A Clean Face

Two months ago, I didn’t have a skin care routine. Sure, there were a few skin products I liked but get this: not one of them was cleanser. What the hell was I washing my face with? I’ll tell you and you can feel like you’ve got your life together in comparison. Like a year ago, I ran out of Spectro and went rifling in my seemingly-endless product selection under the sink but somehow, it was 99% body moisturizers I hate the smell of, 1% nailpolish remover, and 0% soap. Only after pulling our hair-elastic-filled drawer after first-aid-provisions drawer did I spy an enormous bar of black soap, origin unknown, and thought “you’ll do”. I used it for a while despite its main result being dry skin and a dingy sink and, worse, sometimes I opted for handsoap because that rando soap was such shit. It became a joke, really, something I could laugh about when my husband complained about the sink being gray again. But when I blogged to profess my newfound love for a natural deodorant by Saskatchewan’s own Naked Kitty Naturals, they contacted me to see if I wanted to try their skin care and I had to admit that yes, I could easily try it because I only really had an exfoliating gel and a serum. It has been nearly two months since I started my routine and my skin is so happy, it has not been dry once— a feat.

Here’s what I’ve been enjoying from Naked Kitty at the end of every day (and as you know, I’m doing a giveaway for a duplicate of this entire package that closes on October 22 so possibly, here’s what you’ll be enjoying, too):

Tea Tree Oil Cleanser & Makeup Remover. Every night, I take a couple pumps of oil, massage it onto my face, add some water to emulsify, and off comes my sunblock or BB cream with just a rinse! On the odd day I wear eyeliner, I will use it on a cotton pad to remove heavy makeup more effectively.

Pink Clay Facial Soap. Phase two in Naked Kitty’s signature double cleanse, this soap is detoxifying without drying thanks to a balance of clay and shea butter. I REALLY like this soap.

Happy Glow Toner. Witch hazel, seaweed extract, tea tree oil, and lavender make for a light spray that readies your skin for moisturizer and helps you use less. Now, the instructions suggest spraying a cotton pad and using it to remove excess cleanser but I haven’t felt like there’s any residue so I just go straight to the next instruction of giving my face a few spritzes directly.

Matcha Moisturizer. I need the smallest dab of the Matcha for my whole face and neck and I feel hydrated. It’s also got natural anti-inflamitory and bacteria-killing properties which is perfect to keep breakouts at bay.

After Midnight Serum. Okay, you know I love a serum! I fell in love with the Apotheca Borealus Saskatoon Berry Serum and after trying the After Midnight, I confidently think they are the way to smooth fine lines in your sleep. After Midnight is argon-based with frankincense, rose hips, chamomile, and tisue-repairing helichrysum. It calms the skin, decreases the appearance of scars and lines, all with a calm, earthy scent.

The winner of the giveaway will also recieve Tintbalm which naturally adds a bit of colour while moisturizing lips with shea, coconut, and butter alongside jojoba oil, plus the Strawberry Daiquiri Lip Scrub that exfoliates with natural, edible castor sugar. And for a pore-minimizing treat for sensitive skin, the pink clay and jojoba wonder product, Pinky Swear Scrub and Mask.

The first night I used the whole routine, I told my husband “my skin is so hydrated with oils, how is this not going to make me break out?” But after a week of wondering when the other shoe was going to drop (I was actually wondering if it was just hormones making my skin pretty in the first weeks and decided to wait a bit before reviewing just in case), I realized that Naked Kitty is legit in not clogging pores and keeping the skin’s PH balanced. Hooray for me! And, for whomever takes the above prize pack. Other bonuses are that the line is vegan, made in SK in small batches with locally-sourced materials, are 100% natural, and the packaging is either recyclable or can be returned to be sterilized and reused. Lots of wins.

Out of interest, I polled y’all on Facebook to see what you were using on your skin and the answers were diverse in product but I did take a couple suggestions, two from before the blonde blogger Mandy Gourlay whose skin is glowing lately: I’m being more mindful to not touch my skin all the time because it really spreads bacteria, and I’m using a hot towel between my cleanser and toner. Easy and effective! And the other suggestion was from Jeanette Stewart who has been dry brushing and I was so intrigued, I put it on my wish list and got it for my birthday from my parents. I’m excited to try!

Thanks to Naked Kitty Naturals for partnering with me for this post and giveaway. My skin needed it, and I’m excited to share my routine with a lucky reader. And thanks to my sister-in-law, Nicole Romanoff whose professional photography you see in the title pic and with Chloe the cat there. ***These products are made in my home province of Saskatchewan but the contest is open to all of North America— see my Facebook or Instagram for details.***

xo