Earlier this year I shared the details of my old skincare routine. Since then, I have read a lot about skincare and discovered several new products. More specifically, I set out to overhaul my skincare routine for 10 main reasons detailed in my previous post: 10 Ways Obianuju Is Overhauling Her Skincare Routine. Bearing these 10 reasons in mind, it is time to unveil my new and improved skincare routine!

Here is the main sequencing of products for morning and nights:

Here are the specific products I use; note my skin is oily-combination and acne prone:

Wild Cards

You may notice that in the above list, there are several places where I’ve written “wild card”. This basically means I can use any number of products in this slot based on my needs and their availability in my skincare collection (yes, I just said collection).

Part of the reason I allow for wild cards is that my skin is constantly changing, and as such I use products that best suit my skin needs at the time. The other reason for wild cards is that I’m almost constantly testing some new product for the blog. I don’t like to go off schedule, so having a set place in my routine for new or different products keeps my list-obsessed brain calmer.

So, without further ado, here is a list of wild cards in each category: cleanser, toner, eye cream, serum, and moisturizer. I own many more products than these, but only the best for you, so those included below are my favorites. The lists are ordered roughly in order of decreasing favor (i.e. I prefer those towards the top of the list). Those with an asterisk (*) are suitable for use on off nights and in the mornings, as they don’t contain exfoliants and thus can be mixed with retinol or vitamin C.

Cleansers

• Drunk Elephant Beste™ No. 9 Jelly Cleanser*
• Clinique City Block Purifying Charcoal Cleansing Gel*
• Urban Skin Rx Clear Skin Cleansing Bar
• Caudalie Instant Foaming Cleanser
• TULA Skincare Purifying Face Cleanser*

Toners

• Renee Rouleau Balancing Skin Tonic*
• Knours Double Duty Mist*
• VENeffect Skin Calming Mist*

Eye Creams

• Valmont V-Shape Filling Eye Balm*
• Valmont V-Line Lifting Eye Cream*

Serums – Exfoliation

• Paula’s Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Gel Exfoliant
• Paula’s Choice RESIST Advanced Pore-Refining Treatment 4% BHA
• Renee Rouleau BHA Clarifying Serum
• Paula’s Choice RESIST Daily Smoothing Treatment with 5% AHA
• Paula’s Choice CLEAR Extra Strength Daily Skin Clearing Treatment with 5% Benzoyl Peroxide
• Paula’s Choice 10% Azelaic Acid Booster
• Paula’s Choice DEFENSE Antioxidant Pore Purifier
• Sunday Riley Good Genes All-In-One Lactic Acid Treatment

Serums – Non-exfoliation

• Peter Thomas Roth Water Drench Hyaluronic Cloud Serum*
• Volition Beauty Snow Mushroom Water Serum*

Retinol

• Paula’s Choice RESIST Intensive Wrinkle-Repair Retinol Serum
• Peter Thomas Roth Retinol Fusion PM Night Serum

Moisturizers

• Tarte Maracuja Oil*
• Derma Truth Antioxidant Peptide Gel/Creme*
• Peach Slices Citrus-Honey Aqua Glow*
• Pixi Rose Flash Balm

Masks

• DCL Detoxifying Clay Mask
• Avene Tolérance Extrême Mask*

—Obianuju Enworom