My excuse was that I was too busy. I was juggling a busy full time job while running a print magazine with a big team of writers on the side, AND organising sold-out events on the side. And I haven't even touched on my hobbies yet! Lol. Self-care wasn't really a big priority for me when everything else was happening at the same time. Which is ridiculous because no one is ever too busy to wash their own face. So note to my 23 year old self - girl, wash your goddamn face.
All this changed when I suddenly found myself without a magazine, without side projects, without, well, a life as I called it. All of a sudden I had nothing but free time. A concept so foreign to me that I literally didn't know what to do with myself. That's when I started getting into watching people wash their face on Youtube. Not as strange as it sounds, given that morning and evening skincare routines, pamper routines, and the like are a staple in every vlogger's content these days. Since then I've searched high and low for products for my own skincare routine. Something that turned out a lot harder than I thought given that I had super oily skin and I was trying out so many products that didn't seem to work. I was still a greasy mess.
Enter Plantae. I got a message from them sometime in August and asked if they could send me some stuff to try. I got really excited because I'm not really the type of blogger who gets sent stuff. I didn't think I was an influencing influencer enough to be given products to try, so I said yes and eagerly awaited the package.
Two months later and here we are. I'm lucky enough to only work with brands that I love and actually use so I wanted to make sure that my review would be as honest as possible. So this is a raw and honest look at my skincare. I never thought that someday I'd be filming my own skincare routine videos and that people actually gave a shit about it, but here we are. 2017 you're a weird year.
My Morning Routine
My morning skincare routine - unedited and filmed in one take. It's actually really embarrassing to put myself out there like this (puffy face after a night of drinking and 3 hr sleep #brave), make up free, no glasses, and basically my humongous face in all its glory. I feel so ~exposed.
But skincare is the number one thing I get asked about on Instagram and that's probably because I always go on about how amazing Plantae Certified Organic Skincare is. They sent me products to try before fashion week, and I've been trialling it for 2 months now because I wanted to make sure that when I do post about it, it was honest and accurate.
Here's some morning LOLs when I talk about all my chins, grammar errors cos I was so nervous I didn't know what I was saying like "love yourself, rub it gently". So this is me in the morning (except my bathroom IRL is tiny and cramped as hell).
My Evening Routine
You've seen the morning skincare routine.... now get ready for the evening one! Or if I were a real Youtuber, it's time to get 'un-ready' with me! LOL. Unedited and filmed in one take, this video is probs just as awkward and embarrassing, and due to popular demand, all my chins make an appearance in it too with me saying "this is why I'm single" lmao. Honestly though, is there a better feeling than taking your makeup (and bra for that matter) off for the day?!
Products Mentioned
Ivy Cleansing Gel - my routine starts with a little bit of this and a wet face. It's gentle enough for daily use, morning and evening. At first I found it a bit weird that it wasn't foamy or didn't really lather like cleansers I've used in the past, but a little bit goes a long way and I really like how clean it smells and that it doesn't leave my face feeling sticky. The gel is also a runnier consistency compared to other gel cleansers, so a little goes a long way.
Bergamot Orange Cleansing Milk - I didn't realise that this was actually a great make-up remover too which makes me love it even more. I double cleanse in the evening, something I've only started doing in October when I read about double cleansing on the Plantae page on Facebook (they post great skincare tips so follow along if you're into that!). It makes sense to double cleanse, and I find that since moving to Auckland and working in the city, my skin has definitely become greasier at the end of the day so double cleansing at night is now a must for me. I use the Ivy Cleansing Gel first, followed by this. Slightly denser as it's a cleansing milk, but smells fab so I'm happy. One of my favourite parts of the evening is when I wash my face after a long day and I feel like I'm saying #byefelicia to all the dirt from that city life.
Rose Otto Essential Water - so I'm actually really obsessed with products that smell like roses so naturally I fell in love with this one straight awayh. On the packaging it says it works best for dry & damaged skin, but I still use it even though I'm hella oily. Because it's essentially water (heh, puns!), I like that it doesn't feel like I'm putting alcohol on my face like how other toners feel like. Plantae sent me a travel sized version of this when I first tried it, and I actually brought the mini bottle with me everywhere and spritz some on my face throughout the day. For my morning and evening routine though, I use a cotton pad and rub it gently on my face #loveyourselfrubitgently #ifyouwatchedthevidyou'llgetit
Watercress Day Lotion - as the name suggests I use this baby during the day. It's a light lotion that my oily skin absorbs quickly like the thirsty bitch that she is. The first time I used it, I actually wasn't sure if I liked the smell or not. I mean, watercress on my face? Really? I have literally never come across a product with watercress in the ingredient list before this. But to my surprise, this product turned out to be one of the heroes out of all the Plantae products I tried. With really oily skin, it's a struggle to find a moisturiser that controls the oil and actually moisturises the skin but this one manages to do both. So you win, watercress, I'm a fan.
