This post was inspired by my good friend Renee, who did a similar post! It’s fun to see what people use every day. My skin type is combination, but it’s also sensitive. So my t-zone gets oily, my cheeks are prone to dry patches, and using products that are too harsh can irritate my skin in general. My body is generally dry.

Here are some of the products I currently use in my skincare routine.

• Cleansing: I wash my face day and night with Origins Checks and Balances face wash. I use Say Yes to Cucumbers facial wipes to remove make-up first, if needed.
• Toning: None. I’m probably going to try a gentle toner from Origins next. My old one was too harsh.
• Moisturizing: I moisturize in the day using Origins A Perfect World moisturizer with SPF 25. At night I use Alba Botanica Renewal Night Cream. For my eyes I use Avalon Organics Vitamin C Revitalizing Night Cream.
• Exfoliation: I’ve been adding sugar to my cleanser as a scrub once a week. Simple and effective!
• Mask: I use a yogurt mask once a week to hydrate and soothe my skin. I smooth plain, non-fat yogurt on my face and leave it on for about ten minutes. It feels amazing! I find other masks to be a bit too harsh.
• Body: I use a shea sugar body scrub from Tree Hut once a week in the shower. My moisturizer varies greatly. (I have a lot.) Every few days I keep my skin glowing the healthier way by using Sun Laboratories Dark Sunsation. The best self-tanner I’ve ever used! Full review coming another time.

It’s not uncommon for me to change things up a lot. This is my current skincare routine, but it’ll likely change as I try new things. Right now I’m loving Origins because it’s sensitive enough for my skin, but hydrates well. So I may try more from them in the future. Thanks to those of you who recommended I try Origins when I asked for advice on Twitter. :)

Going completely natural

Yogurt has many benefits. It soothes, hydrates, and calms skin. Add a drop of honey or olive oil for even more hydration!

Some people prefer to go completely natural with their skincare. I haven’t gotten to this point yet! Maybe one day I will. However, if you’re interested here are some substitutions you can use.

• Cleansing: Use any oatmeal. Wet the oatmeal in lukewarm water until it softens, then rub it on your face. It soothes irritated skin, gently exfoliates, and hydrates.
• Toning: Use witch hazel. You can find it at any drugstore. About 99% of commercial toners I’ve seen use witch hazel as their main ingredient.
• Moisturizing: You can use the yogurt mask method I mentioned above and it will leave your skin hydrated. A super thin layer of vaseline works just as well. Neither will clog your pores. I still recommend you find something for sun screen if you live in a sunny area.
• Make-up Removal: Olive oil or jojoba oil does the trick! Put some on a cotton ball and swipe it around your face/eye area.
• Exfoliation: Oatmeal will gently exfoliate, but if you need more I recommend my method of just adding sugar to a cleanser. I don’t recommend using salt or apricot scrubs — way too harsh for your skin. You can also try investing in an electrical cleanser brush.

Getting into a routine

I think it’s important to take away this piece of advice — everyone’s skin is unique and different! Just because these products work for me doesn’t mean they will work for you. Unfortunately, it takes time, money, and patience to find products that work with the chemistry of your skin to keep it in its best shape.

I’ve found over the years that less is more. I definitely don’t advocate this recent trend going around that more is best, and to layer skincare items. (See this Michelle Phan video for a brief introduction to the layering technique.) I’m not a professional, but it just doesn’t seem to make sense to me! The more products you use, the higher the chance that some of them won’t work well together, or your skin runs the chance of getting stressed and will only look worse. What do you think about the recent skincare layering trend?

I’ve touched this topic before in regards to YouTube beauty gurus, back when I had just discovered the community. I wanted to voice my latest opinion.

The YouTube beauty community mostly consists of younger women purchasing things like make-up and clothes and then making videos talking about their purchases. It is also heavily focused on things like make-up tutorials, where the girls illustrate how to achieve a certain look using certain products.

YouTube's beauty community -- good or bad?

Unfortunately, there’s a darker side to the community many are either unaware of or choose to turn their eyes from. What started as something girls did for fun somehow grew into a dog and pony show done every few days for an income. Girls are getting sent free products by companies to review. Getting paid by companies to be mentioned in their videos. Getting paid to host giveaways done by companies. The list goes on.

Here are a few examples of girls who have made the most of their popularity:

Michelle Phan is YouTube’s most popular make-up guru. She’s making over $200,000 a year on her main YouTube channel alone. (Source) That doesn’t include the money she makes from Lancome, who saw her on YouTube and hired her to do sponsored videos using their products. It doesn’t include profit she made from IQQU, a skincare line she advertised but recently withdrew from after legal troubles. It doesn’t include any money she has made through her other channels.

There are also girls like sisters Elle and Blair, who have made so much profit they’ve moved from their parent’s home in Tennessee to a high-end suite in L.A. to work on YouTube full-time. They’ve started a blog, forum, online boutique, and are working on a reality show. (Which I don’t think will ever see the light of day.) Some girls have really been able to take it this far.

BubzBeauty, yet another popular beauty guru, has her own line of make-up brushes coming out soon and was able to launch an online clothing boutique.

I’m not blasting these girls. In fact, I think they’re lucky. Who wouldn’t want to be paid a six figure income for casually talking about make-up? My point, however, is exposing a huge flaw in the community — the sincerity is lost. Many videos look like infomercials. When the girls claim they’re so excited to post a video, you have to wonder if they’re just meeting their weekly quota. The popular community topic “Favorite Products of the Month” is just another long advertisement.

YouTube user addicted2toofaced.

The worst part of all, and the reason I’m writing this, is that young girls everywhere are falling for it. As soon as their idol on YouTube tells them to buy a product, they will run out and buy it. Check out Addicted2TooFaced, a 14 year-old girl who has more high-end make-up than I will ever own collectively throughout my life. I can’t help but watch videos like that and feel sad. This girl just hit her teenage years and she’s already wearing too much make-up, clothes that are too mature for her, and has developed an over-spending habit — using her parent’s money, no doubt.

I think the beauty community is just an endless cycle of spending money on things you don’t really need to gain admiration (and sometimes money) from others. I deleted my YouTube account. My subscription page became overwhelming — one huge commercial. I actually wanted to go shopping after watching. That’s not why I started watching these videos.

Realizing this about the beauty community has made me realize one more thing: The Beauty section on my website contributes to this cycle. Don’t get me wrong, I think honestly reviewing brands is a good thing and will likely continue doing it, but I’ve realized that I’d like to post more about natural do-it-yourself beauty tips and fun ideas that don’t focus on product names. I think that would be refreshing.

We live in such a “mediatized” society. It’s crazy when you sit down and look at all the ways we advertise for companies. What are your thoughts?