My Summer Face: Natural base for blemish-prone skin

This is going to be a part of a mini-series of posts of "My Summer Face", where I will show you a few of my go-to products to look fresh, healthy and stay protected.

Today is all about the base, creating a flawless yet shielding layer against the sun.

First of all, let's briefly talk about my skin type.

I wasn't too fortunate with my largest organ, especially across my face. I have combination and reactive skin: it is sometimes oily, sometimes dry, often both and always hyperpigmented or blemished in some way. My acne is most sensitive to INTERNAL factors such as stress, hormones, dehydration, and the lack of sleep - levels of which have all greatly escalated in the last exam period. And now that's over and done with, it's time for a skin clear up.

Moisturising

This is an extremely important step following cleansing and toning (I simply dab Lush's Tea Tree water onto blemishes with a cotton pad). Even if you have oily-combination skin, if it is not hydrated enough the skin will attempt to compensate by producing even more sebum.

I use a mixture of the Body Shop's Vitamin E moisture cream and La Roche-Posay's tinted SPF 50 cream, the effect of which is the best I've experienced for a [relatively] smooth and pore-refining look. I will dedicate another post on sun-protection, but I always use factor 50 on my face - have large 'freckles' (really they are just baby moles :/) which am trying to control, as well as  for general anti-aging reasons.

BB Cream

This part is important to both provide medium coverage and let your skin breathe. BB creams often also have high [chemical or physical] SPFs, and depending on their target skin type, you can often get away without either moisturiser or foundation. 

I am currently using the Missha BB Cream in shade 23, and apply this with my fingers as the product needs warming up to blend right into the skin.

 

Concealer

For some reason, I've only started using concealer this year. Not a huge fan of the Kim Kardashian highlighted look, so have opted for a colour-correcting BB concealer instead (L'Oreal Paris Nude Magique). I also use this on blemishes and acne scars as the colour has both salmon and yellow undertones. For this, I just apply it on the back of my hand first to avoid contamination of the product from the roller ball.

Powder

A must-have if you have oily-combination skin! Powder products 'set' liquid makeup to prevent them sliding on your face. I always use a mineral foundation powder in the summer, as they have a much more natural finish (not 100% matte), and find it blends better into the skin whilst providing more coverage. The one I'm absolutely loving right now is the Alexami Perfect Puff Minerals Powder.

Hope you're not too offended by my face au naturele... :P I did warn ya!This is just after moisturising and applying SPF.

That's a bit more acceptable now. After my full routine! Some scarring and redness is still visible in sunlight, but this is meant to look more 'natural'. :)

Of course, these products are only really suited to daytime, or evenings out when flash photography aren't in use. The high SPF will create flashback - or that horrid white ghostly tinge in photos - due to the scattering or absorption of light by chemical filters. However note that mineral foundation usually contains 'natural' physical sun protection, i.e zinc and titanium oxides (of around SPF 20) and therefore doesn't flashback.

Hope some of you found this post interesting or helpful!

More soon :D

Yang xo 

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