Sea Buckthorn Berry Night Cream - she may be mouthful but in all honesty I only need the tiniest drop of this and I'm good to go for the night. You see that little travel sized bottle pictured above? That's part of the first sample loot I tried and I literally only ran out last night! Like I said in my evening video, I'm definitely going to be purchasing this (is it ethical to purchase this using my own discount code? Asking for a friend....). Out of everything I tried (and each of them really is so damn good), this might just be my favourite. The night cream is so concentrated, and I didn't know what the heck a sea buckthorn was (don't worry, here's an article that explains it shared from Plantae's page) but I was convinced it was some kind of magical ingredient. The first night I tried the Plantae range, I was pretty sick and definitely looked it. But I persevered and did my skincare anyway and the next day, I woke up looking refreshed, the difference in my skin really noticeable. It's for dry and damaged skin, but again because I use it at night, I feel like it repairs my skin while I'm asleep and really helps prep it for the next day.
So that's it. No fuss. Simple skincare routines for a lazy gal. The morning routine takes me about 10 minutes and because I like to sleep more, I don't prioritise putting on makeup for the day because I know my skin is living (and looking) its best life. Just a bit of lippy and skincare and I feel like I can take on the world. In the words of Olivia Pope, 'it's handled'.
(oh hey here's me treating myself right and giving my skin the love it deserves)
A product I mentioned in the video too is my current eye cream - the Chanel Hydra Beauty Micro Gel. Like I said, once I finish that, I'm really bloody keen to try the Avocado Pear Eye Contour Cream from Plantae. Because we all know I love avocados so much I was interviewed in the media for it.... Millenial goals achieved!
It's such a great feeling to finally find products that work for you and I'm definitely a Plantae convert. When filming these videos, Simon actually said he loved how the products smell and I can't really describe how it smells but maybe if cleanliness had a scent, it would be this? It's so pure and fresh and I love how organic and natural it all is. I actually was thinking about what I don't like about it, and at first I thought I'd prefer if the packaging was a bit more transparent so I can see how much product I've got left, but then I lined these up in my bathroom and loved how sleek and modern they look with the all white and green packaging that I changed my mind. I'll let you know if I think of one though! So far so good.
And now for the exciting bit! Thanks to my wonderful, wonderful friends from Plantae, I'm giving all these away to one lucky person (but not the plant soz. I worked so hard to keep that alive).
So basically you can go in the draw to win my entire morning routine products (that I use at night too tbh haha) - the Ivy Cleansing Gel, Bergamot Orange Cleansing Mllk (so you can get on that double cleansing life too yay), Rose Otto Essential Water, and Watercress Day Lotion. All you have to do is like this photo on my Instagram and follow Plantae on the 'gram too. Extra entries for anyone who comments on this post! Giveaway is open to NZ only and winners will be drawn next Wednesday, 6 pm. Easy peasy. Just like how my skincare routine is.
BUT that's not all. Because the team over at Plantae is so so good to me (and my skin), you can also use my discount code to get 10% off their products. Just enter the code MOLINA for 10% off your entire purchase at the check out! Also sidenote, I'm freaking outtt because this is my first ever code to a product and it's all very exciting. They also offer Laybuy, and would make good stocking fillers this season because who wouldn't want the gift of skincare?
Don't worry, I'll still be posting skincare updates on Insta and will be subjecting you to more of my bare-faced mug so if you do end up trying Plantae skincare yourself, please let me know how it all goes and slide into my DMs so we can talk skincare and all that.
Thanks Plantae for sliding into my DMs that fateful day in August. While these products were kindly gifted to me, I will definitely be purchasing once I run out. You've changed the way I do skincare and have made me look forward to these little routines in the chaos of everyday life.
