keeping a skincare diary

For the first few weeks of this year, I kept a daily skincare diary where  the products used in the morning and evening were logged. I even noted down the make up products used that day too. Now, I only note down things when there is a change to my routine or if there are more imperfections than expected (redness, blemishes, more visible pores, etc). Prior to this year, Evernote was the tool of choice but being a paper fiend, it was unlikely that the log would carry on electronically.

To do this, I have been using my Mossery planner and the vertical layout works quite well. As you can see, there is enough space for my routines and also a bit at the bottom for a note or two on the state of my skin. I'll talk more about my skincare journey in another blog post soon!

By keeping this log, I can see if anything is a potential cause for a breakout or for some unexpected redness. This is especially useful for when I introduce something new into my routine or do something a bit different. However, it can also be useful to note down deviations from my usual diet to see if that could be a cause for blemishes. In the past, I've found lactose is a trigger, as are foods high in saturated fat so I tend to avoid both now.

Another advantage of doing this is that I can see how long a product lasts for before I have to repurchase it. Sometimes, I leave an item out of my routine on purpose to see if it makes enough of a difference to warrant a repurchase.

Other times, I try a product which has the same primary ingredient but is cheaper to see if the effect is the same. An example of this is ceramides - an ingredient that helps restore the skin's natural moisture barrier - where I initially tried Dr Jart's Ceramidin cream, then Cosrx's Honey Ceramide Full Moisture Cream and finally Rosette's Ceramide Gel. I found that the Rosette Ceramide gel worked best during my night routine as a final step because it was a bit too thick and sticky for morning use.

However, doing this is a really time consuming process and I'm trying to decide if the time spent keeping this log gives me enough of a pay off to continue doing so. At the moment, I don't think it is so it's likely that a brief note or two is made when a new product is being tested or if my skin is being particularly difficult so that I can try and identify a trigger.

Do you do something similar? If so, how does it work for you?