6.14.2012

review: summer skincare

gia coppola via elle

i've always really liked the fresh-faced look (Sofia and Gia Coppola, Kirsten Dunst, Michelle Williams come to mind), so that's what i aim for during the summer. mostly i focus on skincare and sun protection - i mean, if you have good skin at the end of the day, that means less need for make-up, right? 

these are my summer skincare essentials, with a few indulgent touches here and there. 


iconic ray-bans – can't leave home without them. Clinique super city block is my tried-and-true favorite: sheer tinted sun protectant that's oil-free and has high-enough SPF to actually make a difference. (note: if your skin type is on the drier side or you're not an oil-free devotee, Josie Maran's SPF 40 argan moisturizer is supposed to be fantastic – and a few friends swear by it.) now that it's getting hot and humid, i'm using the Bare Escentuals mineral sunscreen – love it as it also helps combat shine. Fresh clay mask is a lifesaver twice a week to deep-clean pores and rejuvenate my skin from summer in the city. it's also excellent to dab on as a gentle overnight spot treatment. (tip: shake the tube a bit to even out the consistency.) one tube has lasted me over a year, so even though it's pricey, it's really worth every penny. 

in my bag, i always carry Clinique concealer, Fresh lip balm, and Boscia blotting papers (my favorite is the green tea). as a luxurious extra, i also bring Jurlique's rosewater mist – especially good as a mid-day refresher, or as a quick touch-up while i'm on the road.

by the way, i use no-fuss Cetaphil twice a day, which is still the best minimalist cleanser. (my dermatologist agrees!)

what are your summer skincare essentials?

18 comments:

  1. My skincare essential is Olivia Care olive oil soap. I WILL NOT wash my face with anything else--and yet, when I use it, I find I really don't need to do anything else to my skin. Plus, it's dirt cheap so I keep bars of it everywhere I have to wash my face: my parents' house, my house, my best friend's house... The other weird life saver in my life are foods: sea salt and honey. I exfoliate with sea salt and basically use honey as a moisturizing face mask as well as spot treatment.

    I feel bad sometimes because my skincare products aren't in nice packages and I will probably die of embarrassment if anymore people ask why there is food in my bathroom! But, I've tried a lot of skincare products and the nice ones with the pretty labels always work well...until something shakes up my hormones--and then my skin just becomes like a whole different person! But olive oil soap, salt, and honey never fail no matter what!

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    1. that's pretty cool that what works for you are so bare-bones! my skin is too sensitive and temperamental for me to be able to use bar soap or food products, alas. have you tried Fresh or Jurlique or the Josie Maran line? i'm a bit cheap to go get facials so these products are my 'at-home spa' treatments :)

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  2. Ray Bans, Mascara, concealer, SPF 30 end Benetint. As long as my skin is good it is all I need :)

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    1. love this minimalist list you have. i agree, good skin is the most important of all :)

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  3. Ooh that Fresh mask sounds good. My summer skincare essentials include La Roche Posay Effaclar face wash, Photoban sunscreen and whichever eye cream I am trying at the moment. I use Avene's Diacneal on any spotty/clogged areas of my face. I also apply my Keracynl face mask twice a week to exfoliate and de-clog my pores.
    Besides that I love using Mysore sandalwood soap and a fabulous tamarind and cane sugar scrub by Forest Essentials in the shower. And Moroccan oil to protect my hair. Tom Ford sunglasses shield my eyes. And I always carry a lightweight scarf to protect my neck and collarbone area.

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    1. it really is - now that it's getting humid and kind of icky here in SH i'm using it a few times a week to refresh and de-clog my pores!

