Now, I don’t do a lot of these kinds of posts… the type where I say how to do this and how to look like that. The reason is because I’ve not got many things to do with beauty sorted MYSELF yet and so I am in no position to go and give advice. Even though I’d jump at the chance to be the next Michelle Phan (who wouldn’t…)
But this is something that I had a problem with, and I sorted out. So, I think I’d like to give some advice.
You know that part in Mean Girls when the girls are stood in front of the mirror complaining about the way they look, and Regina George says “my pores are really huge it’s disgusting”? When I first saw that I felt like I had a friend in the world who shared my woe. Around my nose my pores were HUGE. Up close, it looked like I had strawberry skin.
I guess Japanese girls don’t have this problem a lot because in Japan I didn’t really see any products to fix this. I thought it was just a thing and I had to deal with it. But then when I came back to Europe, I started buying things to work. Here I’m going to list the things that I’ve tried and tell you how they can help you.
1. Artemis Toner
Other toners are available because this one is REALLY expensive. It works well though. But the point is that to start this you really need to think about your skincare routine. I used to buy 3 euro face washes and then wonder why my skin cried every day. Now I use a combination of Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish, a Clearasil face mask and this Artemis toner to really make sure my skin stays fresh and clean. I also use grease papers at around 3pm each day to clean the oil from my skin. If you have money to spend on these things, I’d recommend the toner, and although I think that Liz Earle’s stuff doesn’t work well enough to justify the whole internet exploding in our faces about her, her face soap is pretty nice and I guess I’d recommend that too.
2. Dr Hauschka Light Rose Moisturiser
I don’t know what it is about rose but it really calms my face. It takes the redness away and just makes my skin happy. I’ve been using Dr Hauschka’s light moisturiser for a few months now and although it made me break out at first, it’s really evened my skin tone and calmed my face. Even though its light, it’s still pretty heavy so I don’t think I’m going to switch to the heavier one now winter is coming closer.
The brand is growing globally so I recommend it if you see it on sale near you – it’s good for the skin and lasts ages too. If you live in Frankfurt I do of course recommend going to my friend Doreen’s shop because she gives amazing advice.
3. Benefit’s Pore Fessional
This was the first thing I bought to combat my strawberry skin. It’s a super silky and light layer to put over the skin that really smooths over the pores without clogging them. The only problem with this is that it really doesn’t last long on the skin. I actually stopped using this a little while ago for this reason.
4. Clarin’s Pore Minimizing Serum
I bought this recently, when I went back to London. I LOVE the department stores on Oxford Street. The girls are so helpful there and I would have spent so much on stuff at Clarins in Debenhams because the girl was just so lovely and she made my skin so nice. I didn’t have the money for all that she used on me, so I asked her what the one top product would be for her to recommend to me, and she said this. It is SO good. So smooth and you only need a tiny bit to really calm down your pores. Unlike the Pore Fessional, it doesn’t feel like another layer that you’re adding to your face. The best thing is that even though I use one tiny squirt each time, it’s so good that I only have to use it about once every other day. If you wanted to buy just one product to help combat your strawberry skin, I would say that this is what you should buy, without a doubt.
So, I hope that helped people out there! If you have any tips on this topic, I’d love to know them!
