lindsay's skincare routine

so for people who didn't know me pre-college (and kind of pre-high school), i had really bad oily skin and frequent breakouts, to the point where i started going to a dermatologist. fast forward to now: as of Katrina, i no longer go to the dermatologist and rarely to occasionally try new over the counter acne/beauty products because everything is under control, given i try a new product and have a "bad" reaction...anyway, shortly after ending dermatologist visits, my mom had me on proactiv. now it could be that i was a lazy bum, but i didn't feel like the proactiv system worked for me. it helped with the oiliness, but not so much for my breakouts. it was kind of expensive and it was subscription-based..i guess it works different if you pick it up at the mall nowadays?? anyway so i was not really for all that. at a later point in time, mom's coworker worked at a dillard's clinique on the side and introduced me to their acne care line. and for a long while, everything was amazing..until clinique decided to discontinue some products in the past several years....... >.> regardless, i still go half and half with them and various other products that work for me - which i will get to later. and now, over the christmas holidays, i bought myself a clarisonic. yes it's only been a month, but i haven't had any skin problems since introducing it, which is totally awesome. anyway; i realize this is an overwhelming number of products i put on my face almost daily, but this is what works for me. also, this is what i do year-round. i probably should use a stronger moisturizer in winter, but again..i'm lazy. =P ~L-c ^.~

alright so to the current routine. pending on the time of day (morning or evening) and when i take a shower, my routine changes.
pre-clarisonic:

1. shower (either time): clinique 7-day scrub or st. ives apricot scrub: medicated. i prefer to use any type of face scrubs in the shower so that any particles caught in my hair are easily rinsed out.
   → not taking a shower (opposite time): wash face with a foaming cleanser. right now, i'm trying to finish off a free bottle of ole henricksen's african red tea foaming cleanser, but i generally use clean and clear foaming acne wash
2. both times: clinique clarifying lotion 3 (toner, for oily skin), followed by clinique dramatically different moisturizing gel.
   → clarifying lotion is not actually a lotion, it is a liquid toner. pour it onto a cotton ball and apply to your whole face, do this with one or more cotton balls if they appear dark after applying. do not saturate the cotton ball. a year ago, i purchased a pump bottle which is more commonly used in medical practices..to dispense my clarifying lotion. you just pour the liquid into the bottle and place a cotton ball on the dispenser part and push down a few times.
   • sidenote: i previously used sea breeze which gives your face a burning/alcohol-ish feeling, clarifying lotion does not.
   → i personally prefer the dramatically different gel over the dd lotion..so if you ever buy them, read the label carefully as the products are the same color and packaged the same. i don't like the smell of the lotion and i generally buy the squeeze bottles, even though they cost slightly more per ounce, because the pump bottles are super annoying when you're close to the bottom.
3. night time: if there are no acne spots or acne forming or anything, do nothing.
   → if there is something there: (mini review of the following items)
   • an open wound: apply clinique spot healing gel
   • acne spot forming: apply clinique emergency gel lotion; this is actually a thick lotion in consistency..not gel at all....
4. morning/going out and about:
   → apply sunscreen. i like using clinique's super city block spf 40, they also make spf 25, because it is not like a white, body sunscreen, it's tinted to go on sheer. i do not use this all the time; i generally only wear it spring to fall...even though i probably should wear it year-round..the sun and uv rays don't go away!
   • whenever i get a job with an income, i might eliminate sunscreen and moisturizer with this new product, but we'll see.
   → apply face primer. as you guys probably saw, i really like too faced's primed and poreless primer for daily use. now, i do use this all over my face because that's what works for me, but you don't need to. (mini review)
   → apply makeup. 

post-clarisonic, only step 1 changed. i bought murad time release acne cleanser to try a while ago, but it is too drying for daily use, so i use this every other day with the clarisonic to use it up. on the opposite days, i've been using clarins one step exfoliating cleanser--also to use it up--with my hands. once i finish both of these, i'm thinking of buying the giant sized (this size is cheapest, per ounce) philosophy purity made simple sometime in the future and using that with the clarisonic daily.