Skin Care Routine

I am lucky enough to have a great  complexion but at the same time unlucky to be allergic pretty much to everything you could think of in terms of skincare and cosmetics,  so obviously choosing the right creams and make –up it’s a big deal for me.

I’m not a fan of expensive skincare and I definitely don’t use La Mer or La Prairie as I see many of my friends over 35  do and No,  I’m not afraid at all of aging and coping with it.

When I was in Europe over the summer, in those 2 months I looked quite closely to all the women I met and I realized that most of them are just not very careful with they way they treat their skin. Everyone is so much into getting sun tanned that they end up looking like dry prunes when they turn 50  just because they don’t  protect their skin and assume that using an expensive cream  later will fix everything.

Over the past 15 years I had all kind of experiences ( mostly not very good ones ) with skincare products . Once I bought a new line from Yves Saint Laurent in Tokyo and just  burned entirely my face  . Then I got eye make up remover from Helena Rubinstein  ( love their mascara ) and I was almost blind for an entire evening.

Most of  the big brands of course have cosmetics and skincare lines under licence  but they  seems to be full of parabens , alcohol and perfume. Maybe for most people that’s not such a big problem but for my skin its instant pain  and rushes. As a good friend of mine , expert in organic skincare told me  recently “ unless you go for the top of the top quality then rather stick to Nivea and you get probably better results.”

So, back to creams , lotions and serums.; I’ve tried pretty much everything and so far, for the past years, the best products , at least for my skin , tend to be the ones from Shiseido. Not all lines are the same  (obviously like any other Asian manufacturer they had to come up with  some silly lines of whitening products  that everyone is so much into  in this part of the world ) but few lines they make are actually quite good and they  keep your skin moisturized and soft. And they tend not to give allergies. I have tried also SKll but the results are not as good as the ones from Shiseido ( especially the LXP series where a cream is about 300 euros , you see fantastic results for the first 2-3 weeks and then suddenly gets really bad ). I wont even mention the entire Estee Lauder empire as I’ve had problems with most of their brands and products  ( one of their lipsticks made my lips entirely peel off  and that’s just not fun ). I was looking like I’ve been walking through Sahara without any water for days…

So, my best picks for now would be ;

Shiseido  Benefiance  for Skin care

Stila  for make –up foundation (  unfortunately  can only find it in the USA ). My second choice for foundation will be Radiant Lifting Foundtion also from Shiseido

Mascara –Armani  “ eyes to kill “  or anything from  Helena Rubinstein , some  mascaras from Lancome and Dior After Show are equally good.

Make up –  I use a lot of Prescriptives, Stila, Lorac, Benefit, some Mac , Bobby Brown ( for a  natural look as they tend to fade away quickly ) and whatever other brands I find on the market and like the colors for that particular year.

Brushes – definitely Shu Uemura

Lisptick and lip glosses : lots of different brands , depending on the season : Chanel for a mat red, Shiseido for a creamy ,moisturizing lipstick or gloss, Mac or Anna Sui for the plumping effect ( love the  chilly pepper ones ), Prescriptives for the crazy colors, and many others that I usually buy out of boredom  at airports  mostly and end up only using them once or twice.

And since men cosmetics is getting so big and popular now ( and not only in Korea ) gentlemen  feel free to share your opinions as well ad let us know what magic potions you are using to keep young and beautiful.

Ladies,  share your experiences , I’m sure there is always so much more to learn.