From instagram: morning skin care

Trader Joe's Nourish All-in-one facial cleanser - After wetting my hands and face, I lather one pump of the gel cleanser in my hands before gently lathering all over my face for about 30 seconds. Then I wet my Clarisonic Mia and brush my face in light circular motions before rinsing with warm water. I pat my face completely dry before moving on.

Benton Aloe BHA Skin Toner - I squeeze 4-5 drops of the clear watery liquid toner into my palm, rub my hands together gently, and pat the toner all over my face and neck.

Aquaphor healing ointment - I usually apply this to my lips after drying my face, but it's a race against time to get this done and apply toner. I realized today that I should just apply this while my I wait for the toner to absorb. So obvious!

Benton Snail Bee High Content Essence - I pump one full pump of the clear gel essence into my palm, rub my hands together, and pat all over my face.

Benton Aloe Propolis Soothing Gel - I pumped one full pump of the clear gel emulsion into my palm and added two drops of argan oil before rubbing my hands together and patting all over my face.

Josie Maran argan oil - I mixed this with the Benton emulsion and patted it on my face. It felt a little too heavy; I might try again with just one drop tonight, but I don't love the feeling of mixing the emulsion and oil. I do like mixing a few drops of oil with cream-type moisturizers, though.

Kate Somerville D-Scar - I decided to apply this after the emulsion today, under the theory of applying skin care products in the order of "thinnest to most viscous". I apply one tiny squeeze to my left cheek and one tiny squeeze to my right cheek.

From instagram: evening skin care

Bobbi Brown cleansing oil - I used two pumps of this clear oil (instead of my usual single pump) because I had a lot of waterproof eye makeup to attack, but WHOA was two pumps a lot of product! It was definitely effective though! I pump the clear oil into dry hands for a dry face. I rub it between my hands for a few seconds, then I rub it all over my face in circular motions. I usually avoid my eyes at first, and after I feel like it has dissolved the makeup on my cheek and forehead I move on to my eyes and undereye area.

Trader Joe's Nourish All-in-one facial cleanser - After wetting my hands and face, I lather one pump of the gel cleanser in my hands before gently lathering all over my face for about 30 seconds. Then I wet my Clarisonic Mia and brush my face in light circular motions before rinsing with warm water. I pat my face completely dry before moving on. Sometimes I use eye makeup remover on a qtip at this point, to get any eyeliner or mascara that ended up smeared on my lower lid.

Aquaphor healing ointment - I use this on my lips after drying my face.

Benton Aloe BHA Skin Toner - I squeeze a few drops of the clear watery liquid toner into my palm, rub my hands together gently, and pat the toner all over my face and neck.

Benton Snail Bee High Content Essence - I pump one full pump of the clear gel essence into my palm, rub my hands together, and pat all over my face.

Kate Somerville D-Scar - I waited about ten minutes before applying this serum. I apply one tiny squeeze to my left cheek and one tiny squeeze to my right cheek. I wait for this to dry completely before applying the Benton emulsion.

Benton Aloe Propolis Soothing Gel - About fifteen minutes afterward, I pumped one full pump of the clear gel emulsion into my palm, rubbed my hands together, and patted all over my face.

Benton Snail Bee High Content Steam Cream - I take a little bit of the thick white cream, rub between my fingers, and pat on to my face. I do this three times: chin, cheek/nose, forehead/neck.

From instagram: morning skin care

Trader Joe's Nourish All-in-one facial cleanser - After wetting my hands and face, I lather one pump of the gel cleanser in my hands before gently lathering all over my face for about 30 seconds. Then I wet my Clarisonic Mia and brush my face in light circular motions before rinsing with warm water. I pat my face completely dry before moving on.

Aquaphor healing ointment - I use this on my lips after drying my face, otherwise they feel super dry while I'm applying the rest of the products!

Benton Aloe BHA Skin Toner - I squeeze a few drops of the clear watery liquid toner into my palm, rub my hands together gently, and pat the toner all over my face and neck.

Benton Snail Bee High Content Essence - I pump one full pump of the clear gel essence into my palm, rub my hands together, and pat all over my face.

Benton Aloe Propolis Soothing Gel - I pump one full pump of the clear gel emulsion into my palm, rub my hands together, and pat all over my face. Sometimes I feel I need an additional half pump for my forehead and nose (the first pump covers only my cheeks and chin) but I don't always feel that way.

Kate Somerville D-Scar - I use one tiny squeeze for my left cheek and one tiny squeeze for my right cheek. I really like the design of this rollerball-topped tube (photos of the packaging forthcoming!). I usually apply this before the Benton emulsion, but I tried it afterward today and it sat on top of my skin feeling sticky forever! So I'll always apply after the essence, and after it dries I'll pat the emulsion on top.

From instagram: evening skin care

Bobbi Brown cleansing oil - I pump one pump of this clear oil into dry hands. I rub it between my hands for a few seconds, then I rub it all over my face in circular motions. I usually avoid my eyes at first, and after I feel like it has dissolved the makeup on my cheek and forehead I move on to my eyes and undereye area.

