Routine Improvements - Skincare Overhaul

My skin is all over the place at the moment. I seriously have no idea how it's going to behave from one day to the next. It's oily one day and so I'm getting breakouts (I am 36, for God's sake!!), but the next day it's feeling tight with dry patches. I am trying to deal with some pigmentation issues, I'm still going into daily battle with the ageing process and it just looks dull. So dull. Clearly it has become apparent that my current skincare routine is not working for me and so the time has come for a complete overhaul. And I mean complete.

Back Row L-R Darphin Intral Toner, Clinique Even Better Dark Spot Corrector, Ren Clarifying Toner, Ren Clarifying Clay Cleanser, Alpha H Liquid Gold, Clarins Lotus Face Treatment Oil; Front Row L-R Darphin Hydraskin Light day cream, YSL Forever Eye Cream, Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm, Rodial Dragon's Blood Night Cream.

I have replaced pretty much everything
- two new cleansers, two new toners, a new night cream and day cream and a facial oil to help rebalance my seriously off-kilter skin at nighttime. I am nearly at the bottom of my YSL eye cream, which though not exactly a miracle worker is perfectly nice to use and rather pricey so I am working my way through that before I try something else. Also remaining is my trusty Alpha-H Liquid Gold which I can't see ever leaving my routine.

This is probably the most unscientific test ever - I am changing all the variables at once here - but I am hoping that together they can bring about the vast improvement that my skin so desperately needs. It's too early to review most of them, but one that immediately stands out in its simplicity and no-frills brilliance is the Clinique take the day off cleansing balm.

I have tried other cleansing balm/ hot cloth cleansers in the past and have never got on with them. I have tried cleansing and polishing with Liz Earle on several occasions and my skin just doesn't like it - it gets really red and stroppy. With Eve Lom I always felt that there was some cleanser left behind on my skin, no matter how many times I went over it with those damn muslin cloths (and then there's the price tag)! But this stuff is another story. When I call it 'no-frills' that's not because it's cheap (it isn't - it's a mid-range £21) but because it is unscented, unfussy and is just a plain and simple does-what -it-says-on-the-tin cleanser. I mean, it really cleans! You apply it to a dry face where it develops into an oil, massage for a minute or so all over (eyes, lips - all over) and remove it with a hot flannel. It takes off everything - sunscreen, foundation, mascara, the lot and my skin doesn't feel at all tight like it often can after cleansing. Clinique do say to follow it with a second cleanser to make sure that no oil remains and I have been, but I have to say that after using the hot flannel it doesn't feel like there is any residue left at all. I love this balm.

I'm going to pop up reviews of the products in my new haul of beauty as I get a good feel of them. So far so good - nothing is bringing me out in a rash, so for now they are all keepers. I have so many new products to play with I can't wait until wash time.