My evening skin care routine

I love a nosey inside other people's skin care routines - it's a great way to find new products and see what might work for me. I thought I'd give you a peak into the products I'm using at the moment in the evenings. I probably spend about 10 minutes at night on my routine, and while the brands I use may change from time to time, the types of products I use often stay the same.

First up, I remove my eye makeup using a bi-phase makeup remover. I wear a lot of eye liner and mascara every day, so to avoid getting it all over my face with my other cleansers, I remove it first with cotton wool. This Garnier eye makeup remover is quite gentle on the eyes and doesn't sting much, but it does take a little bit of time to get to work on breaking down the mascara. I bought it as a cheaper alternative to Lancome's Bi-Facil, and at around £3 is definitely doing a good job considering the price difference! 

My next step is a first cleanse with a cotton pad soaked in Bioderma's Hydrabio Micellar Water*. This gets off the majority of my foundation and any leftover eye makeup residue before I move on to cleansing with a balm. 

Then comes a proper cleanse with a balm cleanser - these are usually quite solid, but melt onto the skin and emulsify with water before being removed using a flannel and warm water. I'm using a Darphin aromatic cleansing balm* at the moment which is great for removing makeup and cleansing the skin but without making it feel dried out. It's very nourishing and quite rich, so you only need to use a small amount, but I do find that the strong smell is a bit much for me. It's very scented with essential oils, and I find that a bit off-putting as  I have slighlty sensitive skin, so I might not finish this tub before  I change to another cleanser. 

After cleansing, I apply a serum. This is usually for extra hydration, but at the moment I'm using Jurlique's Calendula Redness Rescue Serum* to help reduce the slight redness I experience. It's got a very silky texture, and sinks in easily - I apply two pumps and press gently into my skin before I move on to my eye cream.

I'm a bit obsessed with eye creams if I'm honest! I don't really suffer much from eye bags or pronounced dark circles, but i'm very keen to try and keep the fine lines at bay for as long as possible. Heal Gel Eye* is my latest skin care love - it has a very light texture, but makes the skin around my eyes feel very refreshed and hydrated, without being greasy. I apply a small amount around the eye bone area and allow to sink in before moving onto my moisturiser. 

Thoughout the winter, I've had to use facial oils most nights because my skin has been quite dehydrated from the weather. The past few weeks, I haven't needed this as much, so as the final step in my routine, I've been using REN's V-Cense night cream*, which is quite rich, so it's all I've been needing. I gently massage in about one pumps worth which is plenty. Since I've been using this several people have commented on my skin, saying how 'glowy' it looks, so I'm thinking about buying in bulk to keep that effect going, ha ha. 

And that's it! I'd love to know what you think about my night-time routine and what products/steps go into yours. 

*PR samples