I used oil for my nighttime moisturizing from my 20's up to my mid-40's and I still use it now when my skin is feeling sensitive. I've always used Clarins sandalwood oil (Huile Santal). The sandalwood soothes sensitivity and redness and also has aromatherapy properties - it always helps me calm down and fall asleep. This is a classic product, imo. I'm pretty sure it's been continuously manufactured since the beginnings of Clarins. The only line that does herbal/floral oils better than this is Darphin, which is much more expensive and harder to find. They have many different ones, though, so you can find something to suit your very exact skin needs.
Pure coconut or avocado oil is great for the body. Call me a princess if you will, but for the face, I find them rather heavy and prefer an oil that will absorb faster, plus I'd rather go for an oil that uses botanical or other aromatherapy essences along with the oil, for the more luxurious feeling and the additional healing properties. You could probably make some of your own with the right ingredients!
Singer82, since you were asking and we're on the subject, I spent decades only cleaning my face with 1 product: Clarins cream makeup remover. I still use it every single night, whether I'm wearing makeup or not. You warm it up in your hands, pat it on with light suction cup moves and then only use cool water to remove if necessary. I've tried MAC cream wash, but it's much harsher than Clarins (Shiseido made something a little more foaming/lathering and that was also much harsher) and there's nothing much else like it nowadays. It's one of those old fashioned style products that all the tech in the world can't improve on. I can see how using pure solid coconut oil would be more comparable than anything else, since it won't have foaming agents and will be very moisturizing. It'll certainly be more affordable. It'll be missing the extra botanicals, that do a lot of additional soothing and nourishing, but you could supplement the coconut with other things, like compresses made from herbal teas.
Nowadays, I do use an active cleanser (Rodial) in the morning with my Clarisonic (I ONLY use the Clarisonic in the morning, never at night - it's too stimulating for nighttime). If I miss my morning time to care for my skin, I will skip the active cleanser entirely. I wouldn't want to use it past the afternoon, which is the time you need to start relaxing your skin as the day winds down. I do not like makeup wipes at all. They're too harsh. I only use them in a pinch if I'm away from home and can't carry much with me.
Thank you for the suggestions, ladies!! I just got a sample of argan oil to try, so I'll start there. I recently had someone tell me about the evening primrose oil too. It was this woman I met whose skin looked
amazing and she was around 50 years old. I was asking her what her secret is because I certainly want my skin to look that fabulous when I'm 50! She told me she made some sort of concoction using the primrose oil and a few other ingredients. I had her write it all down for me, then life got in the way and I forgot all about it until this discussion came up in the forum! I must still have it somewhere...
I will definitely check out the Clarins sandalwood oil too. I've heard great things about their skincare but always felt it was a bit out of my price range. Anything that's good for sensitive skin is something I'm willing to try though. My skin is so unpredictable that I'm always very nervous to try new skincare products, but I'm trying to start just doing patch tests first because I really want to improve my skin. It's not the worst, but I tend to get a breakout now and then where it's just one or two big honkers that look more like bug bites than zits. I also suffer from eczema, which used to stay mostly on my legs but this winter has moved to my neck and chest and sometimes even around my jawline. And I feel like my skin just doesn't have a nice glow when I'm not faking it with makeup. So yeah, something's gotta change! Looking forward to trying all of these and hoping my skin agrees with one of them.
Quote: Originally Posted by
Melrose
Wow! Everyone looks so pretty in their stuff. I decided to skip this collection but then...it was my bday on feb. 9 and
my hubby got me rose lily just because my 2 daughters are named sophia rose and Emma lily. So I thought that was pretty sweet. I really like the subtle color too. Now I'm interested in trying out the cc stuff but I really need a good face moisturizer for night time. My hubby gave me the omorovicza illuminating moisturizer and I love it! Any recommendations for a good moisturizer for night for dry skin?