I’ve talked about my somewhat challenging skin before. As in, I’m at that mid-30s place where I still get breakouts and also wrinkles, what fun!

Through the years of products and medications and all kinds of trials, I landed finally on one of the simplest skin care routines ever—honey washing. This gentle honey + oil routine works really well for me in the summer in Minnesota. Aside from a sheet mask here and there and using a “real” cleanser in the shower every couple days, I don’t really add much else to this routine through the warmer months.

In the very long and dry northern winter, I’ve found I need tons of extra help and extra moisture, so I change it up… a LOT.

I’m like a budget-conscious skincare minimalist in the summer… and a penniless skincare maximalist in the winter, pawning all her valuables and time for face serums.

After much research, experimenting and bothering the nice people at Sephora for many, many tiny samples of very expensive products (as one does), I’ve found some great natural and natural-ish things that my skin loves and a routine that works for me. I’m a huge fan of K-beauty products, so you’ll see a lot of my favorites come from Korea or are inspired by Korean skin care.

Unlike every other skin care roundup on the internet, I was not sponsored by any of these brands to write this post. For the record (HELLO, MY DARLING BRANDS!), I would 100% accept monetary or product-ary compensation from Farmacy, Innisfree, Volition, Drunk Elephant, Holy Snails, Dermalogica, Common Labs or anybody else. :) Though not sponsored (YET), there are some affiliate links in here, which means I do make a small commission if you buy something that I recommend.

Nightly Skin Care Routine

Step 1: Take the makeup off.

I’m all about the double-cleanse. I’ve written about this magical stuff before. I LOVE Farmacy Green Clean Cleansing Balm. It easily takes care of both eye makeup and face makeup, which I’ve found to be a rare quality. It smells lovely, feels even lovelier and it works.

Step 2: Cleanse.

I oscillate between cleansing with raw honey or Drunk Elephant’s Beste No. 9 Jelly Cleanser, which I mainly use in the shower a couple of times a week.

StEp 3: Toner

I used to skip toner because I had it in my mind that toner was always drying (flashback to teenage use of harsh astringents) when it’s actually the opposite. As with so many of the finds on this list, I got a free sample, used it for weeks and now I’m a believer in the Belif Aqua Bomb Hydrating Toner. If a toner is doing what it is supposed to, it is actually moisturizing and balancing pH. I don’t know if my pH is balanced, but I like the way this feels.

Step 4: Sometimes Essence.

A couple of months ago, I would’ve rolled my eyes at essence. It feels like water. It feels like NOTHING. From what I can gather, this popular step in Korean and Japanese brands of skincare is like witchcraft to protect and prep your skin for moisturizing. I can now tell it does something.

I’ve been occasionally using Primera’s Miracle Seed Essence, which is a Korean brand from AmorePacific. The bottle says the heavy lifting on this essence is done by lotus seeds, which are good for hydration and protecting from environmental stressors.

Step 5: Apply a SERUM or two.

I have a little selection of serums that do different things.

For gentle brightening, Farmacy Honeymoon Glow is awesome. I use this maybe twice a week at night.

For moisture, I like Volition’s Snow Mushroom Water Serum. The ingredients are intriguing. Sea water (billed as “Atlantic marine water” because it’s fancy sea water) and snow mushroom, which apparently can retain 500x its weight in water. I also liked the Innisfree Green Tea Seed Intensive Hydrating Serum. It’s (no surprise) a Korean brand. It’s (surprise) quite affordable in comparison to almost everything else in this post. It’s a really solid, silky and seems like it would be good for a lot of different skin types.

For always, I use Dermalogica Ultra-Calming Serum (not a “natural” product but it’s honestly my skin’s best friend forever and I use it morning and night). This serum has a calming and cooling effect, so it feels like it’s working and does work. I’ve been using it for close to a decade. In the morning, my skin is so much more chill and calm than when I don’t use it. I know this for a fact because I just ran out last week and I can definitely tell the difference in redness. BRB just ordered a new bottle.

Step 6: Moisturize.

I use Volition’s Celery Green Cream. Am I a beauty influencer if I say “HOLY GRAIL STATUS?”

It’s a cooling gel-like moisturizer (I like that sensation in my moisturizers—it’s similar to the feel of the Dermalogica Ultra-Calming Serum). I’ve liked everything I’ve tried from Volition so far. This moisturizer is great because the ingredient deck is clean, it smells wonderful and it absorbs pretty quickly (unlike the oils I use at night) so makeup is easy to apply soon after.

If I need even more moisture, I’ll add a little bit of Drunk Elephant Marula Oil into the potion I make in my palm.

Morning Skin Care Routine

Step 1: Serums again.

Sometimes/usually I don’t wash my face in the morning. I’ll just splashy splash with water and go straight for the serums. I use two in the morning:

• InstaNaturals Vitamin C Serum—Vitamin C and ferulic acid for glow.

• Dermalogica Ultra-Calming Serum—my fave.

Step 2:Moisture again.

Volition’s Celery Green Cream. It’s the loveliest texture for morning time and absorbs quickly.

Step 3: SPF! SPF!

As a woman of (some) color, I have historically not been so great about a daily face sunscreen habit. It always felt redundant because my foundation includes SPF. However, I finally found a face sunscreen that I love because it’s great underneath makeup or on its own. It’s a Korean product called Missha All Around Safe Block Essence Sun Milk SPF50+/PA+++. While it’s not totally on the natural end of the spectrum, I’m still so happy with it. It goes on like a light moisturizer and it has a slight cooling effect (lol, hi it me again with the love for cooling products). No white streaks, no greasiness. It’s perfect. I also like Supergoop Play, but Missha is better for faces.

Step 3: Spritz, occasionally.

I use the Mario Badescu rosewater-aloe spray. I spray this on my face after I’ve put on makeup, and I used to keep a bottle at my desk at work and spritz my face whenever I felt myself getting distracted. Like a cat who is behaving badly but also has dry skin?

The SOMETIMES-ADDED-INTO-ROUTINE THINGS

Gua Sha Tool.

This gorgeous jade gua sha tool literally gets the juices flowing: the lymphatic juices. I got mine from Primally Pure, and use it once every couple of mornings, along with dry brushing for the bod.

Exfoliant.

I have used Dermalogica Microfoliant for many, many years (1-3x per week). The microfoliant is gentle enough to use daily, and there’s no abrasive texture to it like a lot of exfoliants. It’s a powder that just kind of melts into suds when you apply it. If you like the grittier texture though, Volition’s Turmeric Brightening Polish is a good one in that camp.

AHA night serum.

Farmacy Honeymoon Glow AHA Serum is so good I have to stop myself from using it every night! On nights that I use this (maybe 2x week), I just wash my face and apply the serum without any of the other steps. When I wake up, my skin always feels extra soft.

Korean face masks.

I saved the best for last! And honestly, it turns out I have so much to say about Korean sheet masks that I wrote a whole post about them (most of them don’t fit into the natural/clean beauty category, FYI). The gist is that I’m Common Labs’ biggest fan girl and you should buy everything they sell to ensure they stay in business forever and ever because my skin would miss their Vitamin B masks.

photos by Daria Shevtsova

Anything you’ve been really liking in the skin care department lately? I’d love to hear your recommendations!