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  4. I love the sunglasses and your outfit too

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  5. My skincare regimen doesn't differ between seasons, because it just seems to work year-round for me (I guess because there aren't huge climate/temperature difference between seasons where I live anyway). The only absolutely critical thing for me in my regimen is Environmental Skin Protector by Invisible Zinc, "Environmental Skin Protector" being what IZ's marketing department came up with for a sunscreen with moisturiser, haha. It's SPF30+ (the highest SPF rating you can get in Australia by legislation, since it was decided that anything above that might give people a false sense of security and they will think they can stay out in the sun longer with an SPF50 or SPF100 or whatever when they actually can't, and given the SPF scale, anything above an SPF30 offers almost negligible extra protection than an SPF30) and it's a physical sunscreen rather than the standard chemical one. I used the Environmental Skin Protector on my face, IZ's face & body sunscreen on any other exposed skin, and that's how I deal with the Australian sun and the ability of its UV radiation to give people second-degree burns if they stay out in it too long. :P

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    1. hmmm, interesting! yeah the australian sun is another force entirely. i'm comfortable with SPF 40 - it's not so high that it seems outlandish in its claims, yet it's high enough that i'm getting more than minimal protection...

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  6. yes, the mask is fantastic - you should try it! and yeah Cetaphil is just the best. my skin is somewhat sensitive and i've tried plenty of drugstore and high-end (shiseido) cleansers, and Cetaphil cleanses really well but is still gentle and non-drying, not to mention inexpensive.

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  7. Ooh, would love to try that Fresh mask when I finish up my current tub from Kiehl's...it's good but sometimes it's just fun to try different things.

    I've given up on finding the perfect moisturiser with SPF, and have settled down on using my usual moisturiser from Aveda with suncreen from Biore over that - the Biore sunscreen is cheap, no white cast, NEVER gets greasy, and it really protects the skin; I was once under the hot sun for 2 hours, and my unprotected shoulders burned, but my face didn't. I don't wear any other make-up except for MAC concealer from time to time. Oh, and sunglasses!

    I'm a big fan of the Jurlique scrub - my skin gets clogged so much from the humidity and pollution. It's very gentle but very effective, and the feeling of the grains pressed onto skin feels like a massage. Also, it smells like breakfast.

    I'm on the lookout for a good body lotion for hot weather...any recommendations?

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    1. hmm i like Boscia and Jurlique for their skincare lines and lotions. both use natural ingredients and i think Fresh also has some great moisturizers.

      the Fresh clay mask is so good - definitely try it!

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  8. i pretty much stick to the same skincare regime year round. i use some sort of sensitive skin cream cleanser (clarins and collective wellbeing are my two favorites, cetaphil is a close runner up) twice a day, and follow up with aesop parsley seed toner and serum. i also use aesop's primrose hydrating cream, and la roche-posay 45 spf sunblock. every other day or so i'll wash my face using the clarisonic mia. sometimes i'll use a brightening serum to even out blemish scars. if my skin is feeling really dry, i'll wash with a face oil or add a few drops of argan oil to my moisturizer.

    i'm also a huge fan of the sugar lip balm. i just got the coral color and it's really lovely!

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    1. i know i have to check that out when i'm back in the US. they keep coming out with yummy new colors each season!

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  9. I love these posts and it's equally fun to read all of the responses. It's suppose to feel like 110 degrees in NYC and it was 90 degrees plus yesterday- so less is more. It's just about keeping your skin looking fresh, hydrated and putting on sunscreen at that point.

    I love that you use Cetaphil. It gets bashed every once in a while but it's all I've EVER washed my face with for my entire life and I I've never had breakouts. It's gentle enough to bathe a baby in:)

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    1. oy, how is it cooler and less humid right now in Shanghai? the weather in NYC just keeps getting stranger and stranger :P

      Cetaphil is the best. i'm glad you're a fan too!

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  10. The fragrance on the Josie Maran 40 SPF is so strong and noxious it makes my eyes bleed. It's so unfortunate because I want that SPF and my skin wants those oils!

    I can happily recommend my current drier-skin-friendly sunscreen as a less smelly alternative: La Roche Posay's Hydraphase UV. It's got 25 SPF, it's got UVA/UVB protection, and it's a full-fledged dry-skin moisturizer in its own right, so one less product for me! I also use LRP's Anthelios sunscreen for body.

    My skin is super dry and I live in an extremely variable climate (subzero winters, 30c/90f summers), so I definitely can't have one skincare routine year-round. In the winter I need super-heavy creams and concentrated oils; I've learned the hard way that any product that says "oil free" is like putting poison on my face.

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