[BEAUTY] Resolutions

So I've been AWOL again .. sorry!! Life has been a lil hectic at the mo, but I do have some good news! I found out this week that I won a scholarship to do a PhD while I carry on working! The pros: I am doing a supermegawickedAWESOME project of my choosing, don't get a drop in salary, get to be Dr Tali and do what I've always wanted to do :) The cons: It's going to take SIX YEARS, which for some reason terrifies me haha

Other than that I've been ceilidh-ing, working, stable-ing, snowboarding, house-shopping and doing plenty of sleeping! And I've also been thinking about my current beauty/skincare regime a LOT.

The good old days 3 years ago (all I was wearing on my complexion was High Beam!)

See, I used to have amazing skin.  Not sure if it was the glowing radiance of youth that waned (come back!), or the abuse I put my face through a couple years ago.. either way I want it back!!  Currently, and I don't want this to turn into a whinelist, I currently have rosacea, broken capillaries, contact dermatitis, discoid ezcema and just generally dry and dull skin that is highly breakout prone! I mean, c'mon, this is not a fair deal is it! Thing is, all this only started within the last couple years...I was writing up my masters thesis and under a lot of stress, and that's when my rosacea made its guest appearance.  I retaliated by using AHAs, BHAs, retinol and vitamin C serums daily.  I got waay too much into skincare, and any new-release products when straight on my face.  Needless to say my skin didn't really appreciate that and has since been dull, very sensitive and blemish prone.  I have yoyo-ed between high end expensive products and cheap/basic drugstore items.  Nothing I have tried has really helped.

Well that's the past.  Now to my future - my resolutions.  

I want to get my skin back to the glowy flawless state it was once in.  For Christmas I have asked Mike to buy me a Digital Skin Analysis session, which "captures multi-spectral photos of the face, examining the complexion for wrinkles, spots, pores, texture, bacteria, sun damage, pigmented spots and acne".  I want to use this session to find out what my skin is really like, and why it is so finicky at the moment, and then get recommendations for what products to use.

Another plan of mine is to spend the next 12 months not wearing any makeup on my complexion!!! Terrifying I know. I will wear mascara and eyeliner, and go back to wearing eyeshadows when my eyelids stop being so flakey (ew I know).  And. That's. It.  *gulp* No blusher, primer, foundation, powder ... nada.  I want my skin to look good by itself again, and I'm not going to do that by clogging up my pores etc.

I know that using too many products make my skin sensitive and sore.  But I also know that just cleansing and moisturising and nothing else makes my skin dull and breakout prone! Currently I'm just using Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish and Amie Skin Shield and my skin is still not happy. I want to find a happy medium!

So that's my three-phase plan (wow I've been writing too many formal applications lately...).  I'm going to give myself a year from today, keep you all informed of any progress and see where I'm at on 23rd November 2013! Hopefully my skin will be a lot calmer and clearer by then..

Wish me luck!

Tali xxx