chin and cheek dryness is gone and my hormonal breakouts have subsided. I am also working towards a completely ethical and sustainable skin care routine, so if you’re looking for a few recommendations in that realm, I have a few here!

Morning

This stuff is *chefs kiss* amazing and definitely the reason my dry skin has chilled out. I am always wary of hydrating cleansers because I am afraid they won’t control my oil, but this one makes me feel clean every time. Unfortunately, CeraVe is not completely cruelty free because it sells its products in countries that still require animal testing, but there are many advocates fighting to change this issue. As far as I can tell, this cleanser is vegan (although not all of CeraVe’s products are), and they have a bar cleanser alternative for less waste!

I will go ahead and say that this product is the #1 player in diminishing my hormonal breakouts right now. This serum calms the skin and reduces breakouts and redness. You only need three drops to adequately cover the entire face, so it will last forever. Versed as a brand is also amazing. They are committed to reducing waste in the skin care industry by making each product’s packaging from post-consumer plastic and completely recyclable. They have a super helpful guide on their website about how to recycle each product. Their entire range is also vegan and cruelty free! Versed will definitely be one of my go-to brands from now on.

I honestly don’t really see a difference in my dark circles when I use this product, but I find that the light gel is a nice hydrator for under my eyes. Sometimes I find eye creams too heavy, so this product is perfect for what I want it to do.

Because this product was new to Sephora when I bought it, it didn’t have any reviews. But boy do I wish it had. Supposedly this moisturizer acts as a bacteria balancer to help calm acne and prevent new breakouts. Overall, this moisturizer does what it claims to do, but I will warn you that it smells TERRIBLE. I feel like the benefits of using it currently outweigh the odor for me, but it really smells gross. Fortunately the smell wears off after a few minutes and I feel like my SPF masks it a little bit. The fact that The Inkey Test is a (mostly) vegan and 100% cruelty free brand that is very very affordable are nice redeeming qualities. I can also tell that they are trying to compete with The Ordinary from the pricing to the packaging.

This SPF probably isn’t the best one out there, but I like it a lot. I like to put it on top of a moisturizer, but it doesn’t make my face greasy. Plus, the bottle is huge so it lasts forever. Alas, Neutrogena is not vegan or cruelty free as it also sells in countries that require animal testing, so I could definitely find a better product :/

Night

Nighttime looks a lot like the morning because I use the same cleanser, serum, and eye gel. However, I do switch up the final 2 products.

As I mentioned in my March Favorites, I love, love, love this mask. Using this consistently helps my acne scars and dark spots immensely. My face feels so smooth and polished for the first few days after using it. The Ordinary is also 100% cruelty free and completely vegan, so there’s no guilt in loving their products.

My skin has never looked and felt so smooth before using this product with CeraVe’s hydrating cleanser. The moisturizer is so rich but not heavy, so I don’t wake up greasy. It also absorbs into the skin instead of just sitting on top like some creams that I’ve used in the past. Like The Ordinary, all of First Aid Beauty’s products are 100% vegan and cruelty free 🙂