Trader Joe's Nourish All-in-one facial cleanser - After wetting my hands and face, I lather one pump of the gel cleanser in my hands before gently lathering all over my face for about 30 seconds. Then I wet my Clarisonic Mia and brush my face in light circular motions before rinsing with warm water. I pat my face completely dry before moving on. Sometimes I use eye makeup remover on a qtip at this point, to get any eyeliner or mascara that ended up smeared on my lower lid.

Aquaphor healing ointment - I use this on my lips after drying my face.

Benton Aloe BHA Skin Toner - I squeeze a few drops of the clear watery liquid toner into my palm, rub my hands together gently, and pat the toner all over my face and neck.

Benton Snail Bee High Content Essence - I pump one full pump of the clear gel essence into my palm, rub my hands together, and pat all over my face.

Kate Somerville D-Scar - I apply one tiny squeeze to my left cheek and one tiny squeeze to my right cheek. I wait for this to dry completely before applying the Benton emulsion.

Benton Aloe Propolis Soothing Gel - I pump one full pump of the clear gel emulsion into my palm, rub my hands together, and pat all over my face.

Benton Snail Bee High Content Steam Cream - I take a little bit of the thick white cream, rub between my fingers, and pat on to my face. It looks like a cream in the jar but it feels like a gel after I have rubbed my hands together, it's pretty crazy!

From instagram: evening skin care

Trader Joe's Nourish All-in-one facial cleanser - After wetting my hands and face, I lather one pump of the gel cleanser in my hands before gently lathering all over my face for about 30 seconds. Then I wet my Clarisonic Mia and brush my face in light circular motions before rinsing with warm water. I pat my face completely dry before moving on.

Benton Aloe BHA Skin Toner - I squeeze a few drops of the clear watery liquid toner into my palm, rub my hands together gently, and pat the toner all over my face and neck.

Benton Snail Bee High Content Essence - I pump one full pump of the clear gel essence into my palm, rub my hands together, and pat all over my face.

Kate Somerville D-Scar - I apply one tiny squeeze to my left cheek and one tiny squeeze to my right cheek. I wait for this to dry completely before applying the Benton emulsion.

Benton Aloe Propolis Soothing Gel - I pump one full pump of the clear gel emulsion into my palm, rub my hands together, and pat all over my face.

Josie Maran argan oil - I use my fingertips to pat one drop over my chin.

Benton Snail Bee High Content Steam Cream - I take a little bit of the thick white cream, rub between my fingers, and pat on to my face. Usually I apply to my chin first, then I take more cream for my forehead, then for my lower cheeks, then for my upper cheeks.

From instagram: today's morning skin care products

I bought the Benton skin care line at W2beauty during the Black Friday sale, but I only opened the products today! I purchased a Benton skin care full-size starter set: toner, essence, hydrating gel, face cream, and 10 sheet masks.

I was really pleased with my W2beauty experience: with the 10% discount and the discounted starter set pricing, the cost was on par with the "cheaper" Asian beauty sites, and the owner Alice was pleasant and responsive when I had questions over email. My products arrived 15 days after the shipment confirmation date and they arrived with nine samples! I also love the gratuitous usage of emoticons in the site's auto-generated emails when you make a purchase; even though it's the same for everyone, it really felt personalized. I will be happy to purchase more products from her.

Pictured,  from left to right (also the order that I used the products):

Trader Joe's Nourish All-in-one facial cleanser - After wetting my hands and face, I lather a half-pump of the gel in my hands before lathering all over my face for about 30 seconds. Then I wet my Clarisonic Mia and brush my face in light circular motions before rinsing with warm water. I have been using this for a few weeks as my foaming cleanser and I like it. It leaves my skin feeling squeaky clean but not tight (and it definitely does not feel hydrating). I have heard that this is made by one of the "big name" dermatologists, and though the internet likely knows the answer I suspect it is Perricone MD: the smell reminds me a bit of the overwhelming Chanel No. 5 scent of his cleanser (which I used for a year back in 2009!).

Benton Aloe BHA Skin Toner - I poured a few drops of the clear watery liquid into my palm (the bottle has a typical toner cap with a tiny hole), rubbed my hands together gently, and patted the toner all over my face. It absorbed quickly without leaving a too-dry sensation on my skin.

Benton Snail Bee High Content Essence - I pumped one full pump of the clear gel on to my fingers, rubbed my fingers together, and patted all over my face. This absorbed quickly without leaving my skin feeling taut. 

Benton Aloe Propolis Soothing Gel - I used one and a half pumps of this clear gel: the first full pump was enough for my cheeks and chin, but I needed an additional half pump for my forehead. I loved how lightweight and hydrating all the Benton products felt, especially before applying a cream style moisturizer.

Trader Joe's Enrich moisturizing face lotion - My sister started using recently this so I tried her bottle today. It has two chemical sunscreens and the consistency was a bit thicker than I expected (more cream-like than a runny lotion), but it absorbed quickly without feeling oily. I squeezed a less-than-pea-sized amount of the white lotion on to my fingers, rubbed my fingers together, and patted it all over my face.

Josie Maran argan oil - I have been using this same bottle for over a year…. Argan oil generally has a shelf life of about two years, but I swear it is taking me forever to use this up, even though I have been trying different methods of layering or mixing with other products! I patted one drop over my cheek and chin, and another drop over my forehead.