Weekly Face Cleansing Routine

So for seemingly every other part of the UK there is a heap of snow everywhere, but in North Wales there's nothing...not one little flake of snow. There's a hell of a lot of rain, but no more *cries* Every morning I wake up and run to the window and all I see is distant snowy mountains, but no snow outside my window :( I love snow! Evil mountains mocking me!

I thought I'd share my face cleansing routine, this used to change quite often, but for the past four months I've kept it exactly the same, and I'm seeing results (excluding when I do silly things like get drunk and leave make up on for two days straight because I'm too hungover...).

My skin type is combination, so pretty common. I have a dry forehead, dry centres of my cheeks and oily everywhere else. I tend to get breakouts around the edges of my face, my chin, and the side of my face where I lean on my hand (I really need to stop doing this > . <).

First I use a small face towel and run it under warm water for a minute or so, I then squeeze out the excess water and press it lightly against my face to open up my pores (when I was about 13 my friend told me to use really hot water or my face wouldn't be cleaned properly, I used water so hot it hurt > . < This was really stupid and caused even worse skin because I was damaging it daily!).

Then (with a still damp face) I grab a teeny handful of oats and, running them under water first to get them a bit soggy, I smooth these gently in circular motions all over my face. I read about how good oats (and the oat juice from getting them wet) are for your skin in Marie-Claire over a year ago now and I never really knew what to do with them until I saw a Bubzbeauty video about face cleansing using oats (google Bubzbeauty oats and watch the youtube video). I stopped using this for a while, but started again when the winter air started really drying out my skin, and what can I say, it's amazing.

After I've washed the oats off (and cleaned the sink a bit :P) I use this Simple Pore-Minimising Toner. My friend made me try this about 6 months ago, I really love it. I used to skip toner all the time, but my skin feels so much better when I do use it! As for the pore minimising bit? I'm not entirely sold on that, but as a general toner I love it, and I really love Simple products with their no added colours or preservatives thing :)

Finally AND MOST IMPORTANTLY I moisturise. I've been using this Simple moisturiser for three years and I don't think I'll ever switch, it's love * - * Even my boyfriend uses it when he gets dry skin XD It doesn't feel oily and it's really moisturising. My best friend has eczema, and for a few months had it really badly on her face and I introduced her to this moisturiser, she really loved it and still uses it now (this moisturiser didn't clear the eczema on her face, it just soothed it and made it look less red and flaky, to cure it completely she had to get medical cream from the doctors, this moisturiser is good, but it's not magic :P).

Twice I week I use my gorgeous Cure Aqua Gel (as seen in my January Favourites). I bought this online from yesstyle.com (a bit pricey but amazing for getting Asian beauty products when all the ebay sellers you find look dodgey :P). I rub a tiny amount (just a small squirt) all over my face and neck, and then wash off the icky dead skin cells that come off :P After using this my face feels incredible, it's so soft and smooth ^ - ^ Even though it's a little pricey (£30) I bought mine in about October (I think) and I haven't even used 1/4 of it yet.

Once a week (although I try and make it two when I have time :P) I make a facemask. I love using facemasks, it feels so pampering and luxurious, even when there's weird stuff all over your face and you look like a monster :P I watch loads of youtube beauty videos, so this is a sort of mishmash of a few similar concoctions I've seen online. I use a tablespoon of yogurt, a teaspoon of honey and a tablespoon of my beloved oats :P Mix them all together and slurp them onto my face (yum :P) I then wait around 20 minutes and hope no one knocks on my door :P I really love this, yogurt is soothing and eases redness of the face, oats are gentle exfoliators and honey is an antibacterial.

I'm going on holiday over Easter and I really want to buy a good facial cleanser, as I don't want to pack two weeks worth of oats and therefore have to endure the inevitable 'oat explosion' in my bag. If any of you guys can recommend me a good (not too pricey :P) facial cleanser I can take with me you'd be a great help :)

Sunny xxxxx