Starting off: Skincare

From left: Garnier Moisture Match in 'Shine be Gone', Avene Cleanance anti-shine regulating lotion and Nivea oil free moisturising day cream.

Skincare is an essential part of life, and when you just start taking care of your skin in your early teens, it can all seem a bit daunting, so that's where 'The SO Project' can help! This post, along with numerous others from some wonderful bloggers is aimed to help those just starting out, so let's go! (: 

This post I decided was going to focus on one skin-type in particular, one which I know the most about, and that is oily/combination. Now oily combination can be classed as oily, sensitive, with dry patches, or oily only in certain areas, as I don't think any two skin-types are totally the same, so let's crack on with some oily/combination chat! 

Now, for oily/combination skin, you have to keep your skin clean and minimise the oils that your skin produces. Some oils are good, as they moisturise the skin, but they also block pores, and skin when you're young is very temperamental anyway, so let's start with keep skin as clean as possible (: To start, you need to cleanse your face to get rid of all of the build up that the day/night has brought on. I've not included any pictures of my cleansing products, as those are for an older skin type, but I would suggest nothing too harsh, as teenage skin is obviously very young. I would suggest perhaps exfoliating softly with a flannel to start, using small circular motions, and then maybe using a face wash targeted at young skin, or something quite natural, and definitely not too abrasive for day to day usage. For my skin, I use a flannel, and then cleansing milk, as my skin is very sensitive. 

Once you've cleansed, you must tone in order to close your pores, this is a step you must not skip! I always think that this is so important, as, whether you use cold water, or a toner, this is responsible for closing your pores after you've opened them, and no one wants moisturiser in your pores. Not good. This is applied with cotton wool, or in the case of a spray, is sprayed on, and can be removed with cotton wool. To use, squirt product onto cotton pad, and wipe slowly over your face and neck. I usually keep my skincare products in my bedroom, or in a colder place, as I always feel that your toner needs to be quite cool in order to effectively close pores. 

Now, for the final stage, moisturiser! Moisturiser is essential to what your skin is going to look like for the day ahead, and for oily/combination skin, you need one without any oil, so oil-free, or mattifying. We don't want any shine on the skin, which is always a big issue for me. I always find that a pea sized amount of moisturiser rubbed between clean fingers does my face well, and makes a good base, for make up, or for a cosmetic free look. 

From left: Simple Kind to Skin soothing facial toner and La Roche-Posay Serozinc, which is one especially for oily skin.

The extra essentials: A blogger favourite, La Roche-Posay's Effaclar Duo, which is a corrective and unclogging anti-imperfection care serum, which is used day and night, on blemish prone skin. This is especially good for my blemish prone skin, and may take a few weeks to fully gain effect, but my goodness, it's good. It can be drying, I find, on combination skin, so I throughly recommend a night moisturiser to be used after applying at night, whilst a oil free cream during the day works perfectly well. I apply this after toning, but before my moisturiser, and I find that it works best this way. Next, is my eye cream of choice. It isn't an essential choice for young skin, but I find that an eye cream makes make-up sit better, and longer throughout the day, as well as looking after the sensitive under eye skin.

La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo and Una Brennan Neroli Firming, Illuminating Eye Cream

I hope that this post has been useful, and all products in the images, are ones that I have used, and recommend very much. They can all be purchased in Boots, except for the Serozinc, which I think can only be bought from an online website. Skincare lines for younger skin that I recommend are Simple, Nivea and Garnier, as although they may be targeted at an older demographic, I think their products are great for all ages.

What are your oily/combination skin saviours? 

xx