Thank you so much for reading my Journal again this week. I'm over 50 now, and about ten years ago I switched to using nothing but plant oils on my skin. I haven't gone back since, and my skin looks the same as it did when I made the change. I get asked about my routine quite a lot, so I thought I'd write it all down for you, along with what I've learned about skin after 50 from more than twenty years of running spas.
How I got here
Before plant oils I was the classic case of someone who loved skincare but never quite found anything that suited me for long. I'd use a brand for a few months, it would be great, and then my skin would react and I'd be back to square one. Then my friend Fiona, who is an amazing natural formulator, gave me some of her plant-oil products to try. For the first couple of weeks I didn't notice much difference at all, but then my skin started to look calmer and healthier, and people started to comment on it. I remember thinking, why on earth did I not know about this before? It's so simple.
My routine, step by step
My morning routine takes me less than three minutes, and life is busy, so if it took any longer I simply wouldn't do it. It's the same three steps every PURE routine follows.
First I cleanse, by massaging a cleansing oil over my face and taking it off with a warm, damp cloth. Oil dissolves oil, so it takes make-up and the day off without leaving my skin feeling tight.
Twice a week I polish, by mixing a little of our face scrub with my cleanser, working it in gently and rinsing it off.
Then I nourish, by warming a few drops of face oil in my palms and pressing them onto damp skin. Damp skin is the secret, because the oil spreads further and sinks in faster, so you need fewer drops than you'd think.
If you'd like to see it rather than read it, I filmed myself doing it at home, with a towel on my head and no make-up, which is exactly how I look most mornings.
What changes for skin after 50
In our treatment rooms our therapists see the same few things again and again in clients in their fifties. Skin tends to feel drier and a little thinner, it can become more sensitive to products that never bothered it before, and it often looks duller because it isn't renewing itself quite as quickly. None of that needs a ten-step routine, because what it really needs is a gentle cleanse that doesn't strip, a regular polish to lift the dull layer, and a really good oil to stop it feeling tight. Whatever routine you choose, a sunscreen on sunny days is still worth its place on your shelf.
A little bit of maths
Being a data geek, I couldn't resist working this out. Three minutes a day adds up to just over eighteen hours a year, whereas a ten-minute routine with seven products is more like sixty hours, which is a lot of time to spend in front of the bathroom mirror, and a lot of bottles competing with each other on your skin.
Where to start
If you'd like to try my way of doing things, our four three-step routines each give you a cleanser, a scrub and a face oil chosen for a different kind of skin. PURE in 3 is our original, with coconut oil, our face scrub and organic rosehip oil, and it's £79 rather than the £95.50 it would cost to buy the three separately. Calm in 3 is the one for skin that seems to react to everything, and Glow in 3 is lovely for skin that's feeling dry and looking a bit tired. You'll find all four in our 3-step routines collection, and delivery is always free.
If you're moving over from creams, your skin may look a little dull for the first week or so while it adjusts. Please don't worry, that's completely normal, and it happened to me too.
Becky x
