Winter essential #1 - Facial Care

Today I'm trying a new little series, the « season essential », and I'm starting with Winter. The first episode of the series is all about skin care. Body lotion, face cleanser, everything to make you skin feel super nourish even when it's pouring rain, or snowing like crazy outside (I live in Switzerland, and the weather was pretty rude those last week, I had to update my skin routine.

If I could go back in the past, and something to my 16 self, I would told my "always remove your make up, ALWAYS". I never though it was a big deal to keeps a little bit of eye-liner to go to sleep (OMG!!) I could never do that again. No matter how tired I'm, no matter how late it is, I always remove my make up, clean my face and moisture it. I think I now have a pretty sure and efficient skin care routine. I hope you find something new or learn something,  every product feature or cruelty free of course!

  

♦♦ CLEANING ♦♦

If I wear a super dramatic smoky eye, I start by removing my eye make up with this super gentle DIY cleansing oil / or coconut oil. Then I do the rest of my make up with a basic oil cleanser.

Once I rinse it I clean my face with a gel or a milk cleanser, always really gentle.

Oil eye cleanser (organic and vegan)- DIY

Coconut Oil (organic and vegan)- Organic

Cleanser Milk (vegan) - Kneipp

White tea fluid gel cleanser - Korrès

♦♦NOURISH♦♦

Once my face is clean, I like to put an hot wet towel on my face, and let it a few second. It is really relaxing, and it's gonna open your pores and let your skin absorb the  lotion you put on and  make it more efficient. So, once my pores are open, I put my sebo creme from Louis Widmer on. This is THE moisturiser, it is the only on I will never changed ( I always have back up in my bathroom). I use it for a few years now, and it is the best I ever tried for my oily skin. It is antiseptic that why I love put it on on the evening. In the morning, I will quickly wash my face then put  the Korrès Wild Rose Moisturising, I recently purchase it and I'm super happy and surprised how moisturising it is without being sticky or heavy, it feel really comfortable.

Sebo Crème - Louis Widmer

Wild Rose 24h Moisturising - Korrès 

 Jojoba Oil (organic and vegan)- Alva

♦♦TREAT AND REPAIR ♦♦

I used to skip this step for a long-time, because.....because of laziness :) but I found it quite important to clean your face deeply maybe once a week.
Once or twice a week I use the Terra Naturi face scrub. It helps removing all of the dead skins, then I like to apply an Aloe Vera gel, it's gonna hydrate your skin, it's really fresh and helps your skin skin to heal. When I have an unwanted pimple I like to use tea tree oil, I apply it with a Q-tip on the spot.
And the Hamamelis water is actually a pretty resent discovery but it helped me so much those past super rude winter months. I use it when my skin feels really irritated, most of the time it's around my eyes. I put some hamamelis water on two cotton pad, put them on my face and let them for a few minutes, it really calm the skin and the redness that can appear there.

Scrub (vegan) - Terra Naturi

Aloe Vera Gel (organic and vegan) - Lily of the desert 
Tea Tree Oil (organic and vegan)- Bergland

 Hamamélis (organic and vegan) - Aroma Zone

♦♦PROTECT♦♦

 Protect your skin! This is probably one of the most important step in your routine even in winter! I live in Switzerland, and in the winter the snow is reflecting the sun, so sun cream is really important!! I use carrot oil, before exposing my skin to the sun, to prepare it. (but I'm still using a sunscreen).
The Aloe Vera act as a protector, it let a thin film on a skin that will keep the hydration of your skin.

Carrot oil (organic and vegan) - Aroma zone

Aloe Vera Gel (organic and vegan)) - Lily of the desert

Suncare - still haven't find the perfect cruelty free face sun cream (if you know some good product please let me know!!)  

I hope it helps, if you have very special cruelty free product that you love, please share them!
 Have a great day!

 

BRAND FOCUS - The Body Shop (Review)

I don't know why but The Body Shop was one of those brand I was very sceptical about. .
But I remember trying the almond hand cream and finding myself smell my hands every 10 seconds!
So I decide to go over my apprehensions and give the body shop a chance!
And well, you can see the result!
I felt in love with some of their products.

P.s: The body Shop is cruelty free and have a lot of vegan product, but the parent company is l'Oreal (not CF)

 Skin Primer  Matte it:

This is my favourite primer of all primer I ever tested. It smooth everything, mattifies my skin, my foundation does not flip on it. And I feel like any foundation will look way better with this primer underneath.
+ It's vegan, it does not smell anything, texture
- Don't find any minus point
= Try it!

 Oil Free Foundation :
This is actually the first product I ever bought by the body shop. 
+ oil free, great coverage, SPF 15
- hard to apply, oxidized 1 shade darker (on me)
= I would say it's good if you have oily skin and a good practice

Tee Tree BB Cream
I put a lot of hope in this product, I saw and read a lot of great review on it, but I have to admit that I'm a little disappointed. It's not a bad product at all, I just feel like it's not the best product for my skin.
It's probably more suited for summer, and will be great for very oily skin. If you have dry patches...it's gonna be a mess!
+ It's vegan, it has tee tree oil in it (the smell does not last), cute packaging
-  Hard to apply, light coverage, not for the winter
=  Good for oily skin but I found it not good at covering my scars. I'll try it again in the summer, when I want something super light coverage

Edit - I tried it with a beauty blender, and think it's the best way to apply it!
 

Vitamin E eye cream
Nothing to say about this product. I probably didn't use this long enough to have an opinion on it. I like that their is Vitamin E in it, but doesn't not see any progress on my under eyes since I use it.

Aloe lip treatment:
I heard about this on the Essie Button's channel. My lips are probably one of my biggest trouble, If I forgot to take my lip stick with me, I will have to buy a new one. That's how dry are my lips. The texture is simillar to lip glosses, but it's not sticky, and it actually prevents me to lick my lips.
+ the texture / the hydration
- the smell

Body lotion and body butter:
 Those are my favourite body products. The body butter is perfect for the winter or for the dryer part of your body. The body lotion is perfect for any time, it dries really fast.
+ The smell, hydration, packaging, dry fast
- The smell 


RECAP:
To finish, the body shop has a great selection of product, I fell like everyone can find something that suit him. I bought a lot of stuff that I share with my boyfriend and even with my dad.
They have more and more vegan products. But we (well I ) regret that their parent company is not CF They also have very good hand cream (try the hemp hand protector!).
Now I really want to try the Honey Bronze Bronzing Powder and some products of the Tee tree oil line.
Please let me know your favourite of the body shop, what is worth to try!?

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