My Favorite Facial Skincare Products- June

I've always gotten a lot of compliments about my skin being very natural and glowy and questions as to what I use etc, etc. I am not very adventurous with my facial products, most are drugstore which is a good thing so all of you can give them a try for little money! I will start from the left to right as to what the item is and how/when I use it.

1. Neutrogena Oil- Free Acne Wash: I use this in the shower every night or day, whenever I take a shower. It has 2% salicylic acid for acne control and has these little 'micro beads' which exfoliate the skin. I have used this religiously for years.. I've gone through several tubes of this.. and I will continue to purchase it. I put it on after I shampoo my hair and I let it sit and penetrate my skin while I wash my body then I wash it off in the shower. I recommend doing that, because if it's easier to get all the little beads off your face.
   
2. Neutrogena Rapid Clear- Acne Spot Eliminating Gel: This is just a 2% salicylic acid treatment which I just put on pimples and blemishes when they appear. I put it on overnight and by morning I really do see a reduced amount of redness. I usually use the Clean and Clear one, but I ran out and this one is basically the same thing.
3. Murad Acne Spot Treatment: This is a 3% sulfur acne treatment which in my opinion is less strong than the salicylic acid ones. I use this when my face is behaving and just rub it on at night if I feel some pimples coming on.
4. Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion: This is the little travel size one. I wanted to try it out before buying the big bottle and I LOVE it. It is my new staple and I'm close to running out. I have been using this as my night time moisturizer for the past month. It's lighter than Clinique Moisture Surge Extended Thirst Relief which I use during the winter.
5. Chanel Activateur Purete- Oil Control Purifying Lotion: This is a bit pricey at $38 but soo worth it. I think I might be using it wrong? I use it after I wash my skin and I dab all over my face with a cotton pad before putting my makeup primer on. It does mattify my skin though, which is the reason why I bought it... but I never really figured out how to correctly use it so help!
6. Vaseline: Duh.. Vaseline! I use this at night and put a dab on my lips to keep them soft.. I heard that they can stop the natural production of lipids or something?? I don't know.. but I've used this at night for years. During the day, my staple is Nivea's Kiss of Moisture Chapstick.
7. Clean and Clear Oil-Free Moisturizer: I've used this for years! Not the Morning Burst one, but the regular one. I honestly can't tell the difference but I love this moisturizer. It is light weight, oil-free and doesn't make my skin too shiny. I use this during the day under my primer or sometimes I mix it in with my liquid foundation.

So those are my seven staple items that I reach for every single day. I have a ton more that I could list, but those 7 I have been using religiously for years so I could honestly say that I recommend them all. Please comment and let me know your top facial skincare products! Thanks girls :)

Oily Skin Essentials: MAC Blot Powder

So summer is finally here.. and so is the humidity and stickiness. I don't know about you, but that means oily skin and my makeup falling off of my face for me! It is a terrible time of year for those blessed with oily skin so my two essential products for keeping your oily skin matte during the summer are: blot powders.

(MAC Blot Powder in Light -left- and Medium Dark -right-)

My favorite blot powder to use is by MAC- they are $21 USD each and can be purchased on the MAC website here. They come in 5 different shades, ranging from Light, shown above to Deep Dark. The blot powder contains Mica and Silica which absorbs the excess oil on the face and it helps reduce the shine on the surface of the skin. The blot powder comes with a puff, but throw it away, it is useless. My recommendation is to use a kabuki brush- I use the Bare Escentuals Full Coverage Kabuki Brush, while others really like the MAC 182 Buffer Brush. Anything brush that has a dense, packed bristles should work.

(Light swatch -left- and Medium Dark swatch -right-)

The Light blot powder is white, but on contact with the skin has no coloration. I had to really swatch both a lot to get even the faintest hint of color shown above. Honestly, when I put either on my face, I can't tell the difference of what shade it is. For reference, I am NC40 and I expected the Medium Dark to be a lot darker than what it is. However, it works perfectly fine, so purchasing a darker shade is not necessary in my opinion.

Do you love MAC Blot Powder too? Or have you had a bad experience? Let me know how you get on!