How much does your daily beauty routine cost? Welcome to The Klog Beauty Diaries. Inspired by Refinery29’s Money Diaries, we thought it would be fun to recap a day in the life of people with different occupations and highlight their beauty routines. In this Klog beauty diary, we feature a nursing student in Perth who wakes up at 5am and still finds time for his morning routine.
5am – My day always starts very early. I have morning class at eight and I go by bus, so I need extra time to get ready. The bus station is actually across the house, but I like to get up before the sun does!
So when my eyes fully wake up, I go straight to the bathroom, brush my teeth, take a shower and wash my face with Hada Labo Gokujyun Ultimate Moisturizing Face Wash that I bought from Indonesia for $2; it’s crazy cheap and seriously so good. I bought only two, and the one that I’m using is my last tube. I regret that I didn’t just buy a dozen tubes.
For my body, I don’t really have a treatment. I just use Palmolive Naturals Invigorating Pomegranate and Mango Shower Gel that I bought from a drugstore.
5:30am – It is cold. The weather is kind of funny lately. It feels like winter in April and it can be quite drying, so I may need more products in the morning but I am more comfortable with as-minimum-as-possible-skin care routine in the daytime. Sometimes my roommate asks me why do I use all those things when I’m in the middle of my skin care routine, and I tell him that I need these to be as handsome as EXO members. Yes, it’s a lame joke, but I mean it. But in all seriousness, the most important thing to remember is that skin care is not exclusively for women, it is for everyone.
Ok, let’s get back! My first step after cleansing is always a toner for first layer hydration. I use the Heimish Refresh Water with a cotton pad, followed by the Benton Snail Bee High Content Skin. After toner, I go in with my Tosowoong Propolis Sparkle Ampoule. I usually give time for my serum to fully absorb, so after applying this, I go to the kitchen and make a cup of green tea. I have a sip of it and end my routine with the Cosrx Honey Ceramide Full Moisture Cream and Etude House Sunprise Mild Airy Finish SPF 50+ PA+++. My skin has had its breakfast, now it’s my tummy’s turn.
6:10am – I am always too lazy to cook in the morning, so I only have bread with Nutella, but for extra taste, I crush one or two Oreos and put in on my bread. Don’t forget chocolate milk. Don’t judge my typical breakfast 🙂
6:15am – Sit back, relax, enjoy my sweet things and YouTube before going out.
6:45 am – It’s time to go! Run!
7.02am – Get on the bus and see you later!
3:00pm – I am back from the school, so exhausted, and I forget to drink water because what I need to immediately do is wipe off my sunscreen with the Son & Park Beauty Water and wash my face. My face gets drier after washing, so I usually spray it with a face mist. My current favorite is the Innisfree Green Tea Mineral Mist. I am actually so grateful that my face is not too sensitive to environmental damage and all I need to do is just keep the hydration level in balance.
7:30pm – It’s time to clean my dirty face and body and get ready for the night routine.
8:00pm – Hold on, I need lamb chops before cleansing my face…
8:10pm – Once I’mquickly done with the lamb chops and salad, I go back to the bathroom to do a double-cleanse with the Heimish All Clean Balm followed by the same Hada Labo face wash as in the morning routine. After cleansing, I use the Innisfree Color Clay Mask (Cica). I like using everything that has a name Cica on it because I want to strengthen my skin barrier. I used to always use sheet masks but my skin never loved them. I don’t know why. My face often ended up breaking out.
8:30pm – This is where the game begins. I take my Missha Time Revolution First Treatment Essence and let it absorb by lightly dabbing it. Fermented ingredients have always been my favorite since I used SK II Facial Treatment Essence quite long time ago, but then I heard from some beauty vlogger that the Missha essence is a great dupe for it, and it really is. I love how the way it hydrates my face even with only one layer.
My other favorite part of my routine is vitamin C serum. I currently use TIA’M My Signature C Source because it works wonderfully and I love it. I give it some extra minutes for actually no reason—I just feel better to leave it for 10 minutes or more before going to the next step. Time to have a video call with my mom.
8:50pm – The video call is ended and I am getting back to the skin care routine. I use the The Ordinary “Buffet” because I heard combining vitamin C and peptides is a good idea, and I’m pretty satisfied with the results that I got after using them together for six months. I’m concerned about my smile lines. Yes, I smile, I mean laugh, a lot. That’s why I have such a quite noticeable smile line. The treatment of L-Ascorbic Acid combined with multi-peptides helps me a lot, and I see my smile lines getting better. Of course it is not totally gone, I know it will need extra work, but I’m already seeing improvements so I’m happy.
Then I mix the A’PIEU Madecassoside cream with The Ordinary 100% Organic Cold-Pressed Rose Hip Seed Oil as moisturizer. The A’PIEU cream’s texture is lightweight, so it’s perfect to mix with the face oil, and I love to do the mixing because I feel like I look like a beauty expert by doing it.
Oh… I almost forget to use my Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask. It’s a must for my dry skin.
9:20pm- The routine is done, and I get in the bed and enjoy a movie. Good night!
Grand total: $318