Current skin care

Let me start by saying I have a combination skin - my t-zone, especially my forehead does get quite oily during the day but at the same time my skin is also quite dehydrated.
Dehydration is a skin concern that is finally receiving enough attention; both from beauty columnists, bloggers and experts but also from brands that come up with solutions.

If you are unsure of the type of skin you might have there are several options available. You can try and observe how your skin behaves without any skin care/make up; you can try various different online questionnaires or you can have it tested. Despite being quite sure what my diagnosis was, I have booked an appointment with one of the skin care specialists in a Boots store. With the help of sophisticated equipment they 'scan' your skin and read its state. I went to one of the largest Boots stores in London - the one in Oxford street but I know some others also offer this service in the UK.

So, my skin care routine is aimed at improving hydration but without overloading it with heavy or oil-rich products.

For a cleanser, I use Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish (£13.25) and I have used it long before YouTube beauty bloggers have discovered it. Sam Chapman from Pixiwoo has mentioned it over three years ago and I have fallen in love with it back then. Although the hype has its advantages -before it was only available online or at John Lewis, but now finally Boots also stock it. It has beautiful, smooth, creamy texture and invigorating, fresh, green scent. This is one of the mildest, most gentle cleansers you will find. I use this morning and night.
I usually follow with a toner, at the moment I really enjoy the L'Oreal Vitalift.
In the evening, as a make up remover I generally use Bioderma. Sometimes - read when I got a little mascara happy - I use any affordable make up remover, currently its the Garnier Fresh Essentials Eye Make up remover (£3.15).
When needed or every few days I use St Ives Daily Microdermabrasion (£4.99) as a scrub (full review here). I have blogged about this product already - I love it. It leaves your skin very smooth, soft and supple and prepares it beautifully for make up.
Every now and again I use Liz Earle Intensive Nourishing Treatment Mask (£14), but only when my skin is feeling dry. Another tlc product I don't use on daily basis is Embryolisse moisturiser (30ml is £10.50) - it's very rich so I reserve it's use for when it's really necessary.
To moisturise in the morning I generally use Neutrogena Oil Free Moisturiser (review here) and at night I currently have Boots Botanics All Bright Hydrating night cream.
Last but not least, the serum. I wouldn't normally consider Superdug's own branded skin care but the Aqua Hydrating Serum has been mentioned by Sali Hughes in her Guardian beauty column. Since at the time I was looking for an affordable hydrating serum, I immediately recognized the brilliance of this suggestion and I rushed to Superdrug to get it. Not only I have found it - I found when it was in half price sale (Superdrug does half price promotions for their products more often than not), which meant I got it for less than £3. Unfortunately, Superdrug doesn't seem to have all their products available online so you can't find it their website but it is sold in larger Superdrugs. The serum itself it great though - it's has a light texture, sinks in very quickly and it leaves skin feeling soft and comfortable.

The above combination is working very well for me. Three products in particular: hydrating serum, Vitalift toner and Botanics night cream. I have bought all three simply because they all contain hyaluronic acid. Especially ever since I got hold of the hydrating serum (Sali Hughes recommended it precisely because it has hyaluronic acid) my skin has not felt any dryness or tightness. Targeting dehydrated skin coupled with regular exfoliation is definitely working out very well for me right now.