My excuse was that I was too busy. I was juggling a busy full time job while running a print magazine with a big team of writers on the side, AND organising sold-out events on the side. And I haven't even touched on my hobbies yet! Lol. Self-care wasn't really a big priority for me when everything else was happening at the same time. Which is ridiculous because no one is ever too busy to wash their own face. So note to my 23 year old self - girl, wash your goddamn face.
All this changed when I suddenly found myself without a magazine, without side projects, without, well, a life as I called it. All of a sudden I had nothing but free time. A concept so foreign to me that I literally didn't know what to do with myself. That's when I started getting into watching people wash their face on Youtube. Not as strange as it sounds, given that morning and evening skincare routines, pamper routines, and the like are a staple in every vlogger's content these days. Since then I've searched high and low for products for my own skincare routine. Something that turned out a lot harder than I thought given that I had super oily skin and I was trying out so many products that didn't seem to work. I was still a greasy mess.
Enter Plantae. I got a message from them sometime in August and asked if they could send me some stuff to try. I got really excited because I'm not really the type of blogger who gets sent stuff. I didn't think I was an influencing influencer enough to be given products to try, so I said yes and eagerly awaited the package.
Two months later and here we are. I'm lucky enough to only work with brands that I love and actually use so I wanted to make sure that my review would be as honest as possible. So this is a raw and honest look at my skincare. I never thought that someday I'd be filming my own skincare routine videos and that people actually gave a shit about it, but here we are. 2017 you're a weird year.
My Morning Routine
My morning skincare routine - unedited and filmed in one take. It's actually really embarrassing to put myself out there like this (puffy face after a night of drinking and 3 hr sleep #brave), make up free, no glasses, and basically my humongous face in all its glory. I feel so ~exposed.
But skincare is the number one thing I get asked about on Instagram and that's probably because I always go on about how amazing Plantae Certified Organic Skincare is. They sent me products to try before fashion week, and I've been trialling it for 2 months now because I wanted to make sure that when I do post about it, it was honest and accurate.
Here's some morning LOLs when I talk about all my chins, grammar errors cos I was so nervous I didn't know what I was saying like "love yourself, rub it gently". So this is me in the morning (except my bathroom IRL is tiny and cramped as hell).
My Evening Routine
You've seen the morning skincare routine.... now get ready for the evening one! Or if I were a real Youtuber, it's time to get 'un-ready' with me! LOL. Unedited and filmed in one take, this video is probs just as awkward and embarrassing, and due to popular demand, all my chins make an appearance in it too with me saying "this is why I'm single" lmao. Honestly though, is there a better feeling than taking your makeup (and bra for that matter) off for the day?!
Products Mentioned
Ivy Cleansing Gel - my routine starts with a little bit of this and a wet face. It's gentle enough for daily use, morning and evening. At first I found it a bit weird that it wasn't foamy or didn't really lather like cleansers I've used in the past, but a little bit goes a long way and I really like how clean it smells and that it doesn't leave my face feeling sticky. The gel is also a runnier consistency compared to other gel cleansers, so a little goes a long way.
Bergamot Orange Cleansing Milk - I didn't realise that this was actually a great make-up remover too which makes me love it even more. I double cleanse in the evening, something I've only started doing in October when I read about double cleansing on the Plantae page on Facebook (they post great skincare tips so follow along if you're into that!). It makes sense to double cleanse, and I find that since moving to Auckland and working in the city, my skin has definitely become greasier at the end of the day so double cleansing at night is now a must for me. I use the Ivy Cleansing Gel first, followed by this. Slightly denser as it's a cleansing milk, but smells fab so I'm happy. One of my favourite parts of the evening is when I wash my face after a long day and I feel like I'm saying #byefelicia to all the dirt from that city life.
Rose Otto Essential Water - so I'm actually really obsessed with products that smell like roses so naturally I fell in love with this one straight awayh. On the packaging it says it works best for dry & damaged skin, but I still use it even though I'm hella oily. Because it's essentially water (heh, puns!), I like that it doesn't feel like I'm putting alcohol on my face like how other toners feel like. Plantae sent me a travel sized version of this when I first tried it, and I actually brought the mini bottle with me everywhere and spritz some on my face throughout the day. For my morning and evening routine though, I use a cotton pad and rub it gently on my face #loveyourselfrubitgently #ifyouwatchedthevidyou'llgetit
Watercress Day Lotion - as the name suggests I use this baby during the day. It's a light lotion that my oily skin absorbs quickly like the thirsty bitch that she is. The first time I used it, I actually wasn't sure if I liked the smell or not. I mean, watercress on my face? Really? I have literally never come across a product with watercress in the ingredient list before this. But to my surprise, this product turned out to be one of the heroes out of all the Plantae products I tried. With really oily skin, it's a struggle to find a moisturiser that controls the oil and actually moisturises the skin but this one manages to do both. So you win, watercress, I'm a fan.
