After years and years of being obsessed with skin care, I want to leave five things with you that have helped me over the years. From specific products to general skin care tips, here’s the tea:

SPF – Every Day!

This one is crucial: put at least SPF 30 on your skin (face, neck, ears and all other body parts subjected to the sun) to slow down the aging progress and lower the risk of skin cancer. Even on the days that the sun doesn’t make it through the thick rain clouds, there’s still some UV rays hitting your skin. Make SPF an integral part of your skin care routine; get a small bottle for your handbag to never forget about SPF again. My favourite: La Roche Posay Anthelios Transparent Fluid – it’s a very light 30 SPF that sinks into your skin in no time.

Don’t Switch Out Products Too Quickly!

Whilst there’s definitely nothing wrong with using a few different products accompanying each other, it’s more about consistency than anything else. If you use only moisturizer, SPF, a toner and makeup remover but do it every day for at least a month, you’ll see better results than using different products all the time. Most products take their time until you see results so, stick with a product for at least two months before you decide about switching it out. A tip for if you have little time in the morning: get a moisturizer with SPF in to save some time. Wash your face, moisturize and you’re good to go!

Treat Your Maskne

Have you gotten a few spots here and there after wearing a mask all day too? It sucks right? Whilst you can take preventive measures in your skin care routine like regularly cleaning your skin with a cleanser (like the one from the La Roche Posay Effaclar line) and using retinol (I use the La Roche B3 Retinol Serum), sometimes there’s nothing you can do. For those occasions, I couldn’t live without the Avene Cleanance Spot Treatment. It mattifies your spots, making them seem less big on your face, whilst also helping to get rid of them quicker by drying them out.

Is A Product Worth Its Price Tag?

As I said before, you can go a long way with just a moisturizer, SPF, toner and makeup remover. Whilst it’s worth spending £10 instead of £2 on a creme in most cases, there’s absolutely no need for you to spend more than £100 per product! Brands like The Ordinary are affordable whilst still offering great quality; I personally love their vitamin C line that helps to make your skin look fresh and even out any lines you may have gotten from worrying about long-distance learning. I noticed that the vitamin C creme even gives my usually quite dry skin a nicer finish than makeup! Top tip: If you have any acne scarring on your face, vitamin C will also help to regenerate your skin.

Don’t Forget Your Lips!

Although this is not necessarily considered “skin” by some, your lips should get a little treatment in your everyday routine too. The best bet: keeping it natural. Many lip balms are made with parabens that, whilst they feel very greasy and nourishing, they actually aren’t. You can get much better results by using lip balms on a natural basis like bee’s wax, shea butter or coconut oil. My favourites: Palmer’s Coconut Oil lip balm with SPF 15 or a simple Burt’s Bees lip balm.

Make a resolution for 2021 to be kinder to your skin and incorporate my tips into your routine if you can. If you don’t know where to start, get an SPF and go from there! Good luck for skin endeavours and let Liberty Belle know if these recommendations improved your skin.

Edited by Madeleine Gill