For this month’s The Beauty Thread, we asked our Editor & Social Media Manager, Jem, to talk us through her routine for getting the glow. Get ready for the battle of skincare vs makeup!
For me, achieving the coveted glow is always skin deep. Yes, you can ‘add the glow’ later on in your routine, but for me, this is always an added bonus as opposed to a holy grail step. It’s pivotal to stick to an effective and efficient skincare routine that works for your skin, adding in targeted ingredients and key actives where necessary to reach your skin goals. There’s a few things in my routine that bring out the natural glow in my skin, whatever skin woes I may be experiencing at the time. First, it’s finding a great acid exfoliant that’s both gentle and effective at slogging off dead skin cells to reveal a fresher base. I call this my ‘Death Becomes Her’ moment – quite simply peeling off the superficial skin to reveal what’s underneath.
Prior to exfoliating, my skincare routine will ALWAYS start with a gentle balm cleanser. I’m currently using Drunk Elephant’s Slaai Makeup-Melting Butter, which removes my makeup effortlessly while leaving my skin prepped and ready for further treatments.
This month, my AHA exfoliator of choice has been Pixi Beauty’s Glow Tonic (March’s INCRED Haul of Fame). I tend to use this on the days when I’m not using my prescription-strength retinoid (Differin) as using both in the same day could overload the exfoliation process and over sensitise my skin. Pixi’s Glow Tonic is the OG acid exfoliator and I’d go as far to say that it was THE brand that brought glycolic acid to the masses. Pixi’s founder, Petra, had a goal to create a miracle-working tonic (much more than your standard toner) that prepped skin so well that minimum makeup would be needed. It’s safe to say that she succeeded. It really is suitable for all skin types and with one swipe you’ll have people asking how you get your glow. Yes. Really.
It’s now time to up the ante with a serum that’s all about unlocking skin’s radiance. I love the bareMinerals SkinLongevity Vital Power Infusion so much that I’ve even got my Mum hooked on the stuff. If your skin is feeling a little tight from the toner then this step will rectify that. In the evenings, I’ll replace this serum with a targeted vitamin C, which may as well be renamed as vitamin GLOW. One favourite at the moment is InstaNatural’s Vitamin C Serum.
After a period of using Differin gel, I’ve found my skin can be quite dry. This is when I need to really add the moisture back into my skin with a gentle formula. Your Good Skin’s ProVitamin Overnight Cream is my go-to for this as it’s non-comedogenic and rebalances your complexion in one hit. This is quite like pulling out the big guns when you need an instant hit of hydration. Better yet, you wake up with skin that looks healthy and glowy! In the morning, I swap this for Jurlique’s Rare Rose Moisture Plus Gel Cream, which is perfect for normal to combination skins and offers a super-light gel texture to hydrate and plump the skin without it looking shiny or feeling overloaded.
As you can see, skincare has definitely won on the longevity of glow with me opting for formulas that work overtime to reveal skin’s natural glow. However, I do like to ramp it up a bit with the steps I can more so control. When it comes to makeup, I always want to let my skin shine through and put back the glow where skin may still be a little lacklustre. These are some steps I do to achieve this…
1. Always apply a CC cream over a heavier foundation AND ALWAYS with a damp beauty blender or with my fingers. I’ve been loving the Evalina CC cream from a previous LiB Box edit.
2. Only set where I need to with powder (under the eyes and chin, mainly).
3. Use a highlighter stick without glitter OR use an illuminating cream as a primer. Glossier’s Haloscope is a dream for this when you pat with your index finger on the areas you wish to look glowy.
4. Use a lighter shade of concealer under the eyes and down the bridge of my nose.
5. Set with a glowy makeup setting spray like MAC’s Prep + Prime Fix+.
