My school run morning skincare routine

It’s taken me two and a half years but, finally, I have my school run morning skincare routine DOWN. I don’t have time to faff about with layers of makeup and complicated cleanse rituals, but my skin is tired (thanks non-sleeping children!), I have under-eye bags and if I left the house with nothing but a quick splash of water on my face I’d risk scaring all the kids at school.

There’s been a lot of trial and error in my morning skincare routine. I’ve dabbled with various products and attempted multiple variations of easy make-up but, eventually, I’ve found a combination that works for me.

Here’s what I do…

PRE-CLEANSE

First up, I swipe some of the Dermalogica pre-cleanse oil over my face, paying particular attention (and by this, I mean rubbing it a little more) into any problem areas that may have blemishes or blocked pores. This stuff is AMAZING. Honestly. When I first tried it I couldn’t understand how it wouldn’t cause me to break-out in spots, because it’s like rubbing greasy oil into your face. But it actually acts to balance out your skin, so if you suffer from breakouts or blocked pores this is what you need. Also, it completely dissolves makeup before you’ve even cleansed, so it’s great for the evening too. Once you’ve rubbed it in you just wash it off with warm water. It takes about 30 seconds to do the whole thing. Easy!

CLEANSE

Next, I cleanse with Dermalogica special cleansing gel. Both products were recommended to me by a beautician when I had a facial just before Christmas. They might seem a bit on the pricey side, but I bought them three months ago and there’s still LOADS left in both bottles. You don’t need to go mad with these – a little goes a long way. I rub in the cleansing gel before I’ve even dried my face. It foams up to a beautifully creamy consistency and washes off really easily too.

There’s a video up on my YouTube channel showing my school run morning skincare routine (complete with me trying to persuade reluctant children to get dressed and stop my toddler raiding my make-up bag). It might be useful to give you an idea of how I use both products…

MOISTURISE

Once my face is clean and dry (that whole cleanse process takes about a minute and a half, by the way), I rub on some Nivea moisturising cream. I’ve tried SO many moisturisers over the years and this one is a good cupboard staple, for when I’ve run out of any fancy stuff I may have stockpiled. (I also love the Liz Earle Skin Repair moisturiser and Clinique’s Dramatically Different moisturising lotion, but have run out of both of these at the moment, so Nivea it is!).

Next I rub in a bit of the Nathalie Bond Organics rose geranium and patchouli skin balm, particularly around my tired eye area and on my lips. There’s a gorgeous consistency to this product and you only need a very tiny bit so it goes a long way. Plus, it smells delicious – my skin just drinks it up.

BASE

Then I bring out the big guns. The incredible Wonderglow by Charlotte Tilbury gets slapped on all over my face, before I cover up my under-eye bags with the Clarins Instant Concealer. Both of these products have been complete game-changers to my tired, haggard morning face. The Wonderglow primer gives a slight iridescent glow (the kind you imagine you’d get naturally after drinking ten litres of water and spending a week at a holistic spa eating nothing but kale and tofu), while the Clarins concealer is a light but heavy-duty cover-up that stays on all day without creasing. I can’t recommend these products enough – especially if you have tired skin like I do.

MAKE-UP

Finally, I pop a dash of eyeliner under my eye, a layer of mascara on my upper and lower lashes and finish with a quick slick of lipstick. The whole routine – from pre-cleanse to make-up – takes less than ten minutes, which is handy because like every other mum I know, my time in the morning is very limited.

Here’s the end result (although, in the purposes of transparency, I’m rarely smiling like this while trying to herd two errant children up the road to school…):

Do you have any new beauty product finds which you now couldn’t live without? Do share – I’m always on the lookout for new tips! 

*This post contains affiliate links. Thanks to Nathalie Bond for sending me the sample pot of skin balm. All opinions, copy and photography remains my own.