my fall/winter skin care routine

Good evening everyone,

today I would like to follow-up on my introduction to skin care by telling you all about my fall/winter skin care routine. If you haven’t read the post, I advise you to do so, to find out about my skin condition and history.

I have tried a bunch of skin care products over the past years (drugstore and others), but most of them caused problems like break outs and irritation, which is why I was pretty discouraged to even find my personal skin care routine for years. I told you that my turning point was talking to Daniel from Beni Durrer, who I trust and who is very dear to me now. He advised me to take better care of my skin and therefore is responsible for me reading up on things and finding my personal skin care routine.

In this post:

step by step skin care routine (fall/winter)
favorite products & recommendations

Disclaimer: advertisement – the following products were bought and paid by myself.

current skin complexion: normal to combination skin with dry areas in the t-zone, also sensitive and prone to redness

I started to really research about skin and especially the 10 step korean skin care routine last year. Ever since I was a teenager I tried a bunch of european products, but nothing really worked for me. Back then when I lived in Japan I loved to try asian products as well and experienced a huge difference, but it took until October 2016, when it clicked and I really wanted to change something. So I read up on a bunch of korean products (that are much more accessable due to it being a trend, than japanese products), found the german online shop Love My Cosmetic and started ordering a couple of products. Over the months I tried a bunch of other products too and developed what worked best for my skin type.

If you don’t know much about korean skin care, the 10 steps are usually as followed:

double cleanse – oil based cleanser
double cleanse – water based foam cleanser
exfoliate
toner
essence
serum or ampoule
sheet mask or mask pack
eye cream
moisturizer
SPF

Below I created a little step by step of my personal morning and evening fall/winter skin care routine.

step 1 – cleanser
Hada Labo gokujyun foaming cleanser

step 2 – pre-toner
Avéne thermal spring water

step 3 – essence
COSRX advanced snail 96 mucin power essence

step 4 – serum
INNISFREE the green tea seed serum

step 5 – moisturizer
Beni Durrer 24h cream

step 6 – SPF
MISSHA all-around safe block mild sun SPF30 PA+

Especially in the morning, before I go out, it is important for me to use gentle products. The more I rub my face while cleansing or patting it when I work in the other products, my skin gets red. So I try to avoid the full skin care routine. I also use products that won’t turn my skin red and have a calming effect. For my needs, the products above work best for that. I also said it before in my HAULy friday 36 blog post, I never really used a SPF until summer 2017, but now I finally found the perfect one for me. It does not leave any residue, white cast or irritation.

step 1 – oil cleanser
THE FACE SHOP rice water bright light cleansing oil

step 2 – foam cleanser
Bioré baking soda pore cleanser

or THE FACE SHOP rice water bright foaming cleanser

or MIZON snail cushion foam cleanser

step 3 – exfoliator (1-2 a week)
Beni Durrer what a peeling

step 4 – pre-toner
Avéne thermal spring water

step 5 -toner
SKINFOOD premium avocado rich toner

step 6 – essence
COSRX advanced snail 96 mucin power essence

step 7 – serum
INNISFREE the green tea seed serum

step 8 – sheet mask
I use several different brands

step 9 – extra serum
KLAIRS rich moist soothing serum

step 10 – moisturizer
Beni Durrer 24h cream

During my evening skin care routine I try to really pamper my skin. Especially when it’s cold and heaters are running everywhere, my skin gets dry easily. During that time it really needs all the moisture it can get. You might think a sheet mask a day and 2 serums are too much, but not for me. That’s why I also use a thicker toner to give my skin the extra oomph. The premium avocado toner from SKINFOOD is perfect for the winter season.

Overall I would like to say a few thing about my evening skin care routine. In general you have different types of “dirt” on your skin. It doesn’t matter if you wear make-up or not or if you only slept. Even when you don’t wear make-up and just are living your life during the day all sorts of “stuff and things” collect on your skin and in your pores.
I don’t really use make-up but I still feel the need to remove sebum, bacteria and dirt with two different types of cleansers. That is why I use an oil based cleanser and a water based foam cleanser. I also use my VisoClean from B.Kettner, which is a face cleansing brush that really help deep cleansing my pores. When I travel I use my small face cleansing brush from BRAUN, which is the FaceSpa. It comes with several brush heads, a make-up sponge head, epilator, a cap and a handy travel pouch.

Twice a week I use an exfoliator to remove old skin cells too. Emily from sharewear tought me that the skin cells are being renewed in a process over 28 days and that they need help to remove themselves from the skin. Chemical exfoliators like AHA’s (alpha hydroxy acid, such as lactic or glycolic acids) and BHA’s (beta hydroxy acid, which is salicylic acid) help with that. Ever since I have tried the Beni Durrer powder peeling, I have found my go-to exfoliator. It is gentle and really helps my skin looking smooth and bright. The what a peeling is an enzyme peeling, meaning the ingredients help to break down fat and proteins, causing sebum and dead skin cells to become removable by simply washing them off afterwards. Not everyone knows about enzymes in skin care, so here a little explanation.
While there are many types of enzymes, they have two primary uses in skin care – for exfoliation and anti-inflammation. Certain enzymes are effective exfoliants and can be gentler than other methods like scrubs and microdermabrasion. The upper layer of your skin is mostly made of dead skin cells containing keratin protein. The enzymes work by specifically breaking down the keratin protein, resulting in smoother skin. Look for fruit enzymes like papain (papaya), pineapple or blueberry. Other enzymes (some found naturally in skin) can function as a scavenger of free radicals and protect skin against oxidative damage. Simply put, enzymes can protect against damage from sun, environmental pollutants and even acne. Look for phosolipase or lipase.

So far, enzymes sound pretty great, right? Unfortunately, enzymes are very picky about their environment. They require optimal conditions of temperature and pH, and when enzymes are removed from their natural environment, they have a tendency to become unstable and therefore not working. Stable conditions at home would be to avoid heat and direct light – in case of the powder peeling, water as well since it activates it.

The following steps in my skin care are my Avéne pre-toner and my regular toner to prepare my skin for all the other goodness that follows – like essence, serums, (sometimes apoules), a sheet mask a day and my moisturizer. I currently own about 200 sheet masks and always use a different one. I mostly use japanese and korean brands, such as Pure Smile, Lululun, KOSÉ, Mitomo Japan, INNISFREE, MISSHA, KLAIRS, SKINFOOD, Etude House and Tony Moly. When I “wear” my sheet masks I also add my silicone sheet mask that I bought in Japan. It makes me look like a serial killer, but helps with keeping the mask in place and really helps the skin to absorb all the essence.

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I currently don’t use an eye-cream, simply because I haven’t tried much and therefore didn’t find the right one for me yet. Any recommendations?

I am pretty happy with my current fall/winter skin care routine and would like to know yours, as well as the products you use. Do you also do the 10 step routine or less?

My top products from Love My Cosmetic will follow in a separate post, but below I wanted to list my favorite in general.

oil cleanser – THE FACE SHOP rice water bright light cleansing oil
foam cleanser – Hada Labo gokujyun foaming cleanser
exfoliator – Beni Durrer what a peeling
serum – INNISFREE the green tea seed serum
moisturizer – Beni Durrer 24h cream

I am especially happy about discovering the Berlin made brand Beni Durrer. Not only do they have great make-up products (as well as brushes). but also amazing skin care products. I will probably never ever use anything else when it comes to exfoliators and moisturizing cream.

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