Sea Buckthorn Berry Night Cream - she may be mouthful but in all honesty I only need the tiniest drop of this and I'm good to go for the night. You see that little travel sized bottle pictured above? That's part of the first sample loot I tried and I literally only ran out last night! Like I said in my evening video, I'm definitely going to be purchasing this (is it ethical to purchase this using my own discount code? Asking for a friend....). Out of everything I tried (and each of them really is so damn good), this might just be my favourite. The night cream is so concentrated, and I didn't know what the heck a sea buckthorn was (don't worry, here's an article that explains it shared from Plantae's page) but I was convinced it was some kind of magical ingredient. The first night I tried the Plantae range, I was pretty sick and definitely looked it. But I persevered and did my skincare anyway and the next day, I woke up looking refreshed, the difference in my skin really noticeable. It's for dry and damaged skin, but again because I use it at night, I feel like it repairs my skin while I'm asleep and really helps prep it for the next day.
So that's it. No fuss. Simple skincare routines for a lazy gal. The morning routine takes me about 10 minutes and because I like to sleep more, I don't prioritise putting on makeup for the day because I know my skin is living (and looking) its best life. Just a bit of lippy and skincare and I feel like I can take on the world. In the words of Olivia Pope, 'it's handled'.
(oh hey here's me treating myself right and giving my skin the love it deserves)
A product I mentioned in the video too is my current eye cream - the Chanel Hydra Beauty Micro Gel. Like I said, once I finish that, I'm really bloody keen to try the Avocado Pear Eye Contour Cream from Plantae. Because we all know I love avocados so much I was interviewed in the media for it.... Millenial goals achieved!
It's such a great feeling to finally find products that work for you and I'm definitely a Plantae convert. When filming these videos, Simon actually said he loved how the products smell and I can't really describe how it smells but maybe if cleanliness had a scent, it would be this? It's so pure and fresh and I love how organic and natural it all is. I actually was thinking about what I don't like about it, and at first I thought I'd prefer if the packaging was a bit more transparent so I can see how much product I've got left, but then I lined these up in my bathroom and loved how sleek and modern they look with the all white and green packaging that I changed my mind. I'll let you know if I think of one though! So far so good.
And now for the exciting bit! Thanks to my wonderful, wonderful friends from Plantae, I'm giving all these away to one lucky person (but not the plant soz. I worked so hard to keep that alive).
So basically you can go in the draw to win my entire morning routine products (that I use at night too tbh haha) - the Ivy Cleansing Gel, Bergamot Orange Cleansing Mllk (so you can get on that double cleansing life too yay), Rose Otto Essential Water, and Watercress Day Lotion. All you have to do is like this photo on my Instagram and follow Plantae on the 'gram too. Extra entries for anyone who comments on this post! Giveaway is open to NZ only and winners will be drawn next Wednesday, 6 pm. Easy peasy. Just like how my skincare routine is.
BUT that's not all. Because the team over at Plantae is so so good to me (and my skin), you can also use my discount code to get 10% off their products. Just enter the code MOLINA for 10% off your entire purchase at the check out! Also sidenote, I'm freaking outtt because this is my first ever code to a product and it's all very exciting. They also offer Laybuy, and would make good stocking fillers this season because who wouldn't want the gift of skincare?
Don't worry, I'll still be posting skincare updates on Insta and will be subjecting you to more of my bare-faced mug so if you do end up trying Plantae skincare yourself, please let me know how it all goes and slide into my DMs so we can talk skincare and all that.
Thanks Plantae for sliding into my DMs that fateful day in August. While these products were kindly gifted to me, I will definitely be purchasing once I run out. You've changed the way I do skincare and have made me look forward to these little routines in the chaos of everyday life.
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ReplyDeleteOoh! This looks cool. Currently using antipodes but anticipating my adult onset allergies to kick in soon and I’ll start reacting to it (18-20months, like freakin clockwork!). Will have a look in to Plantae. Thanks for the detailed write up, Jess!
ReplyDelete