In Part 1 of this post (which you can find over here) I covered the principles and products I use on a daily basis. What I didn’t mention was that over the course of a normal week I do allow my skin a few little extra treats to keep it in tip top condition. I’m a regular user of exfoliators, face masks and eye cream and I feel that including these items in my skincare regime makes a real difference to the condition of my skin.

These products really come into their own when my skin needs a little more care and attention than usual… you know, when I’m run down and stressed or just around those certain times of the month when my skin gets greasier than a chip pan and a crop of pesky spots decides to set up camp on my chin.

To my mind, face masks in particular are TLC in a tube. I love the way they can instantly soothe, brighten or perk up my complexion depending on which I one I reach for. Speaking as someone who has very little time to devote to pampering, I never struggle to squeeze a 10 minute mask into my week… whether I pop it on while I do the ironing or just let it do its thaang while I’m busy washing everywhere else in the shower of a morning. One should never underestimate the power of a little multi-tasking, it’s supposed to be something us females excel at after all.

So, without further ado, here are the 3 little treats I wouldn’t ever want my skin to have to live without are (*ahem* drum roll please)….1. Dermalogica Gentle Cream Exfoliant – Yet another product bought to my attention by Lisa Eldridge in her excellent skin care videos. For years I’d been of the attitude that when it comes to exfoliators, the scrubbier the better. If you can’t feel it scritching and scratching away at all that icky dead skin then it simply wasn’t doing the job properly. So you can imagine my horror when Lisa suggested that all the rice grains/micro-beads/ground almond shells that I so love might actually be doing damage to my skin.

Instead she raved about this particular product and the lactic acid it contains. Hmmmmmm… grainless exfoliation? ‘Pahh! Load of rubbish’, I thought, but after 6 months of religious usage I’m converted. The cream is totally smooth and has a kind of non-descript ‘clean’ fragrance to it. You simply apply a thin layer avoiding the lip and nostril area and taking care around the delicate eye area, allow it to activate for 10-15 minutes and then rinse with warm water. Hello, baby soft skin!
2. Dr. Weil for Origins Mega-Mushroom Skin-Calming Face Mask – I tried a sample of this mask forever ago and was instantly hooked. I’m a huge fan of the serum from the Dr. Weil range (read my review here) and I’ve always felt this mask works like a more intense version. It cleanses, calms redness, hydrates, soothes and brightens my complexion all at the same time. Which is a good thing when you consider the price. Like everything in Dr. Weil line, this is an expensive indulgence but, as I hope my description illustrates, you get many masks in one tube, it sort of does everything. I was sceptical when the sales assistant at my local House of Fraser gave me this spiel but she wasn’t lying. Apparently, despite the vacant look in her eyes, she knew what she was talking about and this product really does restore some of much sought after luminosity to my face.

I resisted for a while but after a few more cheeky samples I had to succumb. I use this mask once a week without fail and twice a week if my skins having a flare up (of any kind… spots, dehydration, redness). My only complaint is that this mask has a really funky herbal, mushroom-esque smell. Not horrendously unpleasant, but enough to make me crinkle my nose up every time I apply it.3. Oringins GinZing eye cream – I believe in eye cream, I really do. My eyes just don’t look or feel the same without it. I’ll be the first to admit that my dark circles aren’t quite as dire as they were this time last year when Jesse was a mere 3 months old, but despite the fact the children are now both perfectly capable of a decent 12 hours sleep a night, I’m still conscious of how easily I can look knackered. Motherhood is just tiring I guess.

That’s where this lovely little pot of goodness comes in. It feels wonderfully refreshing upon application and the subtle salmon pink tint has a remarkable brightening effect. It also helps my under eye concealer apply like a dream too. Although I’m well aware that plenty of sleep and drinking enough water can help keep dark circles at bay, I’m glad I’ve got this in my arsenal for when either of those are lacking.

There are a few other skin care treats that I like to indulge in every now and then (Lush’s Fresh face masks for a start) but these are the products I’ve been regularly reaching for over the last 6 months.

Do you have any magical products that you’ve come to rely on to bring your skin back to life? A favourite face mask or a holy grail eye cream? Don’t keep it to yourself ladies, us product junkies have got to look out for each other!

Loveaudrey xxx