Anna's Post-Festival Skin Cleanse

How To Save Your Skin After Festival Season - A Routine Designed for Anna

Today’s post will focus on saving your skin after the dirt and grime (and hopefully sunscreen) of a festival, but it’s great for anyone wanting a deep, thorough cleansing to rejuvenate their glow. If your skin is feeling dry, flaky, oily, and clogged all at the same time, then follow this routine, incorporate these products into your skincare routine, and you’ll be glowy in no time. After all, in the words of a truly wise woman “Why be doughy when you can be glowy?”

So, you’ve been to your festival, and you’ve had a great time surrounded by music, greasy food, and that strange Scottish man who might have been intoxicated, high, or maybe that was just his personality. But now you’re back. You’ve broken out? Skin’s flaking off? Feeling like your face isn’t quite clean even after your normal cleansing routine? I know a lot of you have a combination or all three of these issues, so let’s dive into how to resolve all of them.

First off, we have cleansing. Different cleansers do different things and if you’ve been wearing makeup or sunscreen (and I sincerely hope you were wearing both if you were at any festival worth attending and have any sense of love and respect for your skin) then you need to start with an oil cleanser. This is the first part of any good skincare routine. If you’re like me and have acne prone skin, calm that part of your brain screaming at you not to allow oil anywhere near your skin. Oil

and water don’t mix, so you need an oil-based cleanser to lift oil-based impurities. This includes excess sebum, and that makeup and sunscreen you should have been slathering across your face every day of your festival. Apply this on a dry face because, like we’ve identified, water and oil don’t mix!

Next we have the second part of your double cleanse, your water-based cleanser. This lifts off everything else, including dirt, sweat, and pollutants. If you have oily skin, I would recommend a foaming water-based cleanser as the foaming action lifts off everything your oil cleanser might have

missed. On the contrary, if you have dry or combination skin, use a gel-based water cleanser as this will gently hydrate your skin while lifting off dirt and pollutants.

Let’s not forget to exfoliate either! After all, we all know something is going to have clogged deep

into your pores over the festival season. Here, we used the cosrx BHA power blackhead remover chemical exfoliant. This is great because whilst it’s strong enough to really penetrate and clean out the pores, unlike a physical exfoliant, it isn’t going to damage your skin by causing micro-tears in the epidermis.

Now we get to my miracle mask, lifting up everything from deep in your pores that your normal cleanse might have missed. This is a clay mask from Innisfree formulated from volcanic rock, and in my mind imbues you with miracle Korean glass skin. However, as it is so thoroughly cleansing, I strongly suggest toning your face before using it in order to rebalance the Ph levels of your face to around 5 (Around here is the natural Ph of the skin on your face). If you have sensitive, combination, or dry skin, I suggest using the Laneige Cream Skin Refiner (toner). If not, why not try the Cosrx Two in One Power Liquid? It will both clean your skin, and has tannin in the formula in order to tighten your pores.

Ok, so your face is thoroughly cleansed. Now you need to put moisture back into your skin to stop

it from turning into the Sahara, followed by a breakout. Let’s start with my holy grail, snail mucin! I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. This product is a miracle from the snaily skincare Gods and Goddesses. Snail mucin is not only extremely hydrating, but also helps fade scarring and tackle hyper pigmentation, all while being perfect for sensitive skin. In other words, if acne is the bane of your life, you’ll fall in love with this goo like I did.

Once that’s patted in and your starting to feel hydrated, let’s throw some more hydration into the mix! I hope you’re doing this routine in the evening because this serum works best at night. It’s a

vitamin C serum. There are lots of great options, but I’ve had some great results with Neogen’s serum which is formulated with vitamin C and niacinamide, two ingredients perfect for regulating sebum production, promoting cell turnover, and fading acne scarring and hyper pigmentation. A product ideal for anyone wanting to prevent wrinkles, tackle current acne, or fade acne scarring and hyper pigmentation. It also has the great effect of making you glow like the sun is your mother, which I greatly appreciate.

We’re nearly done, I promise! Now it’s time for your beautiful eyes. The skin around your eyes doesn’t have pores, so doesn’t produce sebum. As such, along with being thinner and more

sensitive than the other skin on your face, this means it also shows signs of aging first. So use an eye cream! For this post-festival cleanse we used the Innisfree green tea seed face and eye roll. It’s hyper moisturising, smells fresh, and feels great to apply with the metal ball roll on (which has the added benefit of stimulating blood flow here, reducing puffiness and dark circles).

Last step! No proper Korean skincare routine is complete without a face mask, right? I personally

love the Innisfree masks, but I will be trying masks from different companies, so stay tuned for an article on that! Here, we used the… Remember not to let the masks completely dry on your face,

and when you take them off, pat the essence into your skin, rub it into your neck, and into your

hands. If it’s still feeling a little heavy 30 minutes after taking the mask off, feel free to rinse lightly with cold water to remove excess.

Yes, I lied, but only a little bit. We have one more step for anyone with active acne. We have the Cosrx Centella Blemish Cream This beauty is heavy in centella asiatica, helping create a protective barrier against external pollutants, regulate sebum production, and is formulated with ingredients such as… in order to stimulate stronger cell turnover, and calming effects on inflamed areas in order to tackle those annoying red zits quickly.

There we have it! Your complete, thorough Korean skincare routine to try and readjust your skin back to normal after the epic, yet thoroughly filthy time you had at whatever festival you went to this summer! Do you like the products? Do you think this routine is too long? Did I skip an essential step in your opinion? Let me know in the comments below!