Happy New Year to everyone! My 2026 b a great year because God knows 2025 was not one of my best years. I have all my hopes up that this one will be a good year. Like I promised, today I will start the new year with an update on my skin care routine. I will show you all the products that I have been using since the start of December and and I noticed visible improvements on my skin, especially since December was such a stressful and hectic month for me at work and I ate a lot of crap (fast food and sweets) and even so I noticed that I didn’t have as much pimples like I used to have. More precisely, I had almost no new pimples, no white heads, no red spots, nothing.

About the anti-aging part, I already did reviews on the two face creams that I use. In the morning, I used the Cobacco face moisturizer because it’s light but does hydrate the skin well, and in the evening an anti-aging handmade all-natural face cream from Grigorescu Cosmetics.

And that’s about it about the anti-aging products that I use. I also use face masks, but I change them up all the time. It’s mostly all kinds of sheet masks or cream masks that are not expensive, like from Balea or from Korean skin care brands (that are affordable).

Now let’s talk about cleansing. I use only natural handmade soaps to clean my face. I’m sorry that they don’t look as glamorous in the picture, but they’re soaps and I used them daily, so they’re not picture-perfect.

The one on the left is a charcoal face soap that I got from a friend of mine that does soaps and candles in her spare time. It’s perfect for oily skin and I use it in the evening because I feel like it makes the skin feel a little dry, so I follow up with a thick moisturizer. Also, it removes makeup very well, so I don’t need anything else (for the eyes I still use micellar water or an eye makeup remover because mascara can be difficult to remove just with water and soap).

The one on the right, is also a natural handmade soap with lavender and poppy seeds that my mother got me from…a monastery. Yes, it’s made by nuns. Isn’t that cool? It’s gentler on the skin, despite the little poppy seeds, so I use it in the morning because now I wash my face with soap in the morning as well since I do have to remove that thick face cream that I apply in the evening.

I have another lavender soap waiting to be used and a lavender and honey soap that I got from a fair, so for now I’m all good in the face soap department. Listen, soaps last for a long time, they’re affordable and they contain only natural ingredients (at least the ones that I use) so why shouldn’t they be good for the skin? Of course, it will be a little bit of a problem to take them with me on vacation, but I’ll just use a soap dish with a lid when I travel and I will still bring them with me.

Another little thing that may not seem like much but that I think makes a difference is this lavender floral water that I also got from my friend that makes soaps. This one is special because it’s just floral water and it doesn’t contain alcohol, like some other face waters that I tried so it doesn’t dry the skin. Also, I don’t use a cotton pad to apply it. I spray it directly on the face and then I tap gently with my fingers to help it absorb in to the skin, so that all that goodness from the lavender (the anti-bacterial, calming and anti-inflammatory properties) are not wasted on cotton pads. I use it in the evening and sometimes also in the morning, but I won’t lie, sometimes I forget to also use it in the morning. So that’s why I’m a big lavender fan for the skin now, because I noticed how the floral water and the soap are great for the skin.

Finally, the thing that I use from time to time whenever I do get a red spot is a tea tree oil. This one is from Oriflame, but it’s pure organic tea tree oil, it’s not mixed with anything else. I just pour some on my finger and I apply it on the spots where I need it as a final touch after the moisturizer.

So that’s all, a simple and mostly all-natural products skin care routine that I think works great for me. I will change up the soaps and the face creams and I will probably use other skin care products as well if I come across them (like receiving them in a beauty box or as a gift), but for now I’m very happy my current skin care routine.

Also, please keep in mind that what works for me may not work for you. For me, it’s been just a positive coincidence that I started to use the soaps, the lavender water and the anti-aging face cream at the same time, so this combination just fell into my lap and turned out to be a great one. It’s all about trying and testing products, seeking professional advice when you have serious skin issues and so on. I’m decided to keep doing what I’m doing because that’s what works for me, but it doesn’t mean that it’s a miraculous recipe for everyone.