Nic Dempsey

I love skincare. If you hadn’t already worked it out, I’m mad keen on beauty products. I think I might love the faff of it, all those creams and lotions and serums that promise to give you perfect skin.

Apart from the odd hormonal spot and the equally hormonal patch of acne on my chin which comes and goes and I seem finally to have sorted, my skin is pretty good (even if I do say so myself!) so I thought it would be interesting to show you what I put on my face before I put my makeup on. It’s been educational for me to sit down and list everything that I use just to look after my face.

First things first, I’m blessed with my mother’s skin, ok not her actual skin, but her skin type, which is pale, dry to combination and slightly sensitive. I also come from pale people, Ma is fair skinned and Dad was a bit ginger. I have the worst of both worlds, I burn really easily and never tan. One day all my freckles will join up and I’ll have ginger skin, in the meantime, I use SPF.

The first rule of good skin is that all the product in the world won’t do anything for you if you don’t have the basics in place. For me the basics are not smoking, drinking lots of water, using SPF and not going to bed with a dirty face covered in make up. Also wash your make up brushes regularly.

Morning.

I wash my face with a gel wash. At the moment it’s Philosophy’s Purity Made Simple Foaming Cleanser. It wasn’t cheap but I’ve had the same tube since September and it makes my skin feel clean but not tight.

I follow this with Dermalogica’s Daily Microfoliant. I have probably babbled on about how much I love this stuff before because I love it so much. It’s my desert island skincare product. It’s gentle so my skin never feels scrubbed but it does feel clean and smooth. Again it’s not cheap but you don’t need much, I use about one bottle every nine months so it lasts a long time.

My moisturiser during the cold months is Revitalift Daily Moisturiser SPF 30, not greasy but properly moisturising and in the summer I swap to something lighter because I’m adding an extra layer of sunblock. Last year I used Avène Hydrance Optimale UV Light and Piz Buin In Sun Radiant Face Cream in SPF 30 but they seem only to be making it in SPF15 now. Which is a pain.

Night

I take my make up off with a hot flannel and Waitrose Baby Bottom Butter, I’ve already written a post on how much I love this stuff and my opinion hasn’t changed, it removes all my make up and leaves my skin feeling good.

That’s followed up with Clarins Lotus Oli, I blame my mother for this, she was given a Clarins facial for Christmas and came back with this. I tried it a couple of times and bought some in Duty Free. I’m hooked, it makes my skin feel fantastic and I use less night cream as a result. My night cream is the Revitalift Classic Night Cream.

For the odd spot I do get, I use Freederm Gel.

So tell me, what do you